OneAcre

The hammer was dismantled and sandblasted before modification to electric drive and returning to service. A thorough inspection at that time revealed no evidence of repairs or cracks. The ram plates were not structural, they were attached with long bolts through the ram access holes, one in front and one in back... a pretty good idea, actually. It seemed to work for them. It was used in a busy shop with a tapered die over the bottom flat die showing much use. It is probable the PO used it to re-point jack hammer bits and felt the need for more ram weight. The history of old tools is fascinating and one of the main reasons they are so enjoyable to use! .....OneAcre

K A Willey..... The grooves are only 1/4 " deep. Your experience based response convinces me that just grinding the ridges is best for this hammer. Sometimes the simplest solution is best. I have had experiences similar to yours trying to control/minimize distortion on heavy weldments. The spring box casting number is 24H. What's kind of interesting is the ram had two 3/4" plates through bolted over the oval access holes. The driven flywheel also had heavy plate bolted on to help balance the added ram weight. The hammer spent much of it's life in a busy farm community with a dedicated taper shoe die over the bottom flat die. I'm not sure if the extra ram weights were factory or later add ons. In any case I removed them when I first set the hammer up and have never felt the need for more ram weight. .....OneAcre

beaudry... This thread is a little old, but if you are still around, what did you resurface your ram tracks with? How is it holding up? I started a thread on that very topic with few responses. If you have time, could you respond there for the benefit of myself an others? https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/67569-beaudry-hammer-roller-track-repair/ ...OneAcre

Andrew T. ... It is cast steel and weldable. The rollers are hardened. When I got the hammer in '92, one of the rollers had a flat spot. It was purchased for a specific job and I needed it running ASAP, so I just annealed it, welded it up with E70-S6 GMAW, ground and polished with scotch brite, case-hardened with acytelene soot, quenched at non-magnetic, and tempered to straw. I really wasn't expecting it to last, but it is still good after all these years! I'm fairly sure the tracks are not hardened. Some steels are designed to work harden in use. Railroad track comes to mind. There are hardfacing electrodes with different properties designed to be used 'as welded' for the intended use. The question is which one? One user on another thread rebuilt a beaudry and just ground off the high spots next to the grooves so tne rollers wouldn't drag. That's probably what I'll do rather than experiment. Hopefully someone will respond with a successful welding repair. ...OneAcre

Andrew T. ... It works and works very well, doing the heavy lifting on architectural projects for many years. The hammer and I are now entering the 'hobby' portion of our journey, along with the rest of the shop. There is now time to give attention to a few projects, one of which is maintenance on the Beaudry. My skillset includes industrial welding, with both the experience and equipment to properly surface the worn tracks. Choosing the proper welding electrode for the tup alloy is critical to long term success. Some distortion of the tup is possible and perhaps probable. I was hoping someone here would have some insight to share before I begin the project. ...OneAcre

All..... I have a pre-number Champion, serial #8037, looks equivelant to a model 8. The rollers are round and turn free but the tracks are grooved about 3/16 deep.... most of the wear is from PO's. It's been run well lubed since I acquired it in 1992 using the oil/rag technique in the tup. Has anyone successfully used weld metal to resurface the tracks? .....Oneacre