Andrew Smith Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 I bought a 25# little giant hammer a few weeks ago and I also bought Sid Suedmeier's DVD. The spring could use some adjustment but I don't know exactly what to do because mine is one of the new style hammers and Sid demonstrates how to adjust an early model hammer. My serial number starts with a 7, I can't remember the rest of it right now. The spring is loose enough that I can easily spin it barehanded and there is a small gap between the toggle arm and spring. I attached a pic to show what I mean. Thanks in advance. -Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Smith Posted May 26, 2011 Author Share Posted May 26, 2011 I just went to the shop and realized that I might have just asked a sort of dumb question. By screwing in the bolt, it presses in a deal, I don't know what to call it, thus tensioning up the spring. But even with the bolt tightened all the way the spring is still loose enough to turn with my hand. I also have a second question, sometimes I will be running the hammer and I will have a hit, cycle around and miss, turn another cycle and have a soft tap then one more cycle and it will hit hard again and run normal for awhile. Is that because of the spring tension also? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Gomez Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 You are correct about the spring being way too lose. Your toggle links (the short links that go from the arms that the spring is between to the ram) should be almost in line with each other and the dies should be approximately 3/4 of an inch apart for general forging. I had the same adjustment problem on my 1947 25 pounder and had to braze a 3/8 inch spacer to the adjusting bolt side of the plate that pushes on the spring. I have also seen other people fix this issue by getting a 1/2 to 3/4 inch longer adjuster bolt thereby giving themselves the extra adjustment needed to get proper spring tension and get rid of the "bang tap miss blues" that you are experiencing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalgnome Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 NIce looking hammer. I would just buy a new spring form Sid At Little Gaint ($67) YOU don't know how many cycles that spring has on it all ready. A new spring would also help with the missing. You will need to make a spring tension tool to put the new spring in. Or you will have alot of fun. When you have the spring out check for wear on the tension washer. lube it up with moly greas or high pressure kind where the screw met the cap. It also looks like the left toggle arm has been braze. I could be wrong but if it is throw it away or you will regret it. Cost is 176 form Sid at Little Gaint. I Would just give Sid a call 402-873-6603. Good luck best wished Levi a.k.a. Metalgome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Smith Posted May 27, 2011 Author Share Posted May 27, 2011 Ok guys, thanks for the help. Metalgnome, the right toggle arm is brazed and that was a question I was going to ask next. I have a spring guard but I took it off to take the pics. -Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsloan Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Andrew, Everyone has been point on. I'll agree by a new spring. Then make sure you have a little tension between your spring cap and bolt. You want your arms almost parallel to your dies. The die gap between three quarters and an inch will put you in the power range. You want to set this to the same tension as Sid showed in the video for the Old Style. On a 25 you want it to bounce with hand pressure flicking it up. This could cause your hit bang miss. If you could post us a picture of you dies we could help you out more. If your lower die is worn badly (short) this can cause problems. I have a hit and miss problem on my 25 if I try and forge anything over two inches in height and this is because I'm too lazy to adjust my pitman up from the 7/8 clearance I have between the lower and upper die. Also it runs well enough that it only takes a couple of hits to get it under two inches. Once under two inches it pounds hard to under a quarter in little to no time. I hope this helps. Dave from Diller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Smith Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share Posted May 28, 2011 I think my dies are ok. When I bought the DVD from Sid, he sent me some papers and on one of the papers it said something to the effect that the dies for 25lb little giants are 3" tall. Is that 3" per die or 3" combined thickness for both? @ dsloan, can I increase the stock thickness that I can work by adjusting the pitman? I don't work anything larger than 2" very often but that would be something good to know, just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsloan Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Andrew, The measurement is 3 inches per die. You can get away with a little adjustment, with your pitman when forging larger stock. I've seen Sid forge a 25 pound die down under his 25 and we know that is 3 inches. I'd say that's about the most you could try under a 25. I'd like to say the normal person with a properly adjusted 25 can do all that will be asked of it. I've seen crazy large damacus billets forged under a 25. The things a lot of people have trouble with is getting there hammer to hit properly and then they think they need a bigger hammer. The thing they don't take into account is that a 25 hits FASTER. The 50 has a slower rpm (hits per minute). The only way you could actually gain more is by going to 100 and with only 1600 ever being made it's a hard step. Dave from Diller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Smith Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Thanks for the info. I will measure my dies tomorrow and see. I think the 25# is going to work well for me right now since it is still mostly just a hobby that makes a little money. I am not an expert but I am somewhat mechanically inclined and I had a feeling that this hammer could be hitting harder than what it was so I decided to do a little work. I am going to call Sid Tuesday -he is probably closed Monday for memorial day- and order me another spring and toggle arm. Have you ever seen anyone place the top clutch block about .2" closer so if you want the hammer to run slower then the top clutch is the only thing touching when you first press the treadle, thus allowing slightly more control. I read that somewhere but I can't remember where that was. -Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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