Chrispy

Excellent effort for a couple of days tinkering mike. Do the people who purchase your strikers actually use them or are they collector items? Also is flint readily available in stores or do you find it out in the bush? I take it that it's a kind of stone. Chris

Hello All, I thought I'd show a few pictures of the things I've been up to in the past 2 years. This is only a small portion of the work I do from home since retiring from an office job and becoming an Artistic Blacksmith. I have literary hundreds of pictures of different things I've made and one day soon, I will stick them onto my web site (Under construction) and post you the link. I spent 4 - 5 days a week at the forge but still squeeze in about 10 weeks a year on holidays. I enjoy what I do so much, I have decided I'll live forever... Cheers, Chrispy.

Hi Iforgeiron and Smithies, Thought I'd add a post to the forum to rid the reminder message that I hadn't participated for several weeks I am going to try to attach a couple of pics of roses I just finished. My uncle of 80 odd years gave me his old 120 lb anvil and wouldn't accept anything for it, so I made him a rose for the kitchen table to remind him of where he sent it. He was never a blacksmith and had aquired it many years ago, He thought that I would get more use from it than he. Cheers, Chrispy

William, In Australia there are drill bits available that are capable of drilling through a file without dulling the drill bit. They look like a masonary drill bit with the tungsten tips but are only good for drilling to about 5mm depths (almost 1/4") I've seen them in a size range from 4mm to 12mm (3/16 to 1/2")and sold seperately from $4 to $16. They must be available in the states. I had to drill a hole through the centres of 5 x 2" ball bearings that even a centre punch wouldn't touch. I stuck it in the coke forge at the end of the day, heated to just above cherry red covered fire with kapol wool (refractory lining) and shut the air off. I checked it 3 hrs later and it was still cherry red but it did cool off overnight. I drilled holes with standard HSS drill bit and reheated and quenched to regain hardness. It should work for the Damascus - lets see what the Damascus Gurus have to say before proceeding with trial and error. Cheers :)

I never use a glove on my hammering hand but regularly use a long welders glove on my left hand. I seem to stuff up the left glove while upsetting steel, Usually opening up the seam on the thumb and wearing a hole through the layers of leather and wooly lining. When ever I burn myself on the fingers or thumb, I quickly pinch my Ear Lobe with the burnt digit. Believe it or not, it takes the pain away and prevents blistering. Next time you accidentally burn yourself try it yourselves and be your own judge. Likewise accidentally hitting your fingers generally results in getting a blood blister if you don't rub your finger vigerously in your hair for a few seconds. It sounds stupid but it does work. Even if it doesn't work for you at least it will stop hurting when the pain goes away.

Parkerising is a good method. Manganese dioxide and phospheric acid and some iron filings for good measure (not sure of the quantities but you will find it on the net). Mix the ingredients and heat to 53 degrees (a bit hotter than luke warm) and insert your (oil and grease free) piece of metal for about 45 minutes. Best to use a glass container - not your wifes saucepans. Easily done on the kitchen stove but be ultra careful as acid is not your best friend. It needs to be rinsed off and dried immediately after removing from the hot solution. I made a mild steel tank 3m long x 1.5m high x 200mm wide (1500 litre capacity)to Parkerise some wrought iron gates I made a few years back. They turned out great. The parkerising makes a film microns thin that act like a sponge that sucks in whatever you choose to protect it with. Paint, resin, or oil. Parkerising is a finish ofter used for hand guns, tools, engine parts etc. It has an extremely hard wearing surface particularly if oiled afterwards. 15 years of constant use and cleaning as with hand guns is not unreasonable. Ingredients are available at your local chemical store. Permits not required to purchase these chemicals. Chrispy

1 litre of Molasses poured into 20 litres of water in a plastic tub is excellent for completely removing heavy pitted rust. It even gets into the nooks and cranys. The rusty item needs to be completely submerged in the solution and it usually takes up to 3 months. The moment you remove it from the tub and give it a quick wash with the garden hose, it begins rusting. A light rub with a wire brush and a splash of CRC or WD40 usually does the trick. Molasses is available at most grain stores as it is used as an additive to charf for horses to eat. Usually costs about AU $2.60 / litre. Take your own container as they get it in bulk. Cheers Chrispy. ps it stinks a bit but worth its weight in gold.

Jeremy , Forget my queston re picture formats, I just read up on it and found the answer. Will post pics soon when things start looking more like a tool rather than A pile of scrap. Chris

Irnsrgn, Having never owned my own power hammer b4 but used a couple extensively I have found in most cases that the actual time hammering is somewhat less than I thought it would be. All be it, a xxxx of a saving in time, and certainly effort. I hope the spider gears will handle the constant load. I realize that I will have to wire the electric motor to run backwards because of the chosen mounting position, intentionally, to run the diff in a forward direction to prevent the diff from howling. If the spider gear or shafts fail I can easily modify my hammer to similate the Hawkeye's cam action. Possibly use a section of a crank shaft housed between it's big end and support bearings. Mind you it's a long time since I seriously looked at a crank shaft - possibly too much of an eccentric - Might even have to make one, shouldn't be too hard- time permitting. Not driving by a flat belt and idler pulley might pose a problem when activating the hammer from free wheel to hitting action. But then life is all about problem solving. Isn't It? Cheers Chris.

Jeremy, thanks for the info. My hammer arm is 65 mm sq solid bar and the dupont spring action (which I have modified slightly is 25 mm [1"] milled out at the pivot point and built up to widen the pivot width). I have my own 36" lathe and access to a mill. I just scrounged a metre of 30 mm shafting which I will reduce down to fit the 25mm hole in the spring guide and thread the 30 mm section a few inches past either side of the shackle / adjustment block also make a couple of locking nuts from some 50 mm hex bar for either side and keep the rest of the push rod at 30 mm. How does that compare with the shaft size on your Hawkeye? I picked out a few 30 mm nominal bore sealed ball bearings from by cousins scrap bin for the crank pivot but it dawned on me that I would need roller type bearings as ball types are short lived when subjected to blows. It wont be long now and I will add some pictures. Are there any rules on the size and or format of pictures when posting to this site? and should I stick them here or in the gallery? Cheers Chris.

Thanks Jeremy, Now there's a tool that would make anyone proud. It is good to finally see a picture of it displaying the workings from this angle. It is interesting that you say that the spring assembly can be moved along the hammer arm for hit speed variations as I figured to put it at 1/3 out from the pivit point (mechanical advantage) to relieve the workload on the diff and electric motor. I have already made the spring assembly except the shackles and threaded push shaft. It seems I may have to extend the length of the arms to accomodate the Harley Davidson rear shocker coil springs (halved). My construction material seems to be of equal proportions to your splendid machine. Do you know how to determine the pound size of a hammer (without thumping the wife's bathroom scales)? My hammer arm [65mm sq solid mild steel] is 30 kg (approx 60 lb) without the spring assembly or hammer dies etc. In the calculations are all the components weights included or just specific parts? I'm quite green in this area. I'm planning on nipping out for the 30 mm shafting and roller bearings today if I get a chance. Past experience has taught me that ball type bearing don't handle knocks or hits too well. Thanks for the pictures and the valued information. Cheers, Chris

I am currently constructing a power hammer very similar to the 1903 Hawkeye hammer. The only major difference is that I will be powering an open BMW diff (exposed axle type with flanges immediately out of the diff) with a 2 hp single phase electric motor. One side of the diff will be connected to a crank shaft offering a total lift of 5 inches, the other side has a modified disk brake rotor attached and when the caliper brake is applied to slow or stop this spinning rotor the input drive will transfer the drive to the other side of the diff, causing the hammer to start to operate. Controlling the speed and power is achieved by regulating the pressure on the brake mechanism. What I need to know is ... Are there any critical specifications to adhere to in making the pivoting, sprung arms that offer relief to the crank when hammering various thicknesses of steel? If this info is not available, can someone tell me the angles of the shackles when the crank is at the 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock positions. I think I have it worked out but not 100 % certain and really only want to build this once. Regards, Chris csfuller@adam.com.au

Oops, I just posted a question in the power hammer department but I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Chris (aka Chrispy) from Down Under. I've been reading your threads for a while (most interesting) so just decided to register and perhaps take part. I have retired early (52) and am currently persuing my hobby as an Artistic Blacksmith in which I have dabbled for the past 3 to 4 years. Never an idle moment and word of mouth is the best advertising for me as I have several pieces of artwork and metal sculptures displayed around the state. I make most of my own tools, Coke forge (2), tongs, Gas forge, pan brake, ring roller, bar bender. Even a fence straightener (must get that back from the mug who borrowed it 2 years ago):mad:. Scored my 1 cwt Anvil and swage block at an auction 480 miles from home and worth every cent I paid for them although I wish I could have got them both on the one occasion. At least diesel was a bit cheaper then. Regards Chris.;)