dsloan

And there you have it. The earliest to the lastest hammer. My only claim to fame is to the have the most photographed LG. I currently own Sid's old shop hammer. Until till Number 1 became his shop hammer. The hammer in reference was rebuilt in the early 90s by Sid and Fred C. then featured at every hammer school until 2009. Figure 25 students in the hammer school and every photo that has been published of Sid running a hammer. To say the least I have an iconic friend (Sid) and a neat hammer. On a side note: I'd love to hear more of the Ausie hammer. Dave from Diller

Here's a fun one. Does anyone know the date of delivery on one of the last frames ever made? Trick question though, the hammer in reference was one of the last three produced by LG of Mankato, but never assembled. So it could be considered a brand new hammer. The best purchase story I've heard still comes from Phil Cox. How much beer does it take to purchase a LG? Plus, another trivia question when was the first 25 lb. LG shipped? Dave from Diller

Good catch peacock. I noticed the cast ram guide and forgot about the pitman. Thanks Black frog you can't go wrong calling Sid on these. Here's the trick I use with my neighbors. I run my hammers on Sunday mornings when everyone's in church or should be. Just a thought. Dave from Diller

Sir, Good looking hammer. I'm almost sure your right on the dies. They might be a little short, check out Little Giants website for proper height. The only thing I can see from the pictures that might cause a problem in how low the cross head (mickey mouse ears) is sitting on the pitman (the bronze fitting on the front). I'd flip this over allowing more adjustment. Congratulations on the new hammer. Dave from Diller

Sir, The windstream email is correct. Their phone number is 402-873-6603. You will find them most helpful. Dave from Diller

Congratulations on the new hammer. It good to see the ole hammer naked again. I was hoping someone else would of picked up on this, but I'll have to voice my opinion on the guard. I've seen someone else do this, maybe it explains the guard or not. It was a guard but it was a guard to keep the oil from flying all over the shop. If you notice from the pictures it trapped all the flying oil areas. :P Still a good looking hammer. Dave from Diller

Phil, Excellant score. All I did this weekend was work. Now I'm jealous. Dave from Diller

Excellent Seminar. I felt it was one of the best and I've been to quite a few. Good folks, a good time and we got to talk power hammers. You can't ask for anything better. Dave from Diller

Thanks for showing that Phil. You make me want a shaper. Dave from Diller

Don, It looks good. I know Sid uses brake banding which has a fiber like surface and Phil uses nylon strapping (I think). Hopefully he will chime in. But I'm sure leather would work well and the excess oil would only help out in the grabbing power. Welcome to the brake club. Dave from Diller

No need to add a brake to a 100#er. I've never seen one that had run on problem, the fly wheel and ram weight are enough to cause it to stop. Post a picture and I think we will be able to help you better. The keys are tapered. Dave from Diller

On LG website go to parts and close to the top of the page it says useful on hammers I believe and the tolerances are under that. The arms are cast steel any stand welding wire should work (mig). Well, maybe that's a better question left for Phil? As far as jigs after you've filled the hole Sid has one made out of a piece of channel iron. On one end he has a small slice of pipe probably an inch a quarter in diameter welded on. The slice is of a thickness that it allows the arm to lay level on the channel, with the thin end of the arm resting on the pipe. This keeps the double ended arm and the spring flange level also. He just tacks the arm on to the channel iron, allowing you to drill parallel holes. Hopefully that wasn't to confusing. Dave from Diller

I agree with the previous posts. Sid's website call for a tolerance of .012-.016 on the clutch pulley. If your going to take this to a machinist also have them turn the inside of the clutch pulley just enough to true it up. I not sure about the thickness of the shim Sid used when he cast the main bearings, Maybe Phil has the thickness. If I had to take a guess I'd say 1/4" inch, but it might be three eights. The motor mounting should not be a problem on either side. Try to use a three hp motor if you have one available though. A two horse will work but three are a little better. For those interested the Rebuild class for this year is going to be set for the 16th and 17 of March. Dave from Diller

There were to different style of upper keys used on old style 50s. One type has a double angle ground in, and the other has only a single taper. Make sure you get the right one. It's quite odd that the top die keeps coming loose most of the time it's the lower. Check the angle of your dove tails using your die as a gauge. In some rare cases the ram dovetails have actually flared out (spread apart). Dave from Diller

Sir, The repairs look solid. I know what happened on the fly wheel. They tried to remove the main shaft and cracked the small area between the pitman pin and the shaft, but it looks repaired well. I'm not sure why they brazed the extra material the frame though, but it looks like it was done well. The only problem would be the main babbit bearings are going to need repoured. They are almost out of spacers. Other wise with a little care and attention this could be a good hammer. Dave from Diller

At last years hammer school we had a gentleman that took two boats, a train, and two airplanes just to make it from Alaska to attend. It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't come back this year again. I'll take a stab at your question. If your referring to the main bearings you want them to leak a little. That way they remained well lubricated, you'll never get them to hold the oil completely. The hammer action of the hammer alone will drive the oil out. One fix if possible would be to tighten the main bearing caps by removing some shim from between the bearing caps. Remove just enough shim so the main shaft has a little drag on it. Second if you have the main bearing caps off take your pocket knife or anything with an edge and scrap the inside center edge of the lower babbit bearing, this will cause a wicking action and hold the oil more firming and allow it to flow better around the shaft. One thing you'll hear from alot of hammer operators is that if there is not oil and grease on your ceiling your not oiling your hammer enough. Dave from Diller

I'd have to agree with Mr. Dean. If at all possible attend one the rebuilding courses in March. If that's not possible purchase the DVD before your rebuild it will show a ton of information. The book most refer to is a good starter book. It has very good reference material, but some of the areas of the rebuild that he shows is quite involved. Sid's course and video simplifies this considerably. Dave from Diller

Here are a few of the final assembly pics. Dave from Diller

Here are some photo's of the size of the hammer next to a calender and photo of the fly wheel detailed out. For those that have been wondering this would hammer would be rated at a 1 pound. The ram weighted in at a pound. In the event of humor we could call it a "POUNDER". Dave from Diller

Mat, No this isn't the same kind of hammer, but man that was cool. Here are a couple of photo's of the parts and the frame in primer. (I'm thinking purple is a good color) The folks that have seen these little hammers have suggested everything from pocketwatch parts to leaves. I hadn't heard paper clips though. hmm hmm. Dave from Diller

Folks, I started on this project recently and thought I'd share it with you folks. For those Little Giant fanatics out there this one of rarest you'll see. In about 1995 Little Giant of Nebraska City had a run of Miniature hammers cast. There was only 13 cast in all. If anyone has been to Nebraska City and visited the shop they've seen Sid's. These are cute little hammers. Sid assembled the first few and also donated several to ABANA in the first years, but as of the last few years he sold off a few as just the frame and the fly wheel. On one of my last visits I noticed he had only one left. After having spent the last few years working with Sid on hammers and knives I approached him about building up the last one and he agreed. Hopefully my first pictures attached themselves. They will show what I've started with and hopefully indicate the size. The hammer positioned next to it is a 8 ounce ball pein. Dave from Diller

Andrew, The measurement is 3 inches per die. You can get away with a little adjustment, with your pitman when forging larger stock. I've seen Sid forge a 25 pound die down under his 25 and we know that is 3 inches. I'd say that's about the most you could try under a 25. I'd like to say the normal person with a properly adjusted 25 can do all that will be asked of it. I've seen crazy large damacus billets forged under a 25. The things a lot of people have trouble with is getting there hammer to hit properly and then they think they need a bigger hammer. The thing they don't take into account is that a 25 hits FASTER. The 50 has a slower rpm (hits per minute). The only way you could actually gain more is by going to 100 and with only 1600 ever being made it's a hard step. Dave from Diller

Andrew, Everyone has been point on. I'll agree by a new spring. Then make sure you have a little tension between your spring cap and bolt. You want your arms almost parallel to your dies. The die gap between three quarters and an inch will put you in the power range. You want to set this to the same tension as Sid showed in the video for the Old Style. On a 25 you want it to bounce with hand pressure flicking it up. This could cause your hit bang miss. If you could post us a picture of you dies we could help you out more. If your lower die is worn badly (short) this can cause problems. I have a hit and miss problem on my 25 if I try and forge anything over two inches in height and this is because I'm too lazy to adjust my pitman up from the 7/8 clearance I have between the lower and upper die. Also it runs well enough that it only takes a couple of hits to get it under two inches. Once under two inches it pounds hard to under a quarter in little to no time. I hope this helps. Dave from Diller

Murdock, If you live near Omaha. You realize Little Giant is located in Nebraska City? Post some more photos when you get the chance. Dave from Diller

Sir, If the can of spray behind the hammer is used for reference. I'd say you have a 50. The best place for info. is the Little Giant hammer website. (www.littlegianthammers.com) Their website will tell you size and also parts available. If nothing else give them a call. They will be more than happy to answer any questions you have. As stated before location has a lot to do with value. You will find a lot of price variation in fifty pounders though. If it has a single bolt front main bearing cap this will hurt the value. This will make it an older hammer. As far as usefulness, it depends on how much hammering you are planning on doing. Most folks with a good power hammer will not be without one. Good luck with hammer. Dave from Diller