July 22, 201213 yr After having left the abana auction early last night I decided to treat myself to a motel last night in Rapid City last night after a very good and sucessful conference.......There were none so I headed west, as a matter of fact there were none between the RC and the WY border, so it was on to Newcastle WY 60-70 mi from RC.....Just one prob.....A severe weather report came over the radio, violent rain, lightning,huge hail, flooding and rock slides were all between me and Newcastle....Oh what the heck, on to NC it was...... B) ......Well I made it and there were still no motels on the main drag in NC :( and it was around midnight so I decided to check out the old center of town and and bingo! Only $45 and it was nice....ZZZZZ 7am this morning leaving old Newcastle my PH proximity sensor kicked in and about 100 yds off the rd at 40 mph I spied the sihlouette that makes me break hard :wub: There's no way I could ever accuire this beauty but it was worth it, Ive only seen one other mechanical/air hammer before, (a 200# owned by a friend) but they are cool..... B)
July 22, 201213 yr I found my steam hammer along side the road. Severely breaking almost locking it up with a fully loaded trailer I pulled in to Mercers welding shop, an old boy walked out looked at me looking at the hammer and said "Ill sell you dat for $200... :o
July 23, 201213 yr Wow, good nose Bruce. Those suckers are wicked rare. I'd love to see one run and see how well the air spring valving works. We should start a rare hammers thread, no LGs, Fairbanks or Bradleys need apply! What's that museum about? Perhaps another thread we all should start would be links and locations of historic and industrial museums with smithing content.
July 23, 201213 yr Remember that small Museums have a tendency to go broke and shut down and sometimes sell off stuff!
July 24, 201213 yr Check out sandersoniron.com. Joel has a 100# single frame Hackney that he has restored and uses regularly. I ran it a little bit before he had it permanently set up and it was a sweet hammer. It is an extremely controllable hammer.
July 24, 201213 yr I have seen this hammer before it is a very beautiful hammer, last time I was down there I took the time to stop and look at it it is a thing of beauty to me! thanks for sharing the pics.
July 24, 201213 yr Yep, well spotted Bruce, thanks for the pics. If anyone ever has the cushion cylinder apart on one, i'm sure we would all like to know details of the ports and piston... A.
July 24, 201213 yr Author The funny thing about spotting this hammer at a distance was that it didn't make sense, the arch configuration is usually reserved for larger hammers. My friend's hammer was at least a 200 and was a C frame, I remember the oil reservoir cup above the main bearing was made of hand blown glass.....I'll see if I can find out what became of that hammer.
July 25, 201213 yr Its pretty amazing, how people have saved powerhammers. Thats a neat one for sure, old technology was based on knowledge now its blinking lights and people using computers to do the work lol
July 25, 201213 yr Author Its pretty amazing, how people have saved powerhammers. Thats a neat one for sure, old technology was based on knowledge now its blinking lights and people using computers to do the work lol I dunno, I think that passive cylinder design instead of a spring could be brought back to life in junk yard hammers and tire type hammers.....When you think about it, it's alot simpler than springs and toggle arms. I've been looking at my ''Pounding Out The Profits'' book and the cylinders and valves aren't rocket science. Analog stuff really turns on 99% of us here I would conservatively estimate and old inovations still and can and will be brought back to life. I know this could be done, just not by me anytime soon.......... :D
July 25, 201213 yr I personally dont see why people build tire hammers and homemade hammers, it has its place for certain people. Buying a good air hammer is worth it. The old stuff was based on know how the idea that things are made around set rules that are never entirely true just make it work.
July 25, 201213 yr the PH sensor is a strange mysterious phenomonon...... i knew my steam hammer was sitting in a shed i went past on my loco for about a year before i actually saw it........ i just kept being drawn to the one spot, and couldnt register what i was feeling...... then i saw it! 3 months later, i summoned up the courage to ask about it...... the response: "yeah, if yor gunna use it you can have it.... im wanting a lot for it but...... hows 40 bucks sound?" i love this hammer macbruce! it is a beautiful piece of engineering!!
July 25, 201213 yr Man your really getting beat up by those steam hammer guys, you best get back there and offer up $25 in cash, you never know.... :P
July 30, 201213 yr I'd have to stop and take some pics of that lady! The lines built in to the old equipment made them as much art as tool, and folks just don't seem to appreciate that anymore. Did you talk with the owners? I'd be real keen to see if they'd part with her knowing she will be going to a good home where she'll be loved and cared for, never mind given a chance to stretch her legs again!
July 31, 201213 yr Author Did you talk with the owners? I'd be real keen to see if they'd part with her knowing she will be going to a good home where she'll be loved and cared for, never mind given a chance to stretch her legs again! Well It was Sunday at 7am so I mosied on back to CO with a long day ahead. ....One good thing about rust in my part of the country (we call it patina)is it's not nearly as aggressive as other parts so that machine isn't in rapid decline, too bad I didn't have an oil can so as to give her a shot here and there though...... :)
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