Falconer Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Patrick, How about leaving me a private message with your phone number and / or email address and I'll try one more email...or just call if that's OK. Thanks! Terrell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Mark, If you get the chance, weigh the ram in your Bradley. The ram in mine, with a standard factory flat die in place, weights 460#. I know another owner of a 300# machine that also has a 460# ram. I picked up a spare ram for my machine in september and that ram, which clearly is desinged to fit my hammer, only weighs 325# w/o the die in place, but even with the die it would only weigh in around 365# so I am curious to see where yours weighs in. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Just an FYI: tell your cement supplier what you are to be using the mix for. Its not just thickness for support. There are many different mixes available, ratings are based in pounds per square inch of force. My shop floor is a 6.5 inch average depth of 4500 mix, with 5/8 rebar on a 3 foot grid, in addition to the 6 inch wire mesh. these additions did not cost much 120 for all the rebar at the scrap yard, for cut offs (known as drops, I got 300 pounds worth) the concrete is normally 3500 for a side walk or driveway parking area. I added $30 for 3.5 cu yards for the stronger stuff. I did use the std 3500 mix with rebar for the entry, and the base of the Forge chimney. I figured with all the effort into this, what is a few more $$ when looking at the life time of the shop, and I did not want to have to make reapirs later. I also braised all the rebar to a 4 ga ground wire. so my floor is strong and electrically safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogvalley Posted December 2, 2008 Author Share Posted December 2, 2008 Patrick, When I take it off, I'll weigh it. Is it possible that the 500# and the 300# hammer take the same size of ram only in different weights and your hammer has the ram for the 500? I am curious now. What do you suggest for testing the rubber cushions for functionality? I mean how do you know if they have lost too much of their spongyness? Is there a specific durometer or rating for these? Mine don't seem cracked but they do seem rather hard and don't know how soft they should be. Do they "dry rot"? What did you do about the cracks in your ram? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Mark, I don't have a good way to gage the condition of the cushions. I have been fortunate to have others more familiar with that confirm for me that mine are in decent shape. They can dry rot and if they are badly cracked I'd get new ones. You might try a bounce test. Just drop it on the floor and see if it bounces or not. I have pretty much ignored the cracks in my ram. I have run the hammer pretty had and have not noticed any propigation, but when I found a spare ram I snapped it up just in case. If I had to, I could fabricate a new ram, but that would be expensive. As far as having the ram from a 500# machine in my hammer, that is possible. What I think might be more likely is that the company changed the design of the hammer over time. I am pretty sure they did this because in early company literature the weight for a 300# hammer is 15,000#, but in later document it is 12,000#. Also, I know one owner of a 300# machine whose anvil is solid and weighs over 4000#. The anvil on my machine is hollow and weighs 2600#. I also know that Bradley had options for things like steel sow blocks. Perhaps they had options for ram weight as well. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogvalley Posted December 4, 2008 Author Share Posted December 4, 2008 There appear to be many different weights to these hammers. Mine weighed in at under 11,000 when trucked in to me. With anvil. I plan to move the anvil around and I'll check to see if its hollow, but I think its solid and the hammer weights including rams varied. I also believe that stated weights include the motor and stand, which were considered as part of the package unless otherwise specified. I have an original motor without stand and I know that thing weighs around 4-500 and the stand was cast iron I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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