Judson Yaggy

As another horn option you could simply offer a hunk of round stock with the dovetail milled in and the buyer could turn/grind/modify as desired. Someone else questioned the additional piece added on for the base and I'd like to second that. If you need the mass, widen the anvil some but to my eye your design calls out for a fabricated stand, something out of heavy angle perhaps, and that would reduce the need for the wider base. If you want to bolt or lag it down to wood or concrete weld on some "smaller" lugs with holes. ------ Sorry, looks like we were typing at the same time.

I like it, but where's the corkscrew? To expand on Thomas' idea, you could size one of the inserts so that the smith could reasonably sink a master into it hot... that and a tapped hole or some other way to index a top tool and it'd be the bee's knees. Then we could add a frame and an air cylinder...

This may be a radical idea to post online, but I sugest a book. Search for the Spruce Forge Manual of Locksmithing, try looking at Artisan Ideas, Blue Moon Press, Lindsay Books, etc.

Those are very good mechanical hammers. Anyone in the Boston area should snap it up. Doug- The answer to your question is that it depends. How big and isolated is your slab or foundation block? How well is the hammer fastened down? What are the soil conditions, are you on bedrock or sand? How tight is the hammer, if it's really worn you will hear more rattling and clacking. As industrial tools go they are not so loud, a pair of ear plugs will give the operator all day comfort but if you are in a residential neighborhood you better be on really good terms with your neighbors.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that except for the really early HB's they were a forged steel top half, and a forged wrought iron bottom half, joined at the waist. The early ones had just a steel face plate and a wrought body.

Grant, I could be wrong but I'm not sure I agree, I've seen a fair number of Fairbanks and have yet to see one with an integral clutch. Part of their marketing was to sell a hammer with as few moving parts as possible. Would be neat if I was wrong, something new to look for at the tool sales! My Model E, 150#, has the inboard belt pulley like you see in all the photos, but the guy I bought it from claimed that the jackshaft and motor were original equipment. Don't know if he knew what he was talking about but...

Grant is correct, it is indeed a brake. See my post in your other thread on Fairbanks hammers for an adjustment tip. If you've been working on it all day you've probably found all the oil points, but probably the 2 that are most prone to being missed are the one in the idler wheel (centered on the curved working face of the pulley, perpendicular to the axle) and the ones in the top of the ram where the ram keys into the guides on the frame of the hammer. As someone else already noted these are for lubing the ram guides, but as they are both critical and hard to spot I thought I'd mention 'em again. Happy hammering!

Ironwolf- Ralph Sproul from Webster New Hampshire just did a partial rebuild on a Say Mak a guy around here has. Ralph posts on the Forgemagic/FarwestForge lists, you might be able to get a hold of him that way.

Farmer- There should be a porter bar hole aprox. centered in and clear thru the anvil mass for lifting it out of the machine if needed. May be covered by the upper strap that holds the anvil to the backbone of the hammer. HOWEVER power hammers are VERY top heavy and tippy, especially when the anvil is removed. One mistake and it may fall over, breaking the hammer or crushing you or both. I'd remove the anvil only as a last resort, and then you'd still have to move the 1000# block, and still have the headroom issue. How are your carpentry skills? You could remove the trim (if any) along the top of the door to gain another 3/4" or so, or temporarily brace and remove the door header if you need more space. Or if you are really handy with contractor skills, strip off some of your roofing and sheathing, and hire a boom truck/crane (any tree services in your area?) to pick the thing up and drop it in from the top of the building. I'm skeptical about lifting and positioning a hammer bigger than a 25# Little Giant or so with an engine hoist, I have a cheap Chinese one for moving smaller loads and it sure starts to groan if you try and pick anything more than 900 lbs or so. Also, the max lift on them is only available with the boom retracted as far as it will go, dramatically shortening the tip height. The load also needs to be centered between the two front legs, so if the base of your hammer is wider than the legs of the lift you are out of luck.

Farmer- I learned on a 75# Fairbanks, now have a model E, 150#. They are good solid mechanical hammers, but as with all old hammers you are pretty much on your own for finding manuals and parts as they haven't been made for 75 years or so. If something is broken, you will probably find that making your own parts is the best option. Fairbanks were also made under the name DuPont, and there was a Canadian Fairbanks brand as well so when looking for parts check under those names too. That size hammer could be put on it's own block of concrete if you want a little more mass, stability or sound isolation, but if you've got a good thick slab in your shop already you should be ok without additional work. Opinions on this point will vary, only experience will let you know what works for you. The pitman adjustment on these hammers is fairly easy, put a block of wood of the thickness desired between the dies, loosen the big nut on the front of the pitman a little, and give it a tap with a mallet. The pitman rod will come loose and slide in it's sleeve. Retighten nut. These hammers have a built in brake in the back inside of the flat belt pulley. They consist of a split ring that is cammed open to contact the pulley when the treadle is released. If things are worn you can get a little more action out of the brake by loosening the bolt in the slotted hole in the cams and levering on the cams to open the brake more. Hope this helps. Good luck.

I could be wrong, but the numbers on the foot look like all the HBs I've seen. Is the entire top half one piece of steel or is the face welded on (you may see a faint horizontal line 1/2 to 1 inch down from the top face)? Tip it over and look at the shape of the indentation on the bottom. That's another clue.

The shape and the markings on the foot would strongly indicate to me that it's a Hay-Budden. Made in Brokylin, NY. They made anvils for resale under other brand names so having other names and marks on it are not unheard of. The book Anvils In America by R. Postman can tell you more. HBs were of top quality and excluding any cracks that don't show up in your photos your anvil is in great condition. Don't grind or polish the face, you have a good anvil so start hammering!

Shape, material, and style all offer clues as to the origin of an anvil. Often they will tell you as much or more than the markings. Some additional photos are definitely called for. Because it's marked in lbs, it's probably American made.

A post from Grant a while back about fly press tooling got me thinking about this one. Thought some of you folks would like to see this. Made up this bottom tool to go with my ring turning insert for the fly press. Adjustable, bottom pins roll as you slide the workpiece along, a little easier, a little less marring of the stock. I plan on making different shaped bottom tools too, especially one set with a deep groove for bending flat stock the hard way. It clamps onto my big tooling plate that is currently not mounted to the press, but you get the idea.

Just looked in POTP, didn't find an exact match. Perhaps a "Star", page 188? Hole in the frame, rear clutch linkage, and bow spring match, ram guides are different than pictured. Says they made a 200# model which may have accounted for the removable anvil.

Frosty- Good job. Listen to Grant re: brake/clutch interaction. For a little added safety in case of spring failure and the resulting shrapnel, get a length of rubber big truck radiator hose slightly larger than the diameter and length of your hammer's spring and install around the spring. The flexible hose won't bother the mechanism. Shattered spring bits can be quite small and may fit thru the slots in your guard, the hose will hopefully stop/slow down any smaller bits.

Found this vid of a big "hydro-nitrogen" hammer on youtube- looks like someone's prototype? Would love to hear what folks who have big hammer experience think. YouTube - 2 Ton Hydra-Pneumatic Forging Hammer

I see that the Anyang is in Milford, USA. That narrows down the location, probably only 150 or so Milfords out there.

Arftist- Yeah, too complicated for a first hammer, thou maybe just having an adjustable throw on the pitman pushing the rear cylinder would do the trick. Perhaps next time. However, such an idea hasn't turned up anywhere else, you may be on to something... Andrew- I don't have pics of the clearspace valving. If you have some I'd love to see them, as probably would others.

Further Google Patent searching turned up this hammer, like the A&O the tup is returned just from vacuum. PNEUMATIC HAMMER - Google Patent Search Will post some photos soon.

If anyone is interested, Steve Parker will be the featured demonstrator at Jim Fecteau's shop for the Fall New England Blacksmiths meet, featuring Steve on the Beaudry that he forged new spring arms for. Check out the NEB website for details.

I'm with Grant on this one. Looks like it works OK, but for general smithing you'd be better off spending the time that it took to make the press learning to hammer hard by hand. Might be worth it for specifically making pattern welded billets as that requires a very tight set of procedures that is well suited to press work. As with all most all blacksmithing processes, using a press, power hammer, rolling mill, striker and anvil, etc., is only the end game of a long string of operations informed by the knowledge of the smith.

Never used a Diamondback, but I use a Chile Habanero every day. A darn good gas forge, very hot, easy to adjust, easy operation. Beats the socks off my old NC Whisper Daddy. The hard lining is a nice touch for heavy use. Only drawback is that there is no built in igniter (a very minor flaw).

You can't always compare sizes and numbers on all makes and modes of presses, especially on the older models. The #'s and weights on the new imported models could be considered a baseline because lots of people have them and the capacities are listed in lots of places, but all bets are off on the antique models just because there were so many more manufacturers, and they tended to number their presses any way they felt like. Probably the best way to compare is to measure screw diameter, fly weight and fly diameter and check against the charts of the new models. For example, my old Perkins #4E has the same screw as a modern #6, but a bigger and slightly heavier fly weight. And the frame alone weighs 1600#, not counting the factory made base.

A good tip for blowing dust out of drilled holes in concrete is to figure out what thread is on the tip of your air gun (some folks call it a chuck) and find a piece of copper tube of similar size, a foot or two long, and tap or die the copper so it'll screw onto the gun. This lets you get the compressed air to the bottom of the hole where it will do much more to clean things out than just blowing into the top of the hole. WEAR YOUR SAFTEY GEAR as the dust and bits will go EVERYWHERE!