Steam Hammers

[Madmike]

Did I say I love this thread  :rolleyes:

[John Larson]

I am going to change the design of my steam hammer linkages, as seen in Sam Salvati's photograps and videos.  I am going to make the jackshaft for the roller lever movable as is the case with steam hammers like Mike Dillon's Chambersburg.  It, like similar hammers, uses the motion control lever (hand or treadle controlled) to move the jackshaft of the spiral wiper up and down.  The jackshaft extends through an enlarged hole in the machine frame.  On the end of the shaft is a lever that connects to the motion valve via a near-vertical tie rod.  Today's critical observational recollection and deduction was that the jackshaft's lever has the same length as the motion lever's leverage on the jackshaft.  This means the constant length tie rod is not moved by the motion lever adjustment, but rather it is the wiper's rotation from contacting the cam in a different spot.  And this is why an old steam hammer's slop in the wiper jackshaft bushings has to be minimal.  

[John Larson]

I did the change in steam hammer linkage twice, over two days.  The first version failed to account for the cam surface fall away as the tup descended and it would not reciprocate.  The second version completed today does account for the cam fall away as the tup descends and reciprocates.  Traditional steam hammers use spiral-shaped spears to account for the fall away.  I still have to mess with the connection point for the vertical tie rod a bit more to tune for reciprocation as opposed to single blows.

 

I am losing my patience with fully mechanical linkages.

[harrismetalsmith]

Do any of you guys have any original Niles or Chambersburg catalogs or owners manuals?

[Daniel.85]

Here is one of the prettiest steam hammers Ive ever seen.

 

http://collectionsonline.nmsi.ac.uk/detail.php?t=objects&type=related&kv=46229

 

[Dillon Sculpture]

Matt, I have a Chambersburg steam hammer manual.

 

Thats a crazy looking adjustment on the Nasmyth.

[Jim Kehler]

I wonder if that Nasmyth hammer was built before he came up with the simpler throttle valve / motion valve set-up that everybody ended up using, kind of a infinitely variable prototype?

[John Larson]

I converted my steam hammer today to pneumatically actuate the main valve's 3-position spool valve.  You can read my blog here on IFI and see several photographs.  I explain how the hammer behaves.

 

Today I'm doing the happy dance.

[harrismetalsmith]

This is a pretty cool Niles Bement catalog
http://books.google.com/books?id=6SxRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA633&dq=Niles+bement+hammer&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vjhLUfKfL-e_0gGL-IGIDA&ved=0CDgQ6wEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Niles%20bement%20hammer&f=false

[Dillon Sculpture]

Mmmm.... An arch hammer sure would be nice B) Here is the Chambersburg info.

Chambersburg instruction bulletin.pdf

[KjZitur]

Here are some pics of a 1500lb. Morgan Steam Hammer on display at the Rolag Steam Threshing Show grounds. This is like the one I operated when I worked for the railroad. Unfortunately they don't do any hot work under this hammer, just use it as a drop hammer for stamping some aluminum plates................

[Jim Kehler]

Hi Ken, I know some of the guys that do smithing at Rolag, if you would volunteer to drive the hammer we might be able to get some steel hot and smoosh it.

[KjZitur]

Hey Jim, that would be a blast making small iron out of big iron!!  The hammer needs a bottom die though.........

[Jim Kehler]

I'll check to see if this would be at all feasible and I'm sure the bottom die is there somewhere.

[harrismetalsmith]

Michael, Thanks for sharing the Chambersburg information. Very nice.

Is your Niles Bement stamped anywhere with the size? How do you know it's a 700 lb?

[iron woodrow]

hey ken, it looks like it could do with a kz1500 modification :D

[Dillon Sculpture]

Wait, what hammer are we running where? 

 

Matt, I weighed the ram and die in this thread somewhere? Never did get a weight on the piston, somewhere between 700-750

 

I'm still waiting for the KZ200!

[iron woodrow]

just put a set of bathroom scales on your  anvil, and weigh the ram+block+piston!

:P

[John Larson]

I suspect that the Nasmyth machine is set up as a drop hammer, steam being used only to raise the tup.

[harrismetalsmith]

Well, today my new workhorse came to the shop. Beautiful Niles Bement, from a closed steel mill in West Virginia. My buddy bought the blacksmith shop at auction, and i got the hammer from him. I'm calculating 680 lbs, for the ram and upper die, then another 80 for the piston rod, so it is in the 750 lb. range.
Michael I'm glad that you have figured out how much air it takes to run a hammer this size. A 4 cylinder deutz diesel, Atlas Copco is part of the deal for me. Not sure of the hp on it yet, I guess it will take a good 250 or 500 gallon air reserve to run this puppy. The compressor comes tomorrow and we will unload it all then.

How long have you run your Niles full tilt? And do you run out of air with your current setup? Speaking of setup, what size is your air reserve?

Pretty psyched up about this. :-)

[iron woodrow]

youre on the right thread HMS!

[John Larson]

Matt, this is fabulous news.  When I get my schedule in order I intend to come and visit you and your new monster.  Hope you rented a big forklift.  :)

[Dillon Sculpture]

Well Matt now you've gone and done it, this is really to bad! Good luck getting any work done ;) Not sure the air you have will push it full tilt but two dozen full hits will do an immense amount of work, I would gang as many tanks that you can find. My air compressor is a 6 cylinder 90 hp. 375 CFM unit that will run my hammer full power at 100 psi. which has only been done a handful of times. If the Niles is a steam hammer (very likely) and not a air hammer (mine is) you will need more air because of the clearances. I don't think you will be disappointed though, I run my 200 off a 13 cfm all the time for tooling work. This is really where these hammers shine anyways, you can draw out on one of your other hammers. Hey at least you have a good idea how to install the beast! :D

[harrismetalsmith]

Michael, I have always enjoyed this thread, but now all of your installation notes and pictures are invaluable.
My friend talked with one of the last guys to work in the blacksmith shop at the steel mill where this hammer came from. It was converted to air a while back, they had been running it on air for a long time. He also said that it had a full rebuild done on it 10 or 15 years ago. The piston appears very tight and well maintained, well see the real deal once I get it installed and powered up.

I already dug a big foundation about 8 years ago when I installed the 2B, problem is my shop is located at an old historic ironworks. We dug 7 feet deep on that foundation and it was nothing but furnace slag all the way down. It caves in like crazy so we had to dig way oversized to get the bottom size right. Not looking forward to that part, but I'm gonna use it as an opportunity to put another jib crane in the hammer foundation, on the back side. I envy the pictures you posted with the crisp hole in the dirt. Oh well, the shop is in a neat location.

We unloaded the hammer today, have to store it for now as the foundation will be about 2 months out. Also unloaded the compressor, a deutz diesel powered Atlas Copco, a bit smaller, only 60 cfm, I'm planning to add a huge reserve to use it to at least test the hammer. Maybe an upgrade will be in order after I get the hammer in place.

Thanks again for all the great photos and info you have posted

[Dillon Sculpture]

Sounds like a keeper Matt, where are the pics?! I had a 1 ton jib on the backside of the Niles the first time round, poured integral to the hammer foundation. Running a hammer that size is a production in itself from heating to tooling may as well just consider renting a big compressor for a week or so. Should be able to forge a few ton in a week :huh: I'm glad someone can use this info, could be a trend :lol: