Clay Spencer Inline Treadle Hammer Review

[DuEulear]

 

Ok as promised here is my review of my My new clay Spencer Inline treadle hammer, after testing. I spent the day in the shop yesterday and finally had a chance to hit some hot metal with her. My wife won the naming contest and named it “Jenny” as according to her a female mule is called a Jenny and well she (the hammer not the wife) kicks like one.

 

the plans where fairly well written and easy enough to follow that a fool like me with no fab experience could build this hammer the majority of the 6months spent on this project was spent acquiring major components and only 1.5 months of weekends where spent on actual assembly, I did not keep a time sheet but if I had to guess I spent around 150-200 hrs spent on construction.

 

There are a few options in the plans my anvil ended up being a 6” round 370lb solid anvil, the hammer I opted for a 3” round solid as opposed to a 2.75” round solid this gave me a 80 lb ram vs 65lb , I also upgraded the base plate to ¾ From ½ inch plate. Total theoretical machine weight of 750lbs the rest of the parts used where to spec.

 

my test yesterday was limited to flat plates only as I have built no other tooling just yet I used two pieces of 1045 1” round stock cut to 1” for comparison one was hit 3 times with my previous heavy hitter a 2.5 kg peddinghaus one hand sledge which is no fun to forge with for any length of time. The other was hit 3 times with Jenny between the hard plates which are 4x4x1” 4140 ht the results are as follows

 

hand sledge was upset to .895 thousandths

treadle hammer .810 thousandths

 

This was a little less than I expected but I was experiencing problems with my treadle hammer as the plans listed 150lbs garage door extension springs which are cut in half and 3 halves are used to counterbalance the hammer, I had hoped the poor performance on the return of the hammer would improve with use. But I seems the listed springs are just not enough with the upgraded hammer weight so to get a full blow out of the hammer I had to lift the treadle the last half of the total stroke distance with my foot so I could then strike with a full blow this took some getting used to and is less than ideal.

Later after some practice I could manage 10-15 blows in a 1 minute heat but it was not quite right.

 

I ran a second test on a piece of 1018 1” sq scrap struck on the 1” side that was roughly 1.25 inches long to start I gave it 2 heats and 20 blows as fast as I could manage and reduced it to .580 from 1.010

not bad but lifting the treadle was starting to get to me.

 

So I ran back to Homedepot as they sell one size larger spring rated at 160lbs . After dinner and I got back out and swapped out the springs with two halves from the stronger spring and one original this was enough to lift the hammer a little better but still not quite all the way up with tooling in place so I took it apart once more and changed out the last spring and was rewarded with a nice crisp rise of the hammer all the way to the top of the stroke. But as I live in the city with neighbors near and it was now midnight I had to call it quits

 

if you are planning on building this design I would just go straight to the larger 160lb Springs if you are using a 3” round for your hammer if you stick with the 2 ¾ “ you can probably stick with the lighter 150”lb springs if so I have an extra set I can sell you at cost or a little less.

 

Over all I am more than pleased with my new toy I am hoping I can do a little better without having to lift the treadle Monday I will be building drawing dies and a flat shelf die to fit the bottom die so I can get a ½ face blow to make tongs and will post results next weekend.

 

 

 

 

[WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith]

Several suggestions. 

1.  use weaker springs but more of them.  You will find that it is easier to depress the treadle and that it will lift the ram better.

2.  The skate wheels are just for a guide.  Rather than compress the wheels 1/8" as Clay suggests just make them touch the ram in order to guide the ram.  You will find that the hammer will work smoother and easier.

3.  A treadle hammer is not a power hammer.  If you want a power hammer build a Tire Hammer from Clay's Tire Hammer plans.  Most of us use a treadle hammer for chasing.  I do use my smithin' magician and some other tooling on it.

I have both a treadle hammer and a power hammer.  They do different jobs and do them well, however, the treadle hammer does not work well for a power hammer and the power hammer does not work well for a treadle hammer.

Edited March 15, 2015 by WayneCoe

[DuEulear]

 

1. with the heavy springs as it is adjusted right now it takes about 5 lbs of resistance to depress the treadle before it went down nice and easy just not back up. i am still trying to fine tune her to work the best she can

2. thanks for the advise on loosening the guide wheels i will have to try that as is i only have the compressed about 1/16" but the did seem a little tight i allready moved washers to fix a very minor alignment issue after welding but was unsure if taking pressure off the ram would allow for slop in the vertical movement of the ram.

3.I understand the difference between the power hammer and treadle hammer and have used both my tests where designed to see just how much work i could get done as i wanted to get an idea of just how hard i can hit with it. the only other treadle hammer i have used was all hollow tube construction and was not very impressive.  The treadle hammer is what i could afford / house in my current space as i live in town with neighbors 30' to either side of my shop zoned residential and is still better than swinging  a heavy hand sledge i intend  to use the treadle hammer to begin exploring traditional joinery and chasing&repose also filling in when i have jobs that require a striker and well i was fresh out of apprentices.

My next tool purchase is a new house in the country with acreage and a pole barn for a bigger shop space so i can have a coal fire (Been propane only for 5 yrsand getting sick of it) and a power hammer and the space for both.

 

until then it is better to own a treadle hammer than not own one

 

Thanks for your suggstions

Du

 

 

[kubiack]

If you want to use solid fuel in the mean time until you move try using coke instead of coal. I use coke in my forge and there is not any smoke and it's pretty much orderless. I don't think you would have any problems with your neighbors if you are using coke.

[DuEulear]

Thanks kubiak I have considered that setting up a Mobil coke forge for summer use as my floor layout also dose not allow for easy addition of the venting necessary but i hope to be moving this summer as i also have teenage girls sharing a room!!! so i was saving for that down payment and hobby shop improvements need to take a back burnner until we move the hammer was my one last bit of fun before the move so i'll cross my fingers on that polebarn on the new property.

[carlson]

Now you gotta move a 750 lb treadle hammer