Benchdog Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Well you've probably seen the Rusty or the Dusty, so I call this one the Woody. I do both wood and metal work, so I thought it would be fun building a power hammer out of both. I haven't hammered any metal yet, but it seems to be running pretty good. Let me know what you think. I have to figure out how to copy the link proper. Worked when I cut and pasted it in the address bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I am looking forward to see how it works on hot steel. One thing I would have done different is use Oak for the wood parts, not treated southern yellow pine. Just my thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I like it. I agree that hardwood would, obviously, be a better frame simply because it's got more weight and strength, but you've to to work with what's at hand. I've seen a few wood-n-iron hammers on the internet and I think they look awesome. I love combining the two and am planning on just that when I get a chance to build one. My only real concern is having the motor right below the anvil. It might be a TEFC motor, but it's still going to get covered in metal dust and scale. That's just asking for a short circuit! I'd definitely build a sheet metal shield to cover her. Other than that, I'm looking forward to a long-term appraisal so I can see what bugs you might work out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastRonin Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Looks interesting. I'm curious how well the tank filled with stuff will work for the anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benchdog Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Oak would have been great and I have a bunch curing, but it was too wet for this project. My neighbor gave me a pile of 6X6 posts, so I decided to use those. The upright is actually mortised through the floor plate and into the 4X4 pallet on the bottom. I am planning on adding a sheet metal shield for the motor, so no argument there! It's been a fun build but I'm anxious to start working with it and see how it performs. Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I would have mounted the dies at an angle; If I'm seeing it right you might have an issues hammering 3+' in on a long piece straight on the dies. Old hammers got around this by leaving a hole in the frame, angling the dies or even mounting them at 90 deg to the frame, (Champions) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I'm seeing a few issues that could be improved. My rough figuring says it's in the neighborhood of a 30lb. hammer and the top die looks reasonably well made. You could find something much better than the composite filled tank for an anvil block but it'll work till the concrete pulverizes and it turns into a big rattle. The base has probably the most serious problem as built. 1/2" plate is darned flexible as mounted and being on rubber it will be a huge energy sink. Even 1" flexes soaking up energy. However gusset stiffeners welded around the bottom will help stiffen it considerably. Then if you put the base plate directly on the wood base and lay the rubber under the wood you'll have a stiffer base and better rebound. Angle stiffeners on the frame will reduce the back and forth action. Running two fairly large and thick ones from the back of the base plate, sandwich the post and anvil it'll go a long way towards stiffening it all up. If you were to double the post in line with the anvil it'd stiffen it up more. All stiffeners are welded. The ones stiffening the upper frame from post to vertical frame members should be through bolted, figure one bolt per 4" square and try not to line the bolt holes along the wood grain. Yeah, stiff and solid is a BIG deal with power hammers, the stiffer the better until you get to the members that must flex and you have a leaf spring on the most significant one. People have been making wooden power hammers for probably a couple thousand years, at least one. No reason not to make a Woody. All in all I think you have a good thing going, it just needs a little refinement. Of course that's my opinion I could be wrong. <grin> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 (Ifn you want to look at some of the oldies, check out De Re Metallica, Agricola, the Herbert Hoover translation is a good one) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benchdog Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Thomas, there's 11" between the back edge of the anvil and the frame. I considered mounting at an angle, but since I make mostly hawks and knives I decided it wasn't really going to be an issue. I'm also curious how the anvil works out. I broke the pig iron window sashes into 2" pieces and packed in tight in a pattern sort of like rounds in a revolver. Frosty, I really like the idea of adding angle iron stiffeners to the base. Thanks for that. I'll probably leave the pad setup as is for now and see what happens though just to be stubborn ; ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benchdog Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Thanks for the suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Mullins Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 There's a hammer build at some point in my future so also interested in the performance of this design. Please keep us updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Stubborn, a blacksmith? I've never heard such a thing. Heavens, what's this world coming to? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 So have you worked hot iron in her yet? How'd she do? I was just watching your video again and really have a hankering to start cobbling something together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 it looks like a good little hammer I think its not the wood that will be the problem but the bolts going through the holes. It will ware the holes making the frame flex. there were power hammers in the past that used post in a shop as the frame for the metal parts. Easy enough to replace when they ware. Nice job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benchdog Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 I started working a piece of hot metal this past weekend and I noticed the motor is getting hot...like to hot to keep my bare hand on for more than a second. Do you think this is from overworking the motor or cutting off the motor when I'm not hammering and the fan not having a chance to cool down the motor? I didn't want to put extra wear and tear on the belt, but should I leave it running for a while? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benchdog Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 I need to do some more work on flattening the face on the left side of the anvil, and play with the height of the hammer, but all in all it seems to be working pretty good other than the hot motor issue. I still have to stiffen the base plate with angle iron as Frosty suggested as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonh Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 There is a limit to how many times a motor should be started over a time span, the less time between starts will increase the winding temps. A motor will pull its max amps during start-up which creates lots of heat, allowing it to run non-stop will allow it to cool down and actually may reduce electric use. I would start it and let it run untill I was done for more than an hour, wear on your belt shouldnt be a problem if the clutch linkage is adjusted corectly. Looks awsome!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EtownAndrew Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Put an amp meter on the motor to see how close you are getting to the full load current draw. A "clamp amp" meter is the easiest way to do this. That will give you some solid numbers to evaluate. Motors do run hot so it does not mean it is too hot if you can't touch it but it certainly is an indicator to check things out. Jason's comment about letting the motor run to cool it off makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benchdog Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 Thanks, I appreciate the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EtownAndrew Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I was thinking more about this and it occurred to me that I don't see much of a counter balance on your linkage. The motor will rotate it all around a lot easier if there is a weight on the opposite side of the connecting rod that is about equal to the weight of the linkage assembly. When you release the belt tension the overall hammer assembly falls down pretty quickly which indicates to me that it is not balanced. Also more balanced weight will give a flywheel effect and even out the load on the motor. I suspect that vibration will also be reduced some. I have attached a couple pictures that I took at a local blacksmith's shop of his home made power hammer that is about the same design as yours. He attached some big weight lifting plates to the linkage arm to help smooth out things. The disadvantage is that you will get a couple extra hits after you let off the belt tension and so he would pull out whatever he was working on and also let off on the belt tension. He has learned how to use his machine and produces a lot of work on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benchdog Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 I considered adding weight on my cam opposite the linkage but I read other posts that said its difficult to actually balance out the hammer weight and wasn't really worth it. I understand what you mean about the hammer continuing on a bit after disengaging the clutch. I might try adding some weight and see how it performs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickOHH Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Hmmm.... Now this has me thinking... Could be do able what would be the smallest motor I could run on a hammer this size?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phabib Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I think the smaller Hawkeye hammers were wood framed helve hammers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klorinth Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 how much did it cost to build it? Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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