Hydraulic Piston as the hammer?

[Mark Wargo New2bs]

I was curious if the hydrualic piston rod from a piece of farm equipment would work well as the ram/hammer for a rusty style power hammer. I'm given to understand that it is chrome covered cold rolled steel. Any thoughts on that?

Mark

[monstermetal]

I was curious if the hydrualic piston rod from a piece of farm equipment would work well as the ram/hammer for a rusty style power hammer. I'm given to understand that it is chrome covered cold rolled steel. Any thoughts on that?

Mark

Sure it will work fine. Great steel for the job. Stuff won't weld well and it will be hard to drill and tap

[arftist]

For a rusty style, square or rectangular is prefered. A piston rod is likely 1018 coldrolled, and should weld and machine fine, minus the chrome of course. Sorry to disagree Mr. Monster, but that has been my experience.

[monstermetal]

For a rusty style, square or rectangular is prefered. A piston rod is likely 1018 coldrolled, and should weld and machine fine, minus the chrome of course. Sorry to disagree Mr. Monster, but that has been my experience.

No offense taken... My experience has not been the same. Most TG&P or plated rods are 4140 or 4340 and full hard... depending on how hard they can strip the teeth right off a bandsaw blade and melt a drill bit

There is no "standard" but I would think most smallish cylinders (less than a 3" rod) would be something much better than 1018... 1018 bends like butter and simply would not be suitable for the forces required.

And Like I say, Im not saying your wrong, or that Im right... Just that "probably" its better than 1018.... Thats my opinion and im sticking to it

I dont claim to know much... Anyone else have an opinion?

[Mark Wargo New2bs]

I didn't measure it, but eyeballing it I would say it is about 3 inches in diameter and 2 feet long. I would think it would have to be fairly hard to withstand the pressure of a hydraulic cylinder day in and day out. I'm guessing it came off of either a backhoe or an excavator. Arftist, you mention that square or rectangular would work better on a rusty. My initial thought was to use a piece of iron pipe with an inside diameter just a tad larger than the piston as the guide and grease the piston directly.

Mark

[Mainely,Bob]

If I were going to use pipe for a guide I`d use as heavy wall as I could find(usually schedule 80)and try for something slightly smaller in ID than the rod.
I`d then take both to a machine shop that had a friction bandsaw(they can cut armor plate with the right blade)and have them cut the rod and do the machining for both ends.
After that I`d have them bore the pipe to fit.

I think Arftist may have prefered square over round due to square not twisting in the guide.
You can overcome this problem by using some type of linkage like the spring on the new Kinyons that attaches to the top of the tup(hammer)or you could have both the tup and the guide keyed to eliminate rotation but then you`re getting into some real money in machining costs.

I think you may be getting the idea why most folks don`t start with a chrome plated and full hard round rod,especially if they don`t own a specialty machine shop or have access to someone who does and will work for free.

[Mark Wargo New2bs]

Thanks for the comments. I really appreciate the wealth of knowledge that folks share here. I'm in the research phase of this project and I won't commit to an outcome until I'm relatively sure that I have a solid plan that is within my capability given available resources.

I'm certainly not dead set on using the piston. I was given access to a scrap pile and that was available. I don't have any intention of machining special dies for the hammer. My original thought was just to dress the end of the piston itself into what would amount to a large round hammer head with beveled edge. If it is round, then rotating slightly shouldn't matter should it? I originally went to the scrap pile to grab a square disc axle for the purpose, but I thought it was a bit small at about an inch and a 1/16th square. I don't want to build a huge monster hammer, just something as a project that will be functional for drawing out material and perhaps welding billets one day as my skills improve and needs change.

Thank you guys for the info you are sharing. I like to learn from others so I don't have to do things the hard way every time heheh.

Mark

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

I was thinking the same as Sam, use the original casing for the cylinder since it already has all of the dimensions correct, bushings, etc.

I have cut hydraulic pistons with my lathe using carbide cutters to get through the chrome, or just grind it off where you need to cut it with a saw. An abrasive chop saw will do the job too. The piston is tough, not hard, so it cuts easy enough once you get past the chrome plate.