Dave Hammer

Matt.... Great job getting the 2B running. I'm looking forward to seeing it hit some hot steel on the 23rd... Monstermetal... My 3B is about 285 lbs with the die. The 1B is close to 70 lbs with the die.

Tireif alluded to it, but didn't outright say it.... More than likely, you had your burner too far into the forge. The end will burn up, regardless of what it is, if it is down in the forge beyond the thermal blanket or refractory.

Exactly what kind of oil do you recommend for these types of machines?

Thomas... No need to "whomp" that dimple. Just use it to center the top tool. The dimple should be streched smooth, and generally, the top is pushed in anyway...

The spike was just a standard size HC... It's drawn down to about 3/16th and less.. That was enough. Thomas.. Not a matter of competition, just fun. If I felt competitive, I would have drawn it down to under 1/8th, and still have expected someone to do better. It's just play time. I'm sure you've had your share of that with your hobbies.

Thomas..... If you have never done anything that could be considered useless... You're missing out on a lot of life... Even ...."just for experience"...... has value. Power hammer work.... This is where I stopped... With a helper, it probably could have been drawn out close to twice as far. I didn't keep track of heats.

Looks like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree.... :)

Clifton Ralph does sell his videos. He lives in Gary, IN. If you do a People Search with Yahoo, you should find him. I believe Nathan Robertson also sells the videos for him. Also.... The UMBA videos are probably the best blacksmith deals on the planet. 5 dollars for each DVD (over 100 titles available) plus 2 dollars shipping (total). There are numerous power hammer demonstration videos from some of the best demonstrators in the country (and out of it).

Francis Witaker

I called another friend with a 4B. He told me where to find pictures of his hammer.

I sent Kerry (via email) pictures of the linkage on my 3B. He will get an understanding of the type of linkage he is missing and the relative positioning of the treadle and main lever for normal and clamp operation. However, the physical linkage of the 4B is different than a 3B. Can someone post a picture of the linkage of a 4B from the right side of the hammer so he know what he is missing (and where it needs to be installed).

For Grant from Colorado... The short answer is YES... The greater to mass of the anvil (up to at least 20-1) when compared to the mass of the ram (or hammer), the greater the efficiency of moving metal.

This is a 150# Bradley Upright Compact... My favorite hammer.

FIFTY DOLLARS!!!!! That's just not fair... Nice catch..

Electrolytic Derusting is always an easy and guaranteed solution (Google it).

Celadog... This is getting more interesting.... Burner holes: How many holes and what size drill bit did you use... Thanks....

Ciladog.... What did you use for cement?

What Peacock said.... and good luck... Incidently... There is commonality with all power hammers. Folks like us. That's one reason this community is a great thing to be part of.

Yes, the motor on the 3B is 10 HP. It starts fine with the 15 HP converter.

I should have asked... I assumed your dies were mis-aligned side to side... The dies should definitely meet top to bottom without daylight. If they are out, even as much as you describe, your work will want to move in directions you don't want it to. Talk to Sid and see what he recommends. I would grind one of dies to match the other.... Then smooth to the finish of the other die with sanding belts and polish.

If your dies are only a 16th of an inch out of alignment, they are probably better than 90% of the hammers in use. But.... If you have to have them perfect.... Do you have a spacer on one side of your lower die and a drift on the other? If so, you can solve this problem by tapering the spacer (to align the dies) and modifying your drift to fit the new angle. If you don't have a spacer, make a spacer for both top and bottom dies (bottom spacer tapered...lining them up), then make new drifts.

If you are having start up issues for a 7.5 application motor using a 15 HP converter, I would guess (assuming the motor is good) you have a problem delivering power to the 7.5 HP motor. A 7.5 motor should start, under any appropriate load, easily on a 15 HP converter. Have you measured the voltage at the 7.5 HP motor? I'm no expert on this stuff, but I've read that the power may not be "balanced" very well (across the three legs) when the generating motor is "pony started" (and there are no capacitors for balancing the legs involved). I don't know what the power impact is on application motors, but it certainly can't be optimum. I bought a "black box" from Anderson Converters "http://www.andersonconverters.com" for my converter, then provided my own motor. Click on their link to rotary converters, then page down to a price list for rotary panels. Today's cost for a 15 HP panel is $299 (plus shipping). If you want a remote start capability, I think it adds $100. You can build a panel cheaper (in $ cost), but you may end up spending a lot of time getting it working (based upon the experience of several of my friends). One other thing.... Have you tried switching around the wires at the 7.5 motor (which wires are connected to the leads from the converter)? It doesn't matter which direction that motor runs and sometimes I've noticed the motor will (start and/or) run better with one wire hookup combination over another. Everyone tells me it shouldn't make any difference, but with some of the 3-phase motors I have used, it makes a HUGE difference. I just make up a chart of the wiring possibilites, and run through them to see where I get the most power (visually and audibly observed). If someone has an idea why this should make a difference, I am all ears. Also.... Are you sure you are getting acceptable voltage levels at your application motor? If you measure the voltage and it is low, check the wire gauge against the distance the converter is from your single-phase power panel AND the distance from the converter to the 7.5 HP motor. If the wire is not of sufficient gauge, you will have a voltage drop across the wire, and may not be delivering enough power for the motor. I had issues with this when I wired for my 3B. I've been told acceptable voltage drop is 3-4 percent. The guideline for increasing the wire gauge varies, depending upon where you read it. I have seen that you need to increase the wire gauge one unit for every 50 or 60 feet of distance (beyond the initial 50 or 60 feet). You can find an online calculator at http://www.csgnetwork.com/wiresizecalc.html to get a recommendation for the gauge of wire you need.

Matt Yes... And this is thanks to others on these forums. I only learned about doing this a few months ago. Remove the plug that is between your valves on the linkage side. Install a pipe nipple with a large ball valve (the nipple has to be long enough to get the valve beyond the linkage. Open the valve before you put power to your motor, let the motor get up to speed, then close the valve. It's noisy, but it unloads the compressor. Obviously, you could add more plumbing to make it less noisy.

Matt Are you aware that you can unload the compressor so when you start the motor, it has less load on it?

I've made several forges with moving metal (some lined, some not) doors. Seemed like a good idea at the time. The problem I had was that, over time, the heat would warp, and/or deteriorate them. I choose to use firebrick to keep this from happening. I also need to be able to move my forge out of the way easily. These photos show the method I use today on my forges. 3 inch channel iron, welded on the end of the forge. It allows me to put the forge on a pedestal and easily move it... Soft brick is EASILY cut with a hand saw of any type.