Strange Power Hammer Design

[mudbugone]

I found this unusual power hammer design in an archival online book on blacksmithing.... Has anyone ever seen such a hammer design before?

As near as I can tell there is some sort of knuckled assembly at the top that actuates the hammer tup motion...(I think?) It's odd to be sure,but the spring being reversed moves the spring ends up and above the forging action for better access to the anvil...

[Sam Salvati]

That is a kerrihard! A very nice compact hammer. Username Ten Hammers has one, they are good hammers from what I hear. Here is one running:

[mudbugone]

Look at that drawing again... While the linkage across the top looks like the Kerrihard.... The spring is inverted... That places ALL the mechanical parts above the worker instead of the wings of the leaf springs being in close proximity of the actual work they are up out of the work zone...

After thinking about the positioning of the spring that way I doubt it changes the working of the assembly much...It just LOOKS cleaner and less clutter in the work zone. It would be far simpler to build a safety cage around the top assembly that would contain any parts that might break also.

It may be a Kerrihard machine ,but that's the only example of that particular inverted spring design I've come across so far after several months of online research into power hammers...

If anyone has any other drawings or photos of that inverted spring design I'd like to see them.

[Judson Yaggy]

The book Pounding Out The Profits shows that machine with the inverted spring, IIRC it was just an early design of the Kerrihard.

[mudbugone]

That's what I'm thinking too... Found these pictures of the linkage assembly... pretty interesting design..... a modified helve hammer actually... has a simple adjustment for different thickness of materials

The eccentric looks like a shaft with an off center insert which actuates the helve arm and then the height is adjusted by sliding the arm connector along the helve arm...very simple design...

http://gallery.slackdot.org/v/projects/tools/kerrihard/?g2_page=1

[Sam Salvati]

It's a guided helve really, like the later Bradley's.

those photo's are of my Friend Deker's Kerrihard.

[mudbugone]

If anyone has a better photo/drawing of the hammer in my first post I'd sure like a copy of it... Especially the head and spring attachment details... Thank You...