Hi All,
Anyone got any ideas on how I can control my hammer to a single stroke?I made an appalachian power hammer about three years ago and it's performing great but I sold my treadle hammer to buy the motor for power hammer.
Been thinking of making a sort of trip hammer,I'll try and describe it.
A vertical shaft with a hammer on the end sliding through a thick pipe.At right angles to the shaft a short shaft or maybe a collar .Running close to this a horizontal shaft with a cam on it which turns under the short shaft and lifts the hammer shaft until it rides over the end of the cam and drops either under its own weight or assisted by a coil spring .I reckon if I get the horizontal shaft turning fairly slowly I should be able to control it to a single hit using a jockey pulley on the belt same as the one on the power hammer.(whew):confused:
Hope that makes sense.Anyway do you think that might work or is there a simpler way to control my existing hammer?All suggestion and ideas gratefully accepted. Thanks Brian

What does the brake on your powerhammer look like? Having a good brake is essential to get reliable single hits on most powerhammers.

Thomas

Ram weight should also be at least 50 lbs. or more or a single blow won't be very effective.

What does the brake on your powerhammer look like? Having a good brake is essential to get reliable single hits on most powerhammers.

Thomas

X2 you need a brake on the power hammer, then its a matter of parking the hammer in the right point of the stroke for how hard of a single hit you want. then its up to you to give the foot pedal a quick tap.

My hammer is an old 'Perfect' brand, 80#. It has a stack of leaf springs that connect to the toggle arms. I can often get single hits by de-tuning the springs, so it's sort of running in-efficiently. I've also got real good at pulling my hand-held top tool out of the way after the hit, so I won't kill the piece if it does double tap.
I need to make a brake for it someday, Been playing with this idea about using the front disc brake from a motorcycle mounted to the backside of the main shaft. The whole cycle front brake system is self contained, just connect the squeeze handle to the treadle linkage so it releases when I step on it.
I'm working on a new old power hammer I aquired, it's called a 'JDH foot and power combined' hammer. It's a 25# mechanical type, but you can unbolt the eccentric and swing it aside. Then theres a couple springs and arms that hook up, and the foot treadle converts to a leg powered treadle hammer. There's a drawing of one in the book 'Pounding out the profits'. I have the mechanical hammer working, but have to reverse engineer the springs and linkages for the treadle side... Anybody have one I could look at?

Some good ideas here.I like the brake set up off a motorbike.Now,which one of me grandsons is going to leave his bike still long enough for me to flog the brake off ?
Brian ;)