Will. K.

I have a similar Kerrihard that has been waiting to waiting to be put back into service for about 5 years. Check the pockets the "t" bolts go into on the head on mine they are almost worn through and need repair and are probably one of the harder things to repair/replace. Its been several years but the last time I checked Little Giant still carried replacement springs for them if you ever need one.

There are also several videos out there of people using them if you haven't come across them yet.

Another possible option is to run the hammer off a VFD for speed control.

There are a few videos on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw-Te5q9fvI

If you haven't already you could ask the current owner how it was unloaded & moved into place when it was installed.

I got myself in a bit of a situation when I bought a large horizontal milling machine several years ago. The seller was was going to lift it on my trailer with his loader. He decided at the last minute he couldn't lift it because it was too heavy & my truck decided to break down the weekend before the deadline to move it. I called a local tow truck company and they showed up with a 30 ton truck crane and a flatbed truck, loaded it, transported it 20 miles, unloaded it onto steel rods I had placed in my driveway and used the crane boom to help me push it into my garage for about $300 bucks cash. Some times having someone else do the work isn't so expensive. Only down side to the cheap price was all the risk was on me if it they damaged it in the move.

I've personally seen them listed from $2K-$10K in the 200lb-300lb range depending on condition and location/situation.

The #8 I bought (250lb) was close to my location, the seller stored it for a year for me and he had the equipment to load it for me so I didn't have to hire a rigger or rent a fork lift to load it at his location. I paid $6K.

Delrin/Acetal absorbs water more than UHMW. What is the surface finish on your ram? UHMW guides can powder and gum things up.

On my Prentice swivel jaw vices the pin is tapered and is held in by the taper fit. I imagine it is similar with your Yost.

The one I've removed the pin on my father carefully pressed out the pin from underneath using his shop press. I was worried it was going to break. Drilling it out would have been a safer option. I had the machinist where I work turn me up a new pin with a bigger head and a hole going thru it perpendicular to the axis of the pin for easier removal.

There not as stout as a fixed jaw vice of the same size, I've seen pictures of several with the back jack welded/brazed back on.

I picked up about 1800lbs of 52100 round bar and a 500lb chunk of 11.25" O.D. x 1.5" thick wall tube on Sunday

I think Grant Sarver talked a little about this in one of his posts on induction heaters. I've seen some where the coil tubes go into copper block connectors that are held together by some sort of insulator, these get pressed against similar block on the unit with a screw clamp. I beleive this is the arrangement on some of his induction units you can see in his videos on YouTube.

I recently missed out on an auction for an induction unit that had one of these quick connectors on it. I will PM you the link for the completed auction so you can take a look at the pictures. I do not think I can post it here per IFI rules.

I don't see why a helve would be any louder than a "regular" power hammer. The Kerrihard is a guided helve as well :)

It is spelled Kerrihard. There are several videos of them on YouTube.

I picked one of the older 30lb ones up at an estate auction several about 4 years ago for $50 or $100 (can't remember!) because everyone else was buying guns at the other end of the property in the 2nd ring. I hadn't really planned on buying it and didn't come prepared to load it. I figured it would sell for more Money than I had. I had to pay 3 guys to help me lift it in the back of my truck. I've been so busy with work & family I haven't got it back together yet. The biggest problem I've read about and is a problem on mine is that the pockets in the ram for the "t-bolts" can wear thin and may need to be welded to build them back up.

I have seen one of the newer style round ram ones at an auction last year and The quality & robustness was not as good as the older ones. There were casting holes in the frame near the back of the hammer. It also had some repaired/replaced parts. If I remember right it sold somewhere in the range of $600-$900.

There is information on the in the book "Pounding Out the Profits". Price is going to vary depending on the part of the country you are in and the situation of the sale. Keep an eye out for estate auctions is my best advise. I have seen two others turn up in auction listings in Wisconsin/Minnesota area since I bought mine. That is about as frequent as other brands of hammer.

An Octagon 75 was listed listed for sale a few days ago over a Blademsith's Forum.

If the company could have traced out the bolt pattern on a piece of paper & mailed it before they shipped the hammer or given you accurate measurements of the mounting holes you might have been able to get an early start on the foundation.

I have two Prentiss vices with the rear swiveling jaw but they have the stationary base. On the one I started to clean up and restore I carefully pressed the pin out from the inside using my dad's shop press. I was worried it might break but I got lucky and every thing went well. Mine had lead plugs in the oil holes along the side.

One of those oscillating multi tools with a wood blade might work for rouging in the slot

I've seen pics of scaled down tire hammers.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/hotiron/3541497394

http://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?showtopic=11662

Have a look at this thread on another forum: http://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?showtopic=23168

Here are some pics of Beaudry with the jack shaft mounted on the back of the hammer rather than overhead. On some photos I have seen with similar jack shaft arrangment the tensioning pulley location was rearranged.

The original thread on this hammer was here, but the original pictures are no longer working. I saved these off of a Google image search.

A While ago I was at a rummage sale and saw a small rusty toolbox for sale. It was one of those small ones about the size of a lunch box. I was not really interested in the toolbox itself but I picked it up to look at it because it had a price tag of $10 on it but was something you'd normally see for 25 cents or so. I thought maybe it had something nice inside, but it was empty. Turns out a guy's wife wanted him to get rid of it but it was his old tackle box and he didn't want to get rid of it. He had marked it up so high so it wouldn't sell. When I picked it up she saw me looking at it she came over and told me to just take it and make it disappear before her husband came back from running some errands! I told her I wasn't really interested in it and I didn't reel right about her scamming her hubby but she informed me that if I didn't take it was going to end up in the trash before he got home! I took it to save it from the landfill and now my little niece has a tackle box.

Remember If your wife/girlfriend complains about some of your junk and she wants it gone she might not even sell it. It might just disappear when you are gone.

I might be wrong but I think the ram guides are an integral part of the hammer frame casting and the bolts just pinch the two sides together. Check out the pictures of the 25# & 50# Wisconsin hammers at http://www.spaco.org/lgid.htm

Out of curiosity what is the price difference between the two from the Chinese hammer MFG?

I tried to type out a reply with some links but got the forbidden error.

Try using Google to search I Forge Iron for little giant & power hammer breaks (site:www.iforgeiron.com). There are some good pictures of band style breaks in some posts and in members galleries.

If you posted a picture of your current brake arrangement someone might be able to help you get it working properly.

I finally got around to unloading & counting up the pallet of tool steel. It added up to a little over 720lbs total. Around 550 lbs of Crucible CPM M4 tool steel and around 100lbs of Crucible M2 tool steel. The rest isn't marked but is probably M2 or M4. There was even a nice chunk of 1045 TG&P shafting.

I picked up a small pallet of mostly M2 & M4 annealed tool steel from a mold & die shop. Not sure on the exact weight yet but I estimate it is around 300-500 lbs.

Not exactly clamping but I remember a post a few years ago on the NWBA forum where they talked about using cheap tubing expanders for locking things in the square holes in a platen table. I looked around and the thread was titled "Platen table tricks" http://blacksmith.org/forum/tools-trade/platen-table-trick/

I think they are rectangular but I will have to wait till I unload it from my trailer & lift the plate off to know for sure. It looks like it was cut out of something bigger with a band saw to make it fit on the table.