March 25, 201115 yr Author Well, the work ran out and I'm back on my air hammer project.. I'll have some new photos tomorrow. I welded the main spine (vertical 8in square tubing) on the base plate today and located the anvil under the ram. Tack welded it in several places and tomorrow I'm going to put the weld on it. The anvil was a problem to line up. I had to weld some temporary jack screws on the base plate to move it around accurately. It all went together as it should. Now it's starting to look like an air hammer. Thanks, Aj
March 26, 201115 yr Author Progress! I've got my second wind on the project. It's starting to look like an air hammer. Things went as planned pretty much. I fudged on the squareness of the 8in vertical tubing to make the dies plates parallel. Not having the anvil faced off, just band saw cut, along with all the other irregularities that stack up along the way, it was off about 1/16. Now after all was welded it's about .015 out on parallel. The temporary jack screws that were welded on helped big time to line up the anvil with the ram. I dropped a transfer punch down in the anvil bolt holes and lowered the ram down till it slid in the ram bolt holes. Moved the punch around in all the holes till I was satisfied on the alignment. It looked pretty good when it was all said and done. I must say I've got my fill on welding for a few day. I used 7018, 1/8 and 5/32 rods to put the pieces together. I skipped around on the welding and even cooled it off a couple of times to keep the base plate from curling up. It's 1.5in thick but when metal get hot, welding will pull more than you think. Once it gets a little curl in there it no getting it out. I had to put an air hose to the cylinder to see it move before I left today. I'll sleep good tonight to say the least. The next step I'll have to purchase the spool valve and start fitting up those parts. I did find a air/water separator, oil mister, and regulator from a buddy. It has 1 inch pipe for the inlet and outlet so there won't be any problems with cfm there... The price was right..... free.... Thanks, Aj
March 27, 201115 yr Sure looks good AJ, almost ready for the red paint? Just wondering if you have other work you would share, you seem to have a very smooth running shop.
March 27, 201115 yr Author Sure looks good AJ, almost ready for the red paint? Just wondering if you have other work you would share, you seem to have a very smooth running shop. It's kind of easy to have a smooth running shop when there is only one man and a half a helper. I've done a few projects over the past several years. The biggest was a CNC plasma table. I took that on to learn about how computers control machines. WOW, now that was a learning curve. I'm far more familiar with the concept but it's a DEEP subject to say the least. Took me two years to build and it's one of those projects that's never finished. If you have the time you can go to my website and take a look at it. awningandsheetmetalbr.com Having the plasma table has allows me to do small fab jobs easier, faster, neater than doing to old burn and grind..... I purchased an old CNC milling machine and changed the controller over to a PC and different motor drives. I've got a couple of DoALL bad saws I rebuilt. Those kind of projects are the easiest because it's more of just a repair/rebuild type job. Not really any fabrication. A few other little things here and there, but nothing major. I'm slowly building up my machines to give a broader capability on jobs that come through the door. Work is slow so having several different machines allows me to do jobs I would have to pass on otherwise. That's where the air hammer comes in..... My smithing is mainly simple scroll work I use in my awning business. My knowledge in that area is real limited. I have a great respect for the trade!! Thanks for the interest. AJ
March 28, 201115 yr Well this sure ain't that 40 hr build that other guy wanted to do. This is a great looking hammer and good pictures to follow the build, thanks. I should have bought stock in Fastenall - that is a lot of hardware
March 28, 201115 yr That is proubably the nicest self made hammer I have seen, in fact it is better than some production hammers I've seen.
March 29, 201115 yr Author Well this sure ain't that 40 hr build that other guy wanted to do. This is a great looking hammer and good pictures to follow the build, thanks. I should have bought stock in Fastenall - that is a lot of hardware Wow, 40 hour build... I can't do squat in 40 hours. That's the trouble I have. I'm all the time learning new and different procedures, then when I do the next project, I can't back up. I'm getting deeper all the time. As I continue in the trade, the more I learn.... the more things I realize I don't know. Alway more to stuff than meets the eye. Thanks for the kind words... Aj
March 29, 201115 yr Author That is proubably the nicest self made hammer I have seen, in fact it is better than some production hammers I've seen. Thanks guy for taking time to comment. The interface with you guys helps keep my enthusiasm up. I may just have to paint it bright RED like Michael mentioned earlier too... Take care, Aj
March 29, 201115 yr I don't know about bright red but a deep red and black with some pin stripping would be cool, you could always class it up with a cream and brown classic look. That hammer is all class and puts style back into industrial design!
March 29, 201115 yr Thanks guy for taking time to comment. The interface with you guys helps keep my enthusiasm up. I may just have to paint it bright RED like Michael mentioned earlier too... Take care, Aj Don't forget a guard over the spring. Ted
March 30, 201115 yr Author Don't forget a guard over the spring. Ted I wouldn't think that would be an issue. It's above my head by a fair amount and it's captured on both ends with a 3/4 bolt. I guess weirder things have happened.. I ordered the spool valve and the two pilot roller valves today. The spool valve was about $110.oo, but they were proud of the pilot vlaves... about $90.00ea. Sure doesn't take long to spend money. Even spent $30.00 today on a SMALL bag of 1 in pipe fittings for the air dryer and mister. My play money is almost gone again... Thanks, Aj
March 31, 201115 yr Author I don't know about bright red but a deep red and black with some pin stripping would be cool, you could always class it up with a cream and brown classic look. That hammer is all class and puts style back into industrial design! Now that you mention it, a buddy has some equipment he rebuilt thats a cream and brown. It would look classy... Thanks, aj
April 2, 201115 yr Author While my parts are on order, I'm kind of at a stand still. I had a pressure gauge that I picked up from a buddy, so I made a little bracket and tack welded it on the side of the hammer. Also made a mounting bracket to hold the big air dryer and mister. I kind of over did it on the bracket, ( to heavy ) but it will serve the purpose just fine. I've just got it propped up on the rear, I'm not going to mount things till the spool valve comes in and it's mounted. The spool valve needs to be mounted first and work down from there. Hopefully it will come in with in a week or so. Later, Aj
April 2, 201115 yr In my experience, that guage will not last long mounted there with the jarring it will be subjected to.
April 3, 201115 yr Looking great MR. AJ! I would be inclined to agree with Mr. Grant on the gauge. I'm not speaking from experience, that was just my first inclination when I saw that. Give it a try and see! LOL It'd be a shame not to use such a pretty mounting bracket! I've really enjoyed seeing it come together. You'll have to send pics of the finished product to Mr. Ron Kinyon so he can use them on the front of the hammer plans. LOL Beats the tar out of any other one I've seen! :D
April 3, 201115 yr Author Looking great MR. AJ! I would be inclined to agree with Mr. Grant on the gauge. I'm not speaking from experience, that was just my first inclination when I saw that. Give it a try and see! LOL It'd be a shame not to use such a pretty mounting bracket! I've really enjoyed seeing it come together. You'll have to send pics of the finished product to Mr. Ron Kinyon so he can use them on the front of the hammer plans. LOL Beats the tar out of any other one I've seen! I agree with you guys on it may not live, but it sure does look cool up there. I may end up and lower it or something. It's just tack welded at this point. I'm open for suggestions on where to put it. Any ideas? Thanks, Aj
April 3, 201115 yr The gauge needs to be shock mounted in some way. Not sure the best way to do it. Use a flexible hose to the gauge, and rubber mounts to decouple it from the frame. The link below is one company making shock mounts. These are for weights similar to the gauge. Richardshock mounts
April 4, 201115 yr Here is an idea A.J. A couple large O rings could suspend it. YES please do this!!!!!!!!
April 7, 201115 yr Author Here is an idea A.J. A couple large O rings could suspend it. Now that's a cool idea.... I'm going to think on that one. That's what I need, someone to kick me off of dead-center! Thanks, Aj
April 7, 201115 yr Author The gauge needs to be shock mounted in some way. Not sure the best way to do it. Use a flexible hose to the gauge, and rubber mounts to decouple it from the frame. The link below is one company making shock mounts. These are for weights similar to the gauge. Richardshock mounts Those are some good looking mounts, nothing that would work with my odd ball gauge. The idea would work though... Thanks, Aj
April 7, 201115 yr AJ your no where near center building a hammer or doing the rest of this madness! :P
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