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I Forge Iron

Another Hammer to add to the collection


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I saw that one on fleabay and had to have a bit of a laugh, Des Mumme, one of the original owners, is a member of our local association and he borrowed my hammer to try forging up some big bolts a couple of months back.  I'll have to tell him it's going to a good home and will be worked hard.

 

Andrew

 

PS: do you know if he managed to sell the other spring hammer he had up as well?

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haha, yeah got to wonder how talk like a pirate day got going lol.

Guess you can never have too many power hammers lol and even if you dont use it I am sure in a few years time you could still sell it on again.

Everyone likes new toys in the work shop, your toys just seem a lot bigger then mine ;)

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Hi Farmweld I dont think the other hammer sold, could be wrong. I'm surprised no one else bid on this hammer, cheap for what it went for, even for spares.  I would have thought Mumme would have had enough big hammers anyway to make bolts.  We're hoping to put this one in toolish.  It may take the place of our 1cwt in slides, which has a broken rod which manufacturing a new rod has long been a job for a rainy day, just haven't seemed to get a rainy enough day.

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The Mumme family business shut down quite a few years ago, Des has been working out of a smaller workshop on his own down McLaren Vale way. I think he's only got a 75kg Anyang which had trouble working 50mm round down to 36mm, even my 2CWT was working hard.  I think ABASA has another couple of 3CWT the same as what you bought in storage while we get our home base built, and a 1CWT.  One day when we have enough money and space maybe they'll all be installed.

 

Andrew

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So Des Mumme is not Mumme Tools (which is still going as far as I know) then, and it was Des who owned this hammer I have bought?  If that is so can you ask him if he has any history on this hammer, where he got it from, what it was doing there, etc. its nice to know the history of my hammers, (just for my own interest).

 

Phil

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Talking about hammer prices ,what would one pay for a 2cwt Massey  clearspace  that has been sitting out in the weather for the last 20 years or so , possibly full of water, and a rusty ram.?ah yes the pump piston lid is not bolted down , the nuts are missing so something must have happened inside the baby.     iam not  desperate  to get my sweaty paws on it, ( but it would look good next to my massey 3ct :)  :wub:  :rolleyes: )  cheers Hans

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Having checked out your profile and seeing that you are from Queensland my immediate answer is "not much", no more than scrap value minus shipping without being able to inspect the internals.  You would need to get access to the hammer and pull it down to see what damage has been done internally to gauge whether it is worth the effort and expense of fixing it.  If you can get it for nothing and are prepared to treat it as a project then go for it.

 

Forgemaster just picked up a 3CWT guided helve hammer which looked to be in fairly good working order for around the $2000 mark from Brisbane.  I've got the same 2CWT clearspace and its a lovely hammer to use.  The market for powerhammers in Australia is very small and most buyers are hobby blacksmiths who are looking for something cheap to do the hammering for them.

 

Andrew

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someone was onto  me last year about a 2 cwt in the UK that was left outdoors for a generation, rusted up, water in the bores, pump seized up with rust, valve seized etc. They stripped it, cleaned it all and it ran like a sewing machine, no parts needed except a bit of packing tape !

 

The only thing I would really worry about would be the motor.

 

edit.

 

you can be fooled into thinking the lid is not bolted down on a 2 cwt, as the gasket on some of them is only nipped on the inside of the bolt PCD, it looks like there is a 1/4" gap with a wavy gasket.

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Farmweld - I am interested to know why  being a Queenslander  the hammer wouldnt be worth much , did Queenslander flog theyr hammers more then  lets say Victorians or others :(  :rolleyes:  south of the border?  just kiddin . This one has got a trail of oil coming out from the pump piston lid thats why i think it must be full of water, i offered $1000  last year  and they said no ,but i am tempted to up the offer.  Cheers Hans

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Queenslanders flog everything harder than any cockroach does, just ask them, aye.

 

Just being cautious after having done rebuilds on various different pieces of machinery that have been left out in the weather, some were like great grandfathers axe by the end.  You may be lucky and it will all come good with a puff of compressed air and a swipe from an oily rag, and it might not.  All depends on the depth of your wallet and what the machine is worth to you. Personally I wouldn't go much higher than $2000 as you would still be able to make that back if you (god forbid) had to strip it and flog it as spares.

 

I don't know what the going rate for 2CWT clearspace hammers is but if you factor in your purchase price, the cost of replacing everything in the hammer except the castings, the cost of possibly having to get the bores sleeved, then add your mobile phone number and double the result you may come close to the final price without adding in your own time.  That said I would be prepared to have it sit in the back of the shed as a "project" if I could get it at the right price because they just don't make them anymore. 

 

Andrew

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Forgemaster,  I spoke briefly with Des today and he said that his dad had purchased the hammer in Snowtown SA along with a forge and some other bits when he was about 12.  He used the hammer through most of his working life in the family business.  He's 65ish now and I will email him the link to this thread and see if he wants to chime in.  I'm pretty sure he will be able to tell a few stories about things that have been done with it.

 

Andrew

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Hey Farmweld

Thanks for that, its nice to know the history of the machinery that you use day to day, one of our casual employees runs a 40cwt clear space that as far as he knows was in france during WW2.  He'd love to know more but that's as far as it goes.  The other firm he works for bought it as a recon hammer from Massey, apparently Massey brought it back from France after the war, (the stories it could tell).

One thing though the hammer I bought is not classed as a helve hammer, it is an inslides massey, a helve hammer has a beam arrangement on it and is essentially a mechanical hammer.  An inslides is still a pneumatic hammer.

Hans I always reckon a fair price is $1000.00 per CWT, it can go up or down from there depending on the condition of the hammer, as A O'C said see if it will turn over a bit at least.  The 7 clear space I recently had delivered was free when I 1st looked at it but the crank ended up full of water by the time it was delivered here, with a bit of work I got it to turn over, though with the bigger hammers having ball bearings on the reduction gearing the bearings will now be stuffed, just as well I only got it as a spare parts hammer.

 

Phil

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Hi Forgemaster,

 

I've run it through the ABASA thingy and Des does want to get in touch with you and give you what he knows of the history, be prepared for a long phone call.  I'm seeing him at the meeting Thursday night so will get his email/mobile and try and get the two of you in touch if he doesn't do it first through Rob.

 

ABASA has two of the same 3CWT Massey hammers that you bought which are both in storage at the moment as we don't have anywhere to put them.  I know that one had a crack through the base of the hammmer that had been welded up.  Both were complete and working when decommissioned from Panorama TAFE a couple of years ago.  We also got a 1CWT the same style as well.  Now all we need is the money to build the shed to put them all in, and electrify it, and plumb it, and everything alse.  Being part of a volunteer associstion with no money is frustrating at times.

 

Can your casual employee post pictures/video of the 40CWT being used because that would be something to see!

 

I feel the same way about a lot of older big machinery, they don't make it anymore, so if the 7 clear space is destined to be spare parts there is still the possibility that if needed it could be rebuilt to its former glory, it just needs to be saved from the scrappers in the meantime.

 

Andrew

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Yes, it is a Hercules to be precise.

Still on Ebay Australia at $3500 AU.

search; 'Hercules Blacksmith Power Hammer'

Auction ends 2nd of October.

Usual disclaimers- i have no connection with seller, don't know who they are, no idea of the quality of goods...

A.

PS, the nest of hammers is Phil's back yard!

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