AndrewOC

Also try http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/search/mastercrafts
this is our tv channels' online viewing link, expires in 13 days.
enjoy,
A.

phew, I was worried the pics wouldn't work; here is what the vendor put up-



A.

So who got this little loverly?
Might be a locally made 'Macson' hammer with a (?)Kinyon set up on it. Others may have more informed opinions.

http://www.ebay.com....9#ht_500wt_1202
http://cgi.ebay.com....em=280749539994

regs,
AndrewOC

must be the company I keep...
A.

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.
Thanks for the reminder about that pile of stuff. It is actually sitting on a chair in the lounge room opposite me....
C ya,
A.

yah! happy birthdayz all round!
I to am lookin forward to some quality time down at the Moon man's paddock of wonders.
See youse all there.
Andrew.

I glean pallet nails after burning the soft-wood scraps in a domestic heating fire. The nails are more or less annealed and make reasonable small rivets for armour, furniture etc.
Andrew.

I think the one I worked at was by Samuel Platt of the UK. I definitely remember the place of manufacture being 'Wednesbury'.
Check out http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Samuel_Platt , I like this website!

The machine I used did have an early speed control on the electric motor, probably 5 or seven steps. It never stayed engaged in the intermediate speeds, so we just ran it at max; which appears nearly as fast as the video example.
A.

ah ha, now i see, thanks Grant

A.

I've used a ryder type machine a few times at the third place I served my apprenticeship. Easy to set up, but requires a keen eye so that you don't forge too far on one side before doing the other die or edge. I remember doing gad/screwdriver type points on it and never could get them to all look the same! It was fairly quiet, until you shoved too much metal in. Then it would shake and rumble loud. This was the handy warning sign as going even further could cause the connecting rod/ yoke to pop out from its' crank pin.
The best job (apparently- and this is top secret so don't tell anyone;)) it did was swaging down pipe.

"Surprising they can't just get material rolled or even roll it themselves". Rolling would make a different shoulder, wouldn't it? The production forging rollers i've seen were in a spring works, I think they are more suited to longish tapers with well blended in transformation back to the parent stock, rather than a shoulder.

Definitely neat machine and discussions all!

Enjoy,
AndrewOC.

"Hey stop taking good stuff out of this country!"
Ha!
Up to a few years ago we Aussies used to say that exact same thing about all the choice steam machinery and vintage cars that went back to Pommie-land when the exchange rate was very not in our favour.
Sad to say but 'money talks, and bull***t walks'.
Maybe you could import stuff from your local third world / bankrupt country like Ireland, Portugal or Greece?

ya gotta laugh, hey?
AndrewOC

G'day Basher,
Interesting machine you have there! As you said, there is every chance it is a planishing hammer, I think the Alldays & Onions machine below is similar-



The second photo appears to show the anvil, lying down, it doesn't appear to be that heavy.
This one was on our ebay last year, for stacks too much money!

Any chance you can sketch up the fulcrum centres and the layout of the air cushion cylinder? These would be very handy for replicating such a machine- I've been fascinated by air cylinder cushioning ever since I saw the Hackney hammer in 'Pounding out the Profits'.

Lastly, somewhere i have a tatty old catalogue of one of our local machinery makers from the 1930's. Amongst their more common cannery machines and inclinable presses is their version of the planishing hammers above. If you like I'll try dig it out and scan it some time...

regs,
AndrewOC

Welcome J.A. !
Melbourne is well provided for the hobby blacksmith- Sydney has nothing like Bundoora and Mont De Lancey facilities (ok, i'm just jealous so i reckon they are good); check out their web sites.
My favourite starting point for stalking blacksmiths in a particular locality is the good ol' Yellow Pages;
http://www.yellowpag...tro+VIC&x=0&y=0
..so that search is, 'Wrought Iron' in "Melbourne Metro Vic".
Then compare with 'blacksmith' eg;
http://www.yellowpag...de=LIST&x=0&y=0

enjoy,
AndrewOC

Yay, finally a reason for my collection of outdated tool steel guides!
Balfour's / Eagle & Globe.
Double Griffin- shock resisting steel. AS1239/ AISI spec: S100A.
C .35
Si .2
Mn .3
Cr 1.75
Ni 3.5
Forging range 850-1100 C
Annealing temp 750 C
approx. annealed hardness (Brinell) 220
hardening temp. 850-950 C
quenching medium: air-salt-oil
tempering temp. range: 0-550 C
working hardness, Rockwell 'C' 40-51
Applications: Ni-Cr shock-resisting steel. Punches, shear blades, chisels, snaps, wedges.
enjoy,

AndrewOC
ps can i have some? ;)

"I would love to learn more about their construction".
About 1997 I saw a short film (on TV) from France about a very old scythe and tool making company. They were still using water powered helve hammers, very fast, prob about 200-300 bpm.
Can't find the video now maybe someone else has a source for it?
regs,
AndrewOC
PS a mate loves his brush hook for weed slashing on his 31 acres, not enough grass for a scythe; its really a hobby/rock farm!

"limit to how much performance you can get without tearing it apart"
I was quite happy with the result after cleaning the screw on my Sweeney press. As i said in the thread about it, the screw flew down by itself after a thourough cleaning. I 'tore it apart' because this particular press wasn't to difficult and it would be easier to get in the solvent bath.
Next 'efficiency maximiser' to try is the magical 'best fly press modification'; the moving parts on the Sweeney weigh 50 lbs so i'll start with a counter-weight that heavy.
enjoy,
AndrewOC
PS Ian, would you like to come over and make some tooling for the Sweeney?? since yours' looks so good ;)

Hi All,
Last Saturday I had the pleasure of picking up an ol' spring hammer;



Did some research (digitised old newspapers online) to discover "Hands, Scott" were a blacksmithing/ engineering business in Arncliffe (Sydney, Australia) between at least 1912 and 1920.
I have seen a couple of other 'Waratah' hammers online before, very similar but not exactly the same.

Enjoy the pics, I'll be scouring this forum for spring guard, flywheel brake and die-block improvements; what a great resource it is!

AndrewOC

That is way cool,Dave.
Reckon it will do 2 inch round??
I've heard of B&S Massey working models, but haven't seen a picture yet.

AndrewOC
PS, of course I want one now.

Yep, we feed our flies well down here, Rusty! Big and fat means the are real slow and when smooshed make a bigger snack for our pet Monitor /Goannas that we all have... and did i mention the fly munching Huntsman spiders we all have as well??

Seriously tho' that is a nice press you have there, Ian, and impressed with the price. I iz currently putting together a heavy stand for my Sweeney, at museum workshop.

I used to drive past A.P. Levers' old building as an apprentice. You can see it on Google maps street view; look up the western most end of Elizabeth Avenue, Mascot. They made many nice things, wheeling machines, guillos, folders and crank presses (no power hammers apparently )- similar to John Heine Co. who seemed to have a bigger range of products.

AndrewOC.

Definitely my pleasure Matt. The strip down wasn't too difficult, just the usual care on the threaded parts. The split nut is a bit rough- one half is cracked and has a few threads stripped off the bottom.

I would thoroughly recommend cleaning down the main screw. After scubbing it inside and out with solvent, i put it in the press frame ... lo and behold the thing plunged down all by its own weight!

Didn't you get a press recently Matt? Pics??

A.

Nother lot of detail pics.
Below is a rarer view of the business end of the screw.



Hopefully this shows the 4 start thread clearly. Otherwise the next shot might do better, I've gone down one thread for one turn with a paint pen.



The next shot shows something that is a mystery to me, a slot in the back of the dovetail head. Maybe to hold a quick release collar for tooling??



Now something i hope is cleva! When in pieces the moving parts were weighed, result; 50 lbs. This will be my starting point counter weight to emulate Grant's Greatest Fly-press mod.
Next step, a very stable stand. Thinking (at the moment) of;
a) heavy beam tripod OR
3/8" plate 'pyramid' (two sided).
What have others found?

enjoy!
AndrewOC

G'day all,
here is a pulley set-up that might be simple to replicate....



What do you reckon?

AndrewOC ;)

Stage II

Stripped the Sweeney down, cleaned it up and put it back together recently. 'ere be pics of the separated bits;


Arm, screw, claspnut/ height stop, sliding head.


some close ups


The half nut that holds the screw in the head.

Stay tuned for more details.
A.

Hi Guys and Gals,
re workshop and "happy to suggest documentation on what it should look like";
A question (for Thomas especially), could anyone give us a run down on the earliest benches you have seen. I'm keen to make a robust portable workbench just small enough to fit in a 6 ft box trailer. The earlier the better (grotty dark ages/ late R. empire).
Particularly need to know styles of construction and accessories like carpenters' type leg vice, like in this web site- http://www.rm-workbenches.co.uk/

tnks!
AndrewOC

Hi All,
I have seen a photo of an Alldays & Onions mounted on railway sleepers/ railroad ties. It was powered by an old tractor- flat belt drive. The hammer was probably a 2cwt, it sat on the ground. This was a demo set up at the 2009 National Historical Machinery Association rally at Murray Bridge.
I think the photo is in someones' album- a real one of paper! Try as I might I can't find it online.

Do tell us how big a footprint is needed under the 25lb-er to stop it toppling over in use on plain ground; I'm thinking of doing this with my Duffy, Todd & Williams which is about a 75lb spring hammer, and hook it up to my mates stationery engines.

enjoy!
AndrewOC