Chris Pook

This is changing though, and really depends on where you live. Here in BC housing pricing has gone over the top. A higher level blue collar worker making $30 an hour cannot buy a house unless their wife is also making a good living. Its a very sad thing. Kids are being raised in daycare instead of by their parents.

Thanks Tyler. Its a real beast. Hwooldridge, I'm going to look into thw horse mats, thanks.

The hammer sat on the concrete shop floor with the sand surrounding it that why I was thinking it would be more the mass of the sand helping.

Its a very difficult thing to do in a vague scenerio. Depending on where you live/work and the economics around your area. I have a wife and 2 kids to support and earn all my $ fabricating and forging stuff so I have to get $ for my time. If I can make an average of $50 an hour for a shop rate I'm doing ok and the lights and sometimes the heat can stay on ( I include welding wire, grinding disks and other consumbles in this $50 an hour). I have a hard time surviving making small trinkets (but I haven't try'd more than few art shows/fairs) so I try and stick with larger custom jobs which I have to usually quote, hoping I get it done less time than I expected so I can earn a profit. I figure out my material, and then try and guesstimate either by timing making a rough sample and going off previous jobs how many days it'll take to make. Then I use a $ amount that I need to make for those days worked. Always include your travel time, estimating, drawing etc in there somewhere. Someone needs to pay for that time and it shouldn't be you.

Another thing... at the old shop it sat in a 20'x20' sand box that was 14" deep. I don't think that added mass is what made the difference in vibration tranfer though.

My Nazel 3b has been sitting on big wood beams for the last 30 or more years. It came allready bolted to them when I bought it 3 years ago. When I was in my old rented warehouse, the vibrations didn't transmit through the ground at all (very solid sandy ground underneath the building). So when I moved it to the new shop I built at my house, I didn't think nothing of it. I just had the cement poured extra thick with extra rebar where the hammers was going to sit. Now when I run the hammer my wife can feel it in our living room 100' away from the shop. It wouldn't be an issue but a neighbours house is a bit closer than that. So I've been thoughtful and try and keep the use of the Nazel to a minumum and use the 100lb little giant when ever possible. The big difference between my old warehouse and the new shop is that my area is sitting on top of a large aquafier, hitting water at the 20-30' down mark and I think thats what is doing all the transfering of the vibrations. I'd consider the traditonal large cement block foundation but I really don't think that'd help since it'd still transfer into the ground. Anyone have any experience with this setup and this sort of land conditions? Would it work? My other option is to lay out some real thick rubber matts and add some steel framing and heavy plate with new wood beams in the hope it won't even transmit to the ground. Any ideas I'm getting fustrated everytime I want to use it and I start worrying the bylaw people are going to show up, it gets in the way of the creativity. Pics of the current base setup.

you can make a test piece with several splits and drifts and take note of how much material length is lost when you split and drift. Then taking this info you can lay out your pieces for splitting. You can predrill very small pilot holes at each end of your splits. This will help keep you accurate, and will help center the splits. good luck.

Very nice, I haven't look at utube forging videos in a few months, Looks like there is alot more on there now.

I have several in different sized hitch balls, I just wait for the local surplus store to put them on sale and pick one up every now and then. I have one welded to on the end of a peice of pipe that is welded to piece of heavy plate that I use on my lay out table for light sheetmetal work.

My guess his IP was banned. which means he can only come back on the site using someone elses computer or getting a new IP address. I don't really understand why he'd delete his posts? He did seem to have some interesting opinions. But if you have an opinion you want to share, you have to respect other peoples opinions and not get childish about it.

lol... hand made is hand made, just cuz I have a weight mechanically being dropped onto a tool I'm holding in my "hand" and tong in the other "hand" holding a piece of metal doesn't make the item I have made using my "hands" any less than the other item I made holding a hammer in my "hand" and a piece of metal held by tongs in my other "hand" I think your really more stuck on traditional vs more modern forging...

that will work as long as its after the check valve from the pump. relief goes to the tank.

If I could have a water powered hammer I would definetly have one running in my shop...that and a turbine making electricity but in reality were I live all electricity is hydro generated so I basicaly have a water powered hammer just not mechanical linkage

If its a tapered pipe thread, use teflon. I personally use teflon tape not the liquid pipe dope.Seems to be less messy and less likely to get in the hydraulic system. Just make sure you get nothing in the valve stay a thread or 2 away from the end of the fitting. For the pressure relief valve, I'd install it on the pressure line that makes the ram extend. I'd most likely just add some fittings at the valve and have it t'd off before it changes to hose.

I use powerhammers, I still consider my work hand made. If you know anyone that wants to be a striker and can hit like my 300lb nazel that will also work for less than my hydro bill, send them over. But for me it stops being hand forged when you start building elaborate dies and tooling that makes the process a one hit = 1 easily repeatable identicle part.

post pics if you can. Is it an electric solenoid block? It is possible you cracked the block.

could it be for making decorative Cabinet pull knobs?

Just a reminder that when your mind is preoccupied, doing simple jobs with simple tools can hurt you. Sometimes its better to take a few minutes off or even to just quit for the day. I'm real busy but behind and the brains been occupied with lifes problems....working away thinking about other things when the grinder with the sanding disk caught an edge and jumped trying to eat my fingers. Luckily nothing 4 bandaids and a week or so of skin healing back can't fix.

I'm still trying to figure it out. its been five years and still counting.

I have a 200lb english anvil I think its a Brooks, and a ASO a big square 8"x8"x8" block of 4140 that was an off cut from a machine shop, similar to the Jymm Posted, I have radius'd most of edges to a different radius and left one almost sharp. I keep it on a wood block near my anvil and use it all the time a very useful anvil.

I've seen them used for logging, actually had a smith do Demo on making some a few NWBA conferences ago.

Bill do you just build the burners with plumbing fittings and pipe and hooked up a blower? My blown burner forge is real loud. Do you have any pics of yours.

Fun project... Have always wanted to make a grandfather clock with that kind of mechanics. Please post up any info you find.

i just looked at the photo's again. DO NOT RUN THE HAMMER without the dies in or some sorta big block spacer. you don't want the TUP to bottom out. could cause serious damage and could be contributing to your oil leak. Are there any scribed lines on the TUP (the hammer shaft) near the bottom about an 1" or 2 fromt the bottom and probably 9" or so inches up? The upper line would be the farthest you want the the TUP to drop.

What do you mean by dropped? as in it fell on its side with a big crash ? or just leaned over? EDIT ******do not run hammer****** read the next post Is it running fine, with the TUP retracting all the way back up and staying up at idle? is it running and hitting with a consistant beat? If thats all fine, I would guess there was alot of oil sitting in the hammer. Another thing could be your oiler pumping to much oil in, My oiler on my Nazel puts out a bit to much and I get oil dripping down the ram after its been used. I just wipe it off with a rag and go back to work. I figure I'd rather have more oil than not enough