Dave Hammer

An eighteen inch forge will need at least two burners. Three small ones might even be better. You might have to experiment with burner size. Too much burner is not a good idea. With that short height, I would just put them in from the top (a little toward the back) straight down. Be sure the burner tips are up from the ceiling 3/4 to one inch or so (or they will burn up quickly). If you use brick, use soft firebrick. Hard brick will work, but it will take a long time to heat enough to do anything.

Jymm Hoffman's style of blown burner forges are outstanding. I have seen them in action. I like to make my own forges, or I would probably have bought one of his. If you are still considering different types of burners or configurations... You might consider this... I have made several types of propane forges, and have settled on the design shown below. This one has a heavy body (large oxygen tank), but could be made from lighter material. Although this particular forge has legs, I now weld a piece of "C" channel on the bottom so the forge could sit on a platform. Before I weld the channel on the bottom, I cut a circle out of the center of the channel on the bottom large enough to be able to weld half of a 1" pipe coupler on the bottom of the forge so I can put the forge on a pipe stand (shown). I weld "C" channel on each end to hold the soft brick I use for enclosing it. I cut out a slot on one side and weld on a shelf wide enough to hold a soft brick to close in the front when I don't want it open. This particular forge has a single atmospheric burner (others I have use multiple burners). Jymm's style of a blown burner could be used if you wanted to. I have forge welded and made damascus billets in this type of forge with an atmospheric burner. I use Plastek 85 (ANH industries, I think) for the floor (impervious to flux). I use a quick_connect for my propane hose attachment. If you choose to do this, be sure to get a quick_connect with an O-ring that will stand up to propane gas (nurile?). I buy my quick_connects at a shop that makes hydraulic hoses. I use a 60 PSI regulator cranked all the way up, with an ALCON needle_valve to control the volume of propane (as opposed to limiting pressure). A partial turn controls the flow down or up. This forge has an eight inch diameter body, with one inch of kaowool put all the way around (I use hi-temp wire to hold the kaowool up above the opening), then put in the floor, then put in another inch of koawool from floor around to opening. The soft brick must be considered a consumable and will occasionally need to be replaced. Soft brick can be cut easily with a regular handsaw. I put the channel on the forge for the firebrick because I like putting my forges on simple pipe pedestals I can roll around in my shop.

The king of damascus (Billy Merritt) uses a 25# Little Giant, so I would suspect ANY hammer can be used to make billets.

I have a 150 lb Fairbanks also. They are great hammers. Your original question asked how tight the belt needs to be at no load. I assume that means before you press the treadle. The tightness of the belt when the hammer isn't turning over doesn't really matter as long as the belt stays on. What matters is when you press the treadle, the hammer turns over. One thing... when the treadle is pressed fully, the belt should be wrapping around as much of the hammer drive_pulley as is possible. This is true for the motor pulley also (more belt contact is better). I like my treadle travel to be the least it can be, so.... at idle, my belt is just loose enough so it doesn't turn the hammer over (it's fairly tight). Does your hammer have a brake? If so (even if not), try stopping the hammer at the top of the stroke. It takes less torque to get it going when you start from this position. If it doesn't have a brake, you should investigate getting one. I had a 100 lb fairbanks that didn't have the original brake on it... but I made one that worked fairly well (it worked like a Bradley Upright Compact hammer brake). The hammer will always start easier when the ram is in the top position. It may take you a little practice to learn to stop the ram at the top of the stroke, but after a while it is fairly easy. 5 HP is plenty for your hammer if it's a 150 lb hammer. Is the motor a single or 3_phase motor? A 3-phase motor will have more torque. Can you estimate the weight of the motor? What type of motor-to-hammer setup do you have (direct motor pulley to hammer... or jackshaft to reduce RPM)? What RPM is the motor? How wide is the belt you are using? What is the diameter of the pulley on the motor? Is your motor-to-hammer pulley ratio the proper one to turn the hammer at its rated speed? It's OK to turn the hammer slower, but not OK to try to turn it faster than rated. Can you post some pictures? Is your belt dry? If so, you might try taking it off and sanding one side of it to rough it up a little. Try using one side of the belt, then the other (flip it inside out).

One question.... one statement... Are you sure you have the minimum horsepower motor with enough rotating mass for the hammer? A light motor does not work well with that size mechanical. The original motors used (or line shaft environments) probably had hundreds of pounds of rotating mass that was engaged when the belt was tightened. Also..... Try reversing the rotation of the motor. As Grant has indicated, it makes a difference in the successful operation of a slip-belt environment.

Thick plate has thousands of industrial uses. Just look around at metal recyclers to find something you can use. What I usuallly end up with is a cut-off (unused scrap or waste) some fabricator has sent to the recycle yard. If you are not familiar with looking around recycling yards, let your fingers do the walking (use the yellow pages) and call steel recyclers and ask them if they have small pieces of heavy plate or cutoffs of heavy rounds. If they don't have any, ask for a reference to another recycler that may. The best information would be specific about what they might have, but it is more likely that they will just say they (sometimes) have pieces of heavy plate (or rounds) and you need to come in and look around to see what they have. Alternatively.... if you are getting the entire forklift tang, use an abrasive cutoff saw to cut a length off the upright part for your anvil, then use the remainder (some, or all) as the upright support for it. Grafvitnir's pictures illustrate potiential bases for these types of anvils. An alternate base idea (which I use frequently) is to find a short cutoff (3-4 inches long) of a large round (10-12 inches in diameter or so), and weld the upright support to it. That configuration provides a heavy base and allows you to move the anvil easily. The example I'm providing is made up of all rounds, but your anvil and vertical support could easily be made from your forklift tine. My anvil, in this picture, has a hole drilled into the center. The hole serves like a hardy hole. I use all kinds of additional tooling (with a stem that goes down into that hole) on the top of it. I drilled and threaded a hole in from one side and use a bolt to lock the tooling in place to keep it from turning (grind a flat spot on the tooling stem). If I want to use it as a flat anvil, I just sit another short piece of round on top of it. :)

Unless you actually NEED to take the shaft out (like to replace a worn bushing), I wouldn't.

TSC sells new 100# tanks for $125.

Early on, I though the inline treadle would be better, so I made one. Since then, I have used both types of treadle hammers. Personally, I perfer the simple implementation of the swing arm. I have noticed the swing-arm hammers seem to work easier and more effective (than in-line implementations) if the springs are set up well. I have also found that... unless the arms are extremely short, the arc doesn't have any significant effect on the use of the hammer. The arc could be set up for a straight-on strike of your hand-held tooling if the tooling is a constant length. An adjustable pivot point for the arm certainly could be desirable, but not really necessary unless the arc is extreme or you have tooling of significant length differences. All your hand-held tooling could be made so the hammer strikes it at approximately the same height from the anvil. If you are using spring swages, a slight mis-alignment of the hammer dies at the point which the top swage is struck should not be significant. YMMV.

I'd like to see a sketch of that "imagined" 2 ton power hammer built from bed pans and chisels.

I have one of those swage blocks and I love it. It's small and light enough to lift easily and use on top of my anvil. I put a little "saddle" on the side of my anvil stand for it so it's always close by when I need it.

I bought a Kerrihard a couple years ago. Cute little machine. Neat design. The ram guide was broken, so I had to repair it. It had (what appeared to be) original dies (at least the shape) on it. They proved (to me) to be totally useless for the type of forging I do with a power hammer. The profiles of the top and bottom die were different (probably very effective for shaping farm implements, but not for drawing out or using tooling). I didn't keep original measurements, but I milled the dies into combination dies that work reasonably well. I can also use tooling with the hammer now. The working surfaces of the dies ended up to be about 1.5 by 3.5 inches. If I were to do it over, I would probably just make them flat dies with a small radius on the sides.

You shouldn't need any fancy silencer. I suspect if you can connect any kind of hose to the exhaust and put the end outside, you will have very little noise left. If you cannot put the end of the hose outside, stick it into the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket that has lathe swarf or steel wool in it. This will act as a muffler. John Larson (Iron Kiss Hammers) uses this method very effectively.

Many tools can be made from spring steel. If you want to work with new stock, find a spring shop that replaces truck springs and ask if you can do a little dumpster diving for cutoffs. Take a trinket or two (leaf, key fob, nail... etc) for the manager when you ask.

The easiest way to move power hammers is with a forklift using straps. If you don't have the height for pulling from above, use a heavy beam (wood or steel) in under the ram. The hammer should be as close to your forklift as possible. Be sure you are only lifting against the hammer frame. Use a safety chain so the hammer cannot slide off the tines. If you lift against moving parts, it's likely you will break something. If you are moving a Fairbanks or upright Bradley, you may be able to stick a forklift tine through the round opening behind the ram and lift. But again... it's extremely important to have safety chains in place so the hammer can't turn over or slide off. Some hammers are top heavy, so if you are lifting from the center of the hammer, have safety chains that address that issue also.

Pictures, man..... pictures.....

I saw a chambersburg steam hammer used at a hammerin at the John Deere site in Illinois a couple years ago. It, and a boiler, was brought to the site on a flatbed trailer. There were two boilermen. Steve Parker and Clifton Ralph forged with it. I believe the same hammer and boiler will be used at Tipton, IN next June.

If it weighs a ton, probably not. Any pictures?

Roger Degner (UMBA) video taped it. UMBA offer videos for $7 for the first one, and $5 for subsequent ones (see UMBA web site). Roger is not sure he will have a good video because the strikers kept moving between the camera and the anvil. I would bet, based upon his prior successes though, the video will be worthwhile, just not as good as he would have liked it to have been.

Prayers for you Deb and a full recovery for Frosty....

Are you sure your hammer is that tall? If it is, is there linkage on the top that can be taken off to make it shorter? I put a 100# fairbanks in my garage without tipping it. I have a seven foot door also. It's hard to imagine a 75# is taller than a 100#. I used a bobcat with a forklift attachment lifting on a 4x4 that was put under behind the ram. Put the 4x4 in place and drive as close to the hammer as possible, put a safety chain on so the hammer can't tip sideways or frontways or backways, then lift the hammer with the 4x4 on the tangs. Just lift a little off the floor and drive in. You should be able to do this with a forklift also if the mast doesn't rise too high. Be sure you use a safety chain so it doesn't slide off the tangs (tied back to the uprights on the forklift) or tip over. The safety chains must be used, even if it seems like you don't need them. You should be able to use the same arrangement to put it on wood platform in the garage. I also have just used forklift tangs to just pust hammers around into position while they are sitting on concrete. If the masts rise too high on the forklift to get in the garage door, and you took stuff off the hammer to make it less than 84 inches tall, I would sit the hammer down right in front of the door and just push it in. Use the tangs to push against the base right at the floor (tangs will be on the floor). Do not push any higher or you may tip it over. Be sure no one is close to the hammer when you are moving it.

Flux will destroy most forge lining. "Plastek 85" is a refractory which will stand up to flux. I use it to line the floor of my forges. It can be purchased online. Call one of the numbers listed below. It is sold in 55 pound boxes as a ramable refractory. I make a wood form and "pack" this stuff into it, then carefully move it into my forge. It's a little pricey, but I assure you it's worth it. It's about $73 plus shipping for 55#. This stuff has a shelf life. It comes as mixed crumbly cakes that will dry out and be worthless if you leave it sit for more than six months, so I would recommend sharing a box (if you only use it for a floor) among several folks. I'm sure it could be used to line an entire forge also. It has very specific instructions for "burning in" the refractory, but I just light the forge, run on low heat for a while, then use for normal forging. This stuff is tons better than using hard brick (heats up faster and retains heat better). If you don't use it all, I recommend making up extra floors, firing them, then putting them aside for future use. Harbison Walker Sales Offices Location Phone Charlotte, NC 704-599-6540 Chicago, Illinois 708-474-5350 Kansas City, Missouri 913-888-0425 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 215-364-5555 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 412-375-6800

thecelticforge.... you have odd inches?

hc1982te..... Using a static converter results in reduced power at the tool (approximately 2/3rds of rated HP). They should only be used where the tool motor size significantly exceeds actual need, and never when the tool starts under a load. A rotary converter provides fulll power, but power load must still be considered. If the tool starts under a load (or is sensitive to power), the rotary converter idler motor needs to be larger than the motor of the tool. A general guideline would be 1.5 times, but under some conditions (extreme load, or electronic control power sensitivity) an even larger idler motor is needed. VFDs for small motors are reasonably priced (I just bought one off eBay that will handle a 3 HP motor for a little over $200), but when you need to drive a larger motor, they get very pricey. You can buy a complete rotary converter (google online to find prices), OR..... if you don't need super clean and/or balanced power, and you can find a surplus 3 phase motor somewhere (surplus yards or re-cycling operations commonly have they for sale), you can either make a rotary converter (look for instructions online), or buy a black box (panel, containing the required capacitors, relays, timers, etc) and make your own at a considerably less cost. If you buy a panel and provide your own idler motor, be sure you talk to your panel supplier about what you are using the converter for. In cases where a balanced 3 phase environnment is needed, a commercial converter may be required. It is even possible to create a usable 3 phase power source without any electronics (most economical) if you have the means to get a 3 phase motor spinning (usually with a pony motor) before power is applied to the idler motor. This, however, provides an unbalanced (amps and voltage distribution) environment and requires more than just flipping a switch to get your converter running. One more thing... If you are seriously considering swapping out the 3 phase motor for a single phase motor.... you need to consider that 3 phase motor provides more power (torque) than single phase motors (at the same horsepower). If your machine requires the size motor (horsepower) it has on it, and you want to use a single phase motor, you may need a larger horsepower single phase motor. I recommend talking to the hammer manufacturer about power requirements before you swap motors. Good luck with your project...

Frosty... You should get some of the UMBA videos which have power hammer demonstrations. Roger Degner does the video taping. DVDs are $7 for the first one, and $5 for all additional ones in any single order (the 2$ is for shipping). If you go to UMBA Online and find the list of available DVDs, you can find those that include powerhammer demonstrations.