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I Forge Iron

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Well, we've all seen the "Rusty" - today I decided to start a project I've been pondering for a long while and have even asked for some info in the forums. Thanks again to everyone who pointed me in different directions, everything I've come across has been extremely helpful. Anyway, here's a few pictures of the project so far. The first pic is a little hammer I found :) - a 20lb sledge. The head had small points on the striking surface so I ground them off leaving the surface still slightly convex. Second picture is of the hammer next to a gallon of water just to give some perspective of the size of this thing. Lastly the frame is starting to come together and I have a 60lb anvil that will be dedicated to this build. The goal is to have an Oliver style hammer made from wood, eventually to move it to our shop at the Ren Faire to use for demo's -- of course that all depends on how it works out. :) Any and all advice is still welcome. I'd like to get this thing done by next weekend.

-J

ps. I'm not a carpenter at all - I just like having wood working tools around just in case.. :)

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Not sure I know where to find a torsion spring of the right size / displacement - was thinking about cheating using standard helical springs. As for hammer to anvil ratio - were it being powered by my arm I'd care more about efficiency, however, as it's going to be powered by my leg / body mass and the return action caused by a spring, I don't think that the rate of diminishing return really matters in this configuration. Oh, and the hammer was only $24.50 - I think that was worth it - so far I have about $58 into the build, time aside, I might just be able to pull this off for under $100!

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I was mostly joking about using a torsion spring but they aren't hard to make. Simply find a piece of leaf spring long enough to reach across the frame, clamp it at the ends and clamp the hammer handle in the center.

Adjusting it is easy enough. If it's too strong, (assuming the clamps are already at the ends) simply grind or saw a little off the width till it's right. Making it stiffer can be done by moving the end clamp points closer to the center.

Making one with coil springs is a little more complicated, you'll need a shaft, bearings (bushings are fine) and a pair of springs you can clamp to the shaft and frame.

Frosty

Edited by Frosty
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