This a my new treadle hammer that I designed over a year ago and finally welded up recently. It's a straight line linkage type. The hammer weighs about 100 lbs and has a little over 16" of stroke.

This a my new treadle hammer that I designed over a year ago and finally welded up recently. It's a straight line linkage type. The hammer weighs about 100 lbs and has a little over 16" of stroke.

your hammer looks VERY NICE!! GOOD JOB!

nice looking hammer . I would like to see more of the linking system.

Hey, isn't he required by LAW to post the working drawings. I thought I saw that somewhere in the posting rules.

THAT IS SLICK!

I understand the basic mechanics. What I would like to see is how the head is kept stable. I know the angle of the dangle part, but what stabilizes the head? Is it just the bushings in the arms, or is there something I can't see?

That looks real slick, can we see what happens when you forge something with it? I am curious as to how the linkage performs under a load, great looking build

Thanks for the comments. The linkage itself is its own guide. The pivoting connections keep the hammer inline front to back. The arms riding along themselves inside the frame attachment keep the hammer from moving side to side. I'll try and post another video of it in use when time permits.

Beautiful job.... If it works as good as it looks you may have just set the new bar for treadle hammers....

2 (identical?) parallelogram linkages, (mirrored?) tied together with a slide where the linkages overlap looks to be the trick. One slide is on the ram, attached to the frame, and the other is behind the frame floating "free" to do all the movement. That is extra slick. I think I may have to make a paperboard model later this week.

Strange thing is that for raising the bar, it looks relatively simple to build...no complex arrangements and bushing pivots are easy to build.

The only thing I don't see are safety cables running though the springs. They may be well hidden inside the springs though.

Phil

It was very easy to build. Even though there are many linkage bars they can all be done accurately using a drill press. I originally had a solid guide welded to the ram. After the initial assembly I decided to mill a slot and through bolt that part of the frame. If I were to build another one I would just weld two separate bars with a space between them so that no milling would be required. At the moment I have not yet installed the safety cables because I am still working on the spring mounts. I had no knowledge of how many springs I would need. I started with two, then ran back to the store and bought two more. After getting everything put together and lubricated it became real easy to operate the hammer. I was able to reduce the tension on the springs making it real easy to operate.The current mount at the bottom extends past my original "envelope". When I designed the hammer I wanted to make it as compact as possible. The base plate is 30" deep by 28" wide. I offset the main post so that when the plate was up against the wall the mechanism would clear. I am looking into possibly rotating the bottom mount 90° because it stick out 2" past the "envelope". I also am going to add a spring or cushion to the top somewhere to halt the hammer on the upstroke. Under normal operation the weight of my leg is plenty to halt the travel but sometimes it hits at the top if I let it. I'm going to make some dies for it hopefully next week. I'm on vacation this week relaxing. I was experimenting the other day and was able to easily punch through some 11 ga. steel with a center punch and also cut that piece in half using a chisel both while cold. I later went in the house and asked the wife if she could hear me out there. She said yeah but it wasn't any louder than when the train goes by or shake the house any more, almost the same.

Jason

Rubber doorstops?
Urethane would be better, maybe a roller blade wheel and adjustable...but really, KISS is sometimes best.
Phil

My Dad used a couple of V8 valve springs for his bump stops. Thee rubber bump stops over the rear axle of a truck would be a good choice also.

Amazing man!

Very, very nice. I want one!

I used hockey pucks for my bumper stops.

Really slick design, by the way. Reminds me of the Grasshopper, but less complicated.

Thanks for the input on the bumpers. I do have plenty of springs lying around including valve spring and was thinking of going that route. I do like the axle bumper idea. I'm gonna have to investigate that more. I don't need much of a bumper. Just something quieter than metal on metal. I will keep it simple. I just want to make it look like was meant to be there rather than an after thought which it was. I've seen two versions of a grasshopper. One where you can clearly see the linkages and the other where it was obstructed. It's definitely an effective linkage but I wanted to make something different and more compact.

Jason

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5xnneil99Q

could u supply measurements? i have bought plans for 2 other kinds of treadle hammers and have seen other designs but this blows them all out of the water. thanks for posting

You should seriously work out any kinks you see and start selling plans.

Great hammer!

I'm wondering if this hammer is smooth enough for cold, chasing and repousse work?

What type of springs did you use in the back?
Diameter of coil?
Diameter of steel?
Length?
Source?

Once again,GREAT hammer!

Now that is xxxxxx fine where about could one acquire a few more specifics on the straight line linkage set up you used? I' am having to make a portable treadle that can be deployed of the back of a trailer and this set up would be perfect. ie the simplest and least complex.
Regards GregH

Very sleek looking hammer....thanks for sharing.

The hammer linkage and the hammer's operation are very sweet, indeed. FWIW, I saw an historic pump linkage of this sort, nearly identical, on a water pump in the museum of the Tuckahoe Steam Museum near Easton, MD. I took pictures (that are now hard to locate) with intentions of building a treadle hammer using the ideas. Now you've saved me the trouble of reverse engineering. I can steal your ideas directly. :-) Thanks in advance. :-))

I continue to think about this hammer. I agree with Monster Metal that you've set a standard.

It's a great hammer design ,but you guys do see this original posting is from 2010 ?

I even tried to contact the original poster thru the YouTube video comments without success.

Don't know if something happened to him or not ,but he seems to have vanished from the internet which is a shame.

I thought he might resurface at some point and offer up drawings or plans for sale,but that hasn't happened either.

Too bad...like the rest of you it looks like a top notch design ,but I fear it may be lost since the trail has grown cold for some reason..

Hi
Here is how a strait line mech works.

You can transfer the idea to a TH. It just takes a little figuring is all :D
CH

The videos aren't that clear because the linkages & the hammer are all in black. It's an interesting discussion though... Similar linkage,but in a vertical pattern instead of horizontal for a clearer understanding of the motion.

Do you think this is the linkage design being used on the hammer in question ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y0rcmESxcY&feature=related

I went back and viewed the videos again several times and paused them and tried to superimpose the straight line linkage into the design .. I can't do it... while similar in some ways there is a great deal more going on in the linkages of the hammer design than in the simple Roberts design.

It's as if the design was doubled somehow with movement front and rear that keeps the hammer head aligned. If anyone sees this differently Please respond with some insight on it.