SoCal Dave

Chinobi: Welcome, I live in Simi Valley, Ca. and you have a great Blacksmith School near you. It's call Adam's Forge. Adam Leventhal was a L.A. blacksmith who the school is named after. The school is located near the 5 Freeway, and the Fletcher exit not to far from Griffith Park. There really isn't any other schools north of ventura or south of L.A. is Vista near San Diego.

Find a welding school. Talk to your instructor about what you want to do. If you have a project in mind, the instructor will set you up with series of steps that will lead you to your goal. And, along the way, you might become interested in other types of welding. There is so much more to welding than picking a type of welder.

You might want to look at Ribbon Burners. There are lots of posts out there on this subject and some knowledgeable people who have tried ribbon burners. As in anything, there are positive and negative issues with any burner. Good luck

Thanks Frank: I still remember using the Little Giant at your school. That was my first experience with power hammers. I remember you oiling the 17 or so spots on your hammer each day we used it.

Update the Update: Here is a picture of the hammer with the crosshead turned over and the dies held in place with an inch between them.

Thanks guys for pointing out the crosshead and die space issues. I did turn the crosshead over and readjusted the dies so I now have 1" between the dies, held in place while the pitman is at 6 O'clock. I was going to take a picture of the new position, but as usual, the camera battery went dead. Recharging now and will send one tomorrow. A picture is worth a thousand words. You got to love photos, they show so much and saved me a lot of trouble. Thanks again.

This 50Lb Little Giant was first introduced to this website as "Overkill". I purchased it from Calif. State Univ. at Long Beach. It had not been used in 8 years and had the giant cage on it. Here are some photos of it after some cleaning and parts replacement and the before photos. Clearly, it's not a full repair and cleaning. After getting Sid's video from Little Giant, evaluating my hammer and talking to Sid, I replaced the top and bottom dies, (combo set), toggles, knuckles, spring, and gaskets. I changed the toggle adjustment from the old style on one side to both side adjustments. Lots of grinding on the die keys and adding a spacer. Now I await the motor. My kingdom for a motor. I have to wait for a few more funds to accumulate in the bank before I purchase that. More cleaning and some painting until the motor arrives. Anyway, for those interested, here is the update. It's not painted, but it's beautiful to me.

Gripping the handle: All over depending on what I want to do.

I have not worked on a Dupont hammer, but one side of the key should be thinner than the other. The die may also be wider on one side than the other which would indicate way to push out the key. If the key is sticking out further on one side should also indicate how the key was initially driven in. Usually, a couple of long blunt punches or metal bars the size of the keys or smaller will work. I had a ram die that took quite a pounding before it came out. Good luck.

There are differences between the old style and new. Contact Sid at Little Giant and he can guide you. Calling is best. I have an old style. I think what is available locally and which is in the best condition would be my preference now. It also will depend on the size i.e. 25, 50 or 100 lb hammer. Good luck.

I wear ear muffs, and like the silence. Silence is golden.

I have both, an ergonomic hammer and a non-ergo hammers. Some days I like one and then I try another and like that one. It's the feel that it gives you and who knows why it does. The moral is to have lots of hammers.

This year I went back to Charleston, South Carolina and visited the Philip Simmons house and shop. What an amazing guy who did so much with so little. As I toured Charleston, I specifically looked for his work which is throughout the city. When I was at the Turley Blacksmith School, I felt like I was learning about the old ways and the new. I wouldn't have been surprised if Mr Simmons walked through the door to work on a project. It had that feeling.

Very cool process.

We need a bigger boat (jaws) you need a bigger welder.

I would think it would consist of some basic geometry in dealing with finding lengths of different shapes. If you watch a Mark Aspery video, he deals with this stuff in estimating lengths. Also, fractions are used all the time in welding. Good luck.

I've painted some bathroom items and they have held up well. I have included some photos of TP holders that I've seen over the years.

Welcome Zach to a life long pursuit in blacksmithing and learning. Good luck!

It would help if you brushed it with a wire brush. This should help remove some of the dust.

It will be a long process to get the hammer up and running. First, I need a single phase motor, and once I get it running, I can see if it is in or out of adjustment. It definitely will be a learning experience.

I sent an email to Sid@littlegianthammer.com and it was returned. It indicated it failed as a permanent failure. Does this mean the website is no longer valid or functioning? The email site came up while I was on the little giant website so I thought it would be current.

I got the "overkill" Little Giant off the trailer and into the shop today. I built a little platform of plywood and conveyor belts to support it. The picture is of a proud owner.

I agree about hammer handling, especially little giants, because they are heavy and in such an unusual shape. The forklift operator that helped move my little giant was probably good at the usual stuff around his school. He definitely wasn't accustomed to moving something like the little giant, even though, his confidence led him to believe he could do it. If someone had the time, they could produce a video on moving, strapping, chaining, transporting, tilting, where to lift, etc of the little giants. Most of it is common sense but some precautions might help others.

Overkill may be Protection: Most times we think a purpose for something like a cage is just for one reason. However, just once in awhile, it can have other purposes we never thought of, or unintended consequences that we are not aware of that the long dead previous owner had in mind. I purchased the "overkill" 50 lb little giant. When I went to pick it up, I was told they had a forklift and good operator who was the only certified forklift operator. There you have it. Without going into great detail, the operator wasn't so good, and the cage protected the hammer from damage. I want to thank the previous hammer operator who installed the well-built cage as I truly needed it that day. He is in the big blacksmith shop above, and I hope he can hear this prays. The cage is coming off. It has served it's purpose and done it's time. I hope to give it new life soon and now I know that maybe the things I do may have consequences down the line that I don't see right now or may never see.

It is true that those mentioned are very very good. But, I think Frank Turley in New Mexico is the grand daddy of teachers. His knowledge base on blacksmith and related subjects is unbelievable. If you want to learn not just lots of techniques, but also knowledge in blacksmithing Frank is the man. I've taken his week course and loved every minute. He has continued to be a resource for me on anything metal. He has been a teacher for a very very long time and there is a reason his school is still open. Good luck in your search.