mofokaye

On our one there's a manual pump at the back that's connected to the valve chamber with a thin copper pipe. You may want to check for a small hole on the top of the valve chamber to see if yours had something similar that's gone missing. Will try and take some photos tomorrow if that'll help

Sorry Alan, been hectic and not had a chance to have a good look yet. I've determined it's nothing to do with the ram guide, but that's as far as I've been able to get so far

I've already got a copy of the user manual, thanks to your helpful upload! I'm reluctant to mess around with the valving, but will give it a go if necessary. I briefly inspected the valve a few weeks back before we got it running and didn't notice anything unusual, will have to take another look though. I'm in Somerset, UK. I have a friend in Wales with 2cwt, will have to get in touch with him. It's fitted with a manual hand pump. I opened both cylinders and the valve and cleaned it all out, as there was a lot of old sticky congealed oil in there. I then gave it all a thin coating of fresh oil and let it sit for a week. All other bearings were then greased as instructed in the manual. I know the main crank bearing at the back was repaired at some point, but the repair seems to be solid. The ram plate seems to be fine, but I'll give it a look when I go in on tuesday. I manually oil all our hammer rams at startup just out of habit. Thanks for the advice all, I'll check it over next week and letcha know what I find

Ah, but I am a sucker for old machinery, and will always take in a sad old tool and try to bring it back to life. This breaks my heart!

Hello all. My workplace has just acquired an Alldays and Onions 1CWT hammer. It's well battered, but with a bit of TLC I've got it running pretty well. However, until it's warmed up properly, the ram really struggles to raise properly back into the tup allowing it to deliver a full blow. It just judders up and down delivering small short blows. The warmer it gets, the more this improves. I've noticed the "Relief Valve" on the back of the hammer is missing, and has been replaced by a simple homemade flap valve. Was wondering if this could have anything to do with my problem. Any thoughts on what could be causing this? The whole hammer is thoroughly lubricated

A lawn ornament...?

Looks nice and solid!

Springs are just inherently dangerous. Don't let it put you off, just ensure any springs are well covered to protect yourself.

Fantastic Would love to see a video

Clever twist on a proven design. I'm impressed!

I'm British and was taught to do it without flux. It's not as hard as you'd imagine

I fabricated all that. Thanks!

Yup, sadly this was all I had access too. I've built it in such a way though that there's plenty of space to fit in a big solid lump as soon as one becomes available. It's frustrating not being able to get the most out of it. Although there was a lot of fabrication involved, I love using pieces salvaged from abandoned or wrecked pieces of machinery, and have amassed a vast collection of flywheels, bearings, and grease cups for future projects. As for more detailed shots, and maybe even a video walking through it, I'll see what I can do over the weekend. Thanks for the kind words, it's been a pig getting this thing done!

Well, sad to say I haven't had time to update on progress, as I barely had time to finish the bloody thing as it was. However, it's all done now, so I thought I'd give a quick update with a picture and video. Any questions and I'll happily answer. http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/38539-finished-helve-hammer/

My question is, why would a hammer need one?

That's one xxxx of a safety guard!