hammerkid Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 (edited) Hey yall, Ive been doing quite a bit of heavy forging at my shop lately. And have came to the concuslion its time to build a power hammer. I have looked at alot of Rusty, hammer deisgns and am going build one and the ram will be about 45 or 55 lbs dependy on if i get sq or round stock at the scrap yard. I was wondering about the spring, how long should ai get about 50 inchs?, do I REALLY need to straighten it and wat is the advtanges /disadvatge of a staright vs. unstarightened spring? The anvil will be probally 4" solid sq. or round. So will the ram , the ram will be about 14" so that when the dies are at max. height I ll have about 6 inches between em. Itll have a 1 hp motor , I got a 1/2 hp free was going use for a 25 but decied to go ahead and get bigger motor and heavier ram. I got the metal for the frame free, I got a big stack of 4x8 x 5/16" I beam Iam going use fo rthe frame and have a lot of braceing so it doesnt flex much as possible. The base plate will be either 3/8" thick- 5/8" plate depending on price of the scrap steel. It ll be anorched down to a concreate pad and a piece of plywood in between. I also got a 10" in diamater pulley gave to me and think Ill use it and thought about make the pillow blocks ( fabing em up) . I am think of maybe getting the die mounts machined or may fab em up to be sorta like the Big Blus quick change die system. I am going today or tommorow to go get the anvil, and ram and the plate for base plate. Ill post pics as I buil it. My cousin is going help me build it ( who is a welder for a living) at his shop where we can use his big mig, stick , tig, and plasma. If needed and also where we will have room for lay out. We will be starting building it June 28th, but going ahead and getting all the materials all together. Chris Edited June 16, 2009 by hammerkid forgot a question Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerkid Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 Well I went to the scrap yard , I got a piece of 4" solid round stock for my anvil and ram. Got 5/8" plate fo rthe base plate, some 1 1/2"x3" for my dies. I`ve got everyhting now besidies motor, leaf springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Sounds like you're off to a good start Chris. I think a 1HP motor may be a little small for 45-50lbs but will work at a lower BPM. LG specs 2HP for it's 50# mechanical hammer but runs fine at a reduced BPM with 1 1/2HP. What are you going to use for a clutch? Slack pully and idler? Personally I like a tire drive for any home built mechanical hammer, there's just a lot less to mess with and I think probably safer. Safer meaning there's zero chance of being whipped with a broken belt and making guards for a tire drive would be simpler. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerkid Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 (edited) Reckon i should go with a 1 3/4hp? Tire drive? like a tire hammer? or what? I`d consider changeing to a tire hammer design if I can still use most parts I have. Edited June 16, 2009 by hammerkid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptree Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Chris, I built a 32# rusty style with the slack belt drive. Then I upped to 45# and just burned up the V-belt. I converted toa spare tire drive and it is very nice. Easy to feather for slow soft hits, and cheap. The weight of the compact spare also helps to smooth up the action. I used a rear spindle hub assembly from a 90 Gran Caravan.(Plymouth gran Voyager is the same thing) I used the hub with the brake drum pressed off. This gives a great set of tapered roller bearings on a precision spindle. The hab bearing assemblt is bolted with 4 bolts to the axle, and I just reused those bolts to go through a mounting plate back into the tapped holes in the hub assembly. To make the pivot for the pittman arm, I used another steel wheel less the tire from the same van. I cut a hunk from the rim to leav three lug nut holes. This I welded a hunk of 1.5" x1.5" square bar to to give 3.5" from center. This gives 7" of stroke. I tapped the hunk of steel, and threaded in a Shoulder Bolt. The shoulder bolt, a 3/4" if I recall, is the lower pivot. I just drilled a 3/4" hone in a hunk of steel and that was weled to the end of a big building turnbuckle. If I recall, I used a 2 5/15" wide by 1/4" thick leaf. I have a 5Hp motor, but that is probably overkill. My 45" strokes about 9" when wound up, if I start with about 1/2 to 3/4" of daylight between the ram and the bottom die at rest. I use the first finger of my hand to set the daylight, so if I am forging 1" stock, I set the turnbuckle to give me room to slip that first finger between the dies and the work at rest(machine off!) Questions? Just e-mail of message me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerkid Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 Sorry for the trouble , but I`ve decied to go ahead and build a tire hammer, cause of Ican get the stuff bout same as the helve hammer stuff and I think it`ll work better and be about same to build . tire hammer - Blacksmith Photo GalleryHPIM0523 - Blacksmith Photo Gallery My ram will be round like this one and going find a coil spring like this and the wheel that is on the motor shaft and turns the tire I can get machined for free just need to know the size i need for it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 You won't regret it! the only issue is it needs to be secure, they tend to move a bit, but it has got what it takes to move metal, only thing I would change would be the die size, they are a bit smaller than most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerkid Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 Th base plate will be anourched done to abouy a 5 1/2 or 6" pad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerkid Posted June 29, 2009 Author Share Posted June 29, 2009 Well we got the base plate cut the holes for the bolts to hold it to the pad cut , and the anvil cut to height and 4 gussets cut and welded to the anvil and the anvil is welded to the base plate, I figure thats a good start. Got a spindle gave to me and need to get a ford ranger doughnut tire also my cousin gave me a piece of 5" sq. tubing to use as the main frame instead of the I beam. Pretty much waiting to get the plans before do much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 good for you Chris. You'll like the sq tubing better than the "I" beam, it's more rigid so you won't have to do as much bracing and boxing to get it stiff. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Ptree, can you post a picture of your set up? I'd like to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerkid Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 Well got a call from dad saying tire hammer plans came today. But i had quick question, see my anvil is only 34" tall should/do I need to scale the 5"sq. tubing (main frame) down 2 inches? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerkid Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 Anyone know about if I need to scale the main frame down 2" since anvil is 2" shorter than the plans? Needing a answer cause fixxing start working on it some more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I cannot say definatively, but it sure stands to reason that will need to be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerkid Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 Well going go ahead and shorten the tubing 2" havent cut it yet and got thinking and think thats what I needs to be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 That or create a riser. It's a forgiving system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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