Will. K.

Nice hammer. What size are the dies? The frame on yours looks more robust than that on my #8 (Link)

last time I bought scrap here in WI it was ~$0.40/lb. I can get new low/mild steel in thinner plate or smaller size/diameter bars through my employer work for a decent price but if I want something large or high carbon/tool steel I go to the scrap yard. I've tried to get old springs from one of the local suspension shops but its never worked out.

I have a similar shear to the one in the background of that pic. I've been meaning to get working but haven't been able to find much info out about them.

Some pics the seller took of the hammer with my dad and me before we left.

There are more hammers out there for sale than people think. They're just at prices most people don't want to pay or in inconvenient locations to go pick up. For the last year or two I've really scoured the net looking for a powerhammer. It took a large time investment but it payed off. There are quite a few out there for sale and I'm sure if I would have taken the time to inquire with local blacksmithing groups I probably could have located even more for sale. I paid a hefty chunk of change for the Beaudry I just bought but it's the hammer I was looking for, was only an hour or two from my house, and I was able to arrange a flexible payment/pickup schedule. Its something I really wanted not only as a useful blacksmithing tool but as an interesting piece of America's manufacturing and engineering history. I don't make that much money but I save what I can until I have enough to buy what I want, its a system that usually works for me. Heck I know a few people who probably spend $5000/yr just on fancy coffee or to go out gambling. Me, I'd rather spend that on some equipment :)

Not to exciting but here is a pic I snapped yesterday of it all tarped up for winter. I covered it up good once I got it in my driveway. If the weather cooperates I'll take off the tarp and get some better pics before it gets stored for winter. On the drive home the brake slipped and the ram settled a little more and while I was tarping it up I noticed some dammage in the area that was previously covered by the guide. In the past it looks like someone had a chain wrapped around the ram and one of the weld seams on a chain link took a small gouge out of the ram way when the chain moved/rotated around the ram. The worst area is on the left side of the ram and looks like its mostly in the area that sits outside of the guide. I'll have measure to be sure but the worst part looked to be 0.5mm deep or shallower, The right side of the ram just looks to have a lighter surface scratch were the chain moved. I'm not sure how this is going to affect the hammers operation. There doesn't appear to be a raised edge on the scratches or gouges. Except for the missing treadle link and the gouge everything else looks to be in order and to have been well cared for when it was last in operation.

A long hook made of rebar and a lasso of rope work great for rummaging through a dumpster & pulling stuff out without having to crawl in or grab things with your hands.

I moved the hammer today, it went better than I had expected! I'll try to snap some pics in the next few days and post them.

Do you guys give your hammers/big equipment names? The paper mill and a few other places I've worked at had names for most of their large machines. If I have to remove the flywheel/clutch to fit it in storage I figured I might try to get it off when the crane/forklift were around for loading the trailer. Is 4140 adequate for dies this large or would I be better off with something like S7 or H13? The hammer has combo dies but I'd like to get a set of flat dies made. I figure I'll be 2 years before I have a proper shop set up so I'll use that time to get the hammer repainted and rebuild/repair anything that needs attention. Thanks for all the info. I'll post better pictures of it when I get it home in a few weeks.

Its getting time to move the hammer and I had a few more questions I'm hoping someone with more experience with these hammers can answer. I may have to remove the flywheel & clutch assembly so the hammer will fit thru the door in my storage building. Is there was any trick to taking them off? Do the spring tension adjustment screws have enough travel to take most of the tension off the spring arms when I unscrew them or should I watch out for them shooting off as they are removed? Thanks

If you have a way to haul it local farm and estate auctions are good places to get a deal on metal. Usually lots of steel for sale. I've been to some the last few months that had racks full of nice steel (rounds, flats and tube) that went real cheap. Usually have to buy a whole self or rack though so it can be a pain to load and haul if you don't have a trailer or a truck.

The difference in power (5HP vs. 7.5HP) between v-belts and cogged belts has to come from somewhere. Differences in the heat, noise, vibration, ect, generated by the different belts. If the most of the difference was in heat generated in the v-belt due to friction between the belt and pulley and the bending of the belt it could lead to melting belts.

I looked over the auctions and there are a few smaller items I wouldn't mind bidding on. I'm not to far from milwaukee but they don't seem very buyer friendly. The site says you have to pay via wire transfer or debit card, they tack on a 15% buyers fee, and its seems like they make it a huge pain to get in to collect the items, "collecting items". Too bad!:(

They sell those solid stone and glass spheres in the ~4" range at the marts and home decor stores. A boccie or croquet ball might work to.

I found an old grinder & a h2o fire extinguisher at a rummage sale this weekend for $3. I've been wanting to get one of these rechargable water fire extinguishers to keep by my wood/charcoal forge.

I've acquired a couple of similar looking scrapers at auction this last year in mixed lots of tools. I'm not sure if they're burr knives or are meant for some other task. the larger one is made from a triangular file. The smaller one is 4-sided. The faces on both are ground slightly concave.

Went to a car show last weekend and got some goodies. Found A heavy crosspein sledge and some cutters. Also picked up a nice bench vise and a set of tongs. The vise is a #4 Prentice with a self aligning back jaw.

I don't like extra holes drilled in equipment. They usually look bad and in cast iron don't like the extra stress concentrations they cause. The current owner has experience moving large & heavy machines and has a crane to help get it on the truck. I'm going to hire a local trucking company to go pick it up and I'm planning on hiring a rigger/crane service to unload the hammer once it gets by me. The biggest thing I've moved before was my large lathe and a free standing rotary metal shear. The color under the peeling paint on this hammer is a dark grey/flat black, I'm not sure if its a coat of paint or a primer/undercoat. I'll probably have about the same $ in this hammer by the time its all rebuilt and set up.

I'm in Menasha up around Appleton/Oshkosh, I think I'm about 2 1/2 hrs from Beloit. What type of Bradley are you running? Are you the patrick that was selling a moloch hammer last winter?

The rollers looked good from what I could see but I didn't have a chance to inspect the roller faces contacting the elliptical tacks. I didn't see anything alarming with the elliptical track in the ram and there was lots of dried up oil/grease in there which I figured were good signs. The spring arms also looked good. Overall I didn't see any clear signs of abuse or misuse on the hammer. I like the rag lubricator idea, I wonder how a sponge would work.

It would certainly be easier to make extra dies if the taper was in the sow and the ram rather than on the dies. I'ld eventually like to purchase or make a set of flat dies for it. Do you have any pictures of the idler pulley assembly? I'll have to double check with the seller to see if that might be floating around somewhere in his shop.

I've been pondering using a vfd to slow down a new 1750 rpm motor to the required input rpm. I was thinking it might be nice to slow down the motor even more in certain instances. Since its likely going to be a few years till its set up I figure I can keep an eye out for deal on a new motor and a vfd. A jack shaft would certainly be simpler and cheaper though. Are you running v belts from the motor and between the jack shafts?

I always meant to check that place out when I was going to school down in that part of the state but never got around to it.

It does have what I believe, from seeing several old ads, are the factory motor mounting brackets, I'm not sure if the motor is original. Some more pics below.