Beaudry Sow Block dovetail repair

[Tony millham]

The sow block on my 100 lb beaudry has had a 3-4 " piece of its male dovetail broken off since I bought it in 1977. Any suggestions on repairing the missing dovetail would be appreciated.

The sow shifts slowly under hard hammering.

Does anyone know of a successful repair of the sow dovetail and how was it done?

I am thinking of machining the broken shoulder of the remaining dovetail square, machining a replacement dovetail to fill in the missing section which is about 3-4" long and then drilling and tapping upward into the sow block for several bolts to retain the new dovetail.

I am not sure about this process: Is mild steel is OK for the new dovetail or might it be too grabby as opposed to cast iron?; In selecting bolts for the repair, do you think that coarser threaded bolts would be better in view of the cast iron sow material?

Thanks for any thoughts on this repair.

[mike-hr]

When I first got my old mechanical hammer, the dovetail was about half broken off. I used a slitter wheel, grinder, then file, to cut it off in plane, then used a piece of hot roll mild square stock (1 inch or 1-1/4, can't remember), machined the dovetail angle, and drilled holes every 1-1/2 inches, tap drill size for 1/2-13 tpi. I then used the square stock for a drill bushing, and drilled the tap drill into the hammer material. Next drilled the square stock out to 1/2 inch and used it for a tap guide, so the tapped holes would go in straight. Anyway nobody told me I couldn't do it that way, and it's been working fine for 6 or 7 years now..I'd say you're on a good track.

[Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver]

Well seein' how ya ask, this is what I'd do: If I remember right the sowblock on a Beaudry is pretty substantial. I'd machine away the whole male part and cut a female dovetail in it. Then I'd make up a double dovetail piece, sorta "bow-tie" cross section. and use two wedges.

That's what I'd do. Your solution sounds like it could work O.K. too. Depends a lot on your machining capability.

[HWooldridge]

Tony,

Your proposed method sounds feasible and I would use large, coarse threaded bolts to hold the piece. You might also want to consider thru drilling, rather than tapping a hole in the cast iron. Grant's method adds up to more work but there would be no chance of slippage as the whole bottom of the sow is replaced. In either case, mild steel should work fine.

I had a smaller sow broken in a similar way. The replacement piece was welded into place with cast iron rod, then I put a wide steel band around the sow with two bolts per side to keep the repaired assembly from breaking again. I used the hammer for several years then sold it - to my best knowledge, the new owner has never had a problem with it.

[forgemaster]

Grants' spot on with his method of repair, we have a broken dovetail on our 5cwt massey when we move to our new workshop it is will be going to a machineshop en route to have a double dovetail fitted.

At the moment we are using about 8 x 7/8 dia countersunk socket headed high tensile cap screws to effect a repair, they are ususally lasting on average 4 to 5 years in the job, and our 5cwt cops a caning.

Phil

[Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver]

I used to say that my business existed to support the government and to repair old machinery. Seemed like that was all we did sometimes. I always said I was either makin' money or learning, my two favorite things. Sometimes I did a lot more learnin' than I could stand, though.

"Cops a caning"?????????

[Tony millham]

Thanks for the good suggestions.

I hadn't thought of running the bolts through to the upper surface of the sow which may be the way I will go.