CMS3900

That's a really cool find.

In the world of CNC machining, I add in time to very job to verify the integrity of the customers drawing if it is complex. We have had dimensioned drawings from engineers needing ISO certified parts that submitted drawings where angles were wrong or did not intersect and lines didn't meet. CAD drawings received in CAD format are usually "dirty" and have to be reviewed and cleaned up before using. The CAM software hates lines on lines and non-intersecting lines, so most of the time you end up redrawing the customers drawing. I took a couple of semesters toward a Civil Engineering degree and the CAD we did in those classes drove me insane. The engineers with the degree's teaching made me wonder if they thought that walls, floors, and ceilings contained the same internal quality as doctor who's phone booth and a electrician, plumber, or HVAC guy had unlimited space to shove stuff in them. I have a few friends in the electrical trades and they tell me all the time about change orders where the print is messed up, or the print telling them conduit should go through someplace where a structural steel beam is occupying. From what they say it amazes me how a print on a job goes from "that's how we need it done" to "They're more like guidelines anyway, as long as I have the devices I want in the right places".

Looks good man!

If you haven't seen them check out the Stagmer Brother's (at Baltimore Knife and Sword) videos on youtube underneath "Man at Arms - Reforged". You will see a bunch of these grinders with various attachments to give you an idea of what these things really can do.

Shop around, call the different suppliers and talk to their technical departments. See what looks best. Jlp, I would love for my LWS to give me a $500 sample of 10 lbs of 460 lol. While we buy a lot and have a great relationship with them, I haven't seen many samples. Norton Abrasives on the other hand sent me about $1000 in samples at one point, a ton of Norax and Merit belts and hand stones. Their rep also gave me this sharpening stone set in nice individual covered wood boxes. Needless to say I use Norton for all my belts and stones now.

I would call Esab and tell them what you have and they can give a good recommendation. The 4-60 while expensive, welds really nice. It has nickle in it, but is totally different than E99 or Ni-Rod.

Such a interesting piece. I have never seen a LG built like that. The ram guide is very interesting, and there is no adjustment at the cross head. I have no clue where the SN would be on it. Usually they were cast into the frame on later models. The 250 is a "S" model so the SN should start with a S. On my old style P model, there were also patent dates stamped into the ram. If you end up having to re-pour the bearings one upgrade I highly recommend is replacing the babbitt bearing in the friction pulley with a bearing bronze one. It will last a lot longer, and that bearing is really the hardest one to pour because it should be machined afterward. If it were me, I would strip the machine down and sand blast it, then with just the frame go through the process to weld the cracks right. My go-to rod for repairs like this is Allstate 4-60. You might find more stamping or info under all the coats of grease and paint.

Sweet. If it had nine new belts for it, for that price you bought some new belts and got one of the best grinders out there for free.

A steel post going up above the hammer with the electric motor and pulleys mounted on it makes for shorter drive belt length. I would increase the diameter of the V belt pulleys as well. A 2" pulley is really small, harsh radius that can lead to premature belt wear depending on the type of belt your using. Making the drive side flat belt pulley out of wood should be totally fine. hitnmiss.com carries flat belt if you're looking for that too.

That is a really, really good deal. Buy it now. Bader Space Saver, 132 inch belt. That's the grinder production shops use over 2x72's, a Cadillac of grinders. New is 5,200 bucks.

Clean anvil with a cleaner that will remove all the dirt and oil without a residue. The liberally spray with CRC SP-400. Put wherever; check every 6 mo. or so.

Glad to hear everything is good Frosty, and it is amazing that no fatalities or injuries have been reported. Before I decided to work full time for my family's machine shop, I was in the emergency management field so I automatically look at this from a case study perspective. To me, it is amazing to see how a area handles disaster when preparedness is a way of life vs. not even a consideration. In college I polled about 150 students about how long after a disaster they expected someone to show up with a bottle of water and a blanket for them. The majority said within 4 hours post incident.

You can buy Urethane rod in what ever duro you need, say 85-90 shore A. MSC lists up to 3 inch and call for custom sizes. I would give them a call and see what a 12 inch piece of 6" diameter would cost, or if they have something else that would work.

I'm going to ask, why a vulcanizer instead of using off the shelf pourable urethane or machining urethane rod? The vulcanizer will be more OEM but man that seems like an investment.

Hey Jon, To help you better as well can we get a little history on the hammer. How long have you owned it? When was it manufactured? How much run time do you think is on it? What type of oil do you run in it? When did you first start noticing this issue? Where are these air leaks coming from?

The ceramic glass platen liners hold up really well. I have never heard of one failing. D2 would be bomb proof for a long time without the coating, but I wonder what the heat transfer would be like.

Hey Arthur, I think your project is one your passionate about, and is possible; you just need to sort some stuff out. With any project you have basic questions: What do you wish to accomplish? How do you wish to accomplish it? What parameters are set in stone and which are flexible. You know you want to remake the armor and sword. You know that your converting a prop over to a functional piece. The total project has several parts - the sword, the mail, the various pieces of plate mail ect.. The next step is how to accomplish this. Finding a mentor is one. Contacting and joining your local ABANA affiliate is a good start. Looking for knife makers in your area and visiting their shop is another. As many have suggested reading is paramount too. There are ton's of books on this subject. IFI has a whole section dedicated to books. Some are cheap, some can be found on the internet legally for free, others can be very expensive. The Library loan program like Glenn suggested is your friend here. Setting your parameters is next. You need to define whats acceptable and what's not. When some people on here see "historical methods" they are planning to go mining for ore and make their own steel. The only way you can set these parameters is by discovering what goes into making these items. Different materials, methods, tools, ect.. My advice is, if butted mail is acceptable, starting there. If you planned on making riveted mail, making butted mail first will give you many of the skills to accomplish that. In the meanwhile learn as much as you can to be able to set the parameters for the other pieces.

Looking really good. Toggle Arms, and the pins for the springs can be made from mild steel (c1018) or 4140.

Hey Walkure, Welcome Aboard. You're located in a pretty good spot for Blacksmithing. The Blacksmith's Guild of Central Maryland is located in Westminster not too far from you and is a really good group. They offer classes pretty regularly and have open forging nights. MASA on the eastern shore is a good group too. There actually is a show not too far from you in Perryville, MD on Oct 20th at Matt Harris Metalsmith Studio. It's a great show with great demonstrators, usually some tailgating, and good food. It's free to get in, they just ask you to bring something for iron in the hat. PM for more details if interested. FWIW I think that's a nice striking anvil. I think there is some confusion in this thread over a striking anvil and its uses versus the normal advice given to folks using metal to make a shop anvil.

Sweet man. It looks really smooth. Great minds must think alike, all the hammers I have been rebuilding are painted in hunter green, black, and gold lettering as well. It just looks good!

From the looks of it, I would replace the bars in the spring as well if possible. Less slop means equal lengths, which means equal tension and a smoother running hammer. The spring pack looks healthy, BLO should be fine or wax. I mix Johnson's paste wax with BLO for a lot of stuff.

Toggle Arm #2 from that pic looks like someone may have forged a replacement, and those threads on the one look like their worn down enough that the major diameter might be too small to get much bite even if you chase it with a die. If it were me, I would determine the original pin size and make a new one that size. Making new toggle arms would also be my preference via any method available. The tolerances on the pin to the toggles need to be tight. .005-.010. You can use a reamer to achieve this or find a automotive machine shop that can put them on their rod hone. If you go the hone route take your pin so they can fit the toggles to it. Mechanical hammers suffer from a terrible snowball effect. If you have half a dozen components that are at the high end of their tolerances it will combine to make the hammer run poorly. You want each component within spec so that when you hit the treadle it operates smoothly and predictably. How do the toggle links fit into the bar that goes through the spring? Does the spring or that pin have any wear?

Getting the pin out looks like it was a royal pain. Yea... I would say there is some wear there. Do you plan on re-bushing the toggle links to the new pin? I would wire wheel the pulley and get any loose rust off; but I would not paint the inside of the pulley where the belt rides.

Nice looking compact. It looks like it was in a time capsule. Even the cushions don't look bad.

I just read my post again and it might of been a bit confusing - porta-power for the keys ; but for the broken bolt in the base drill a hole in it. The hole usually collapses the bolt enough to drive it out. Bryan can you post some pictures from different angles of that pin and the dovetail? It's hard to tell what exactly is going on. Whether the pin and dovetail were cast/forged as one piece and machined or pressed in or what. Worst case there is a hammer-in in the North East, MD area coming up in Oct, at a shop that has one of these hammers. The owner is a nice guy and has rebuilt several champion hammers and might have some tips I can ask him about.