Sam Salvati Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Here is a couple shots of the treadle hammer i built in process, some are more fun and funny than technical, though i tried to get as many shots of the actual working parts and process as possible. been working with the treadle a bit more, for seperate tooling with chisels punches and stamps it is an unequaled tool, makes using hand tooling WORLDS easier. Not too great though sadly for forging of hot steel, for the hammer head weight and size of dies, the force is not focused enough to do sufficiently efficient forge work. Though I will try and make up another set of dies with a small 1 inch wide by 4 inch long work surface which should work a bit better. Well here's the pictures:). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 Some more pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 Here is some more pictures. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Looking good. It makes me feel good to see someone NOT overbuilding a thing to a fare-thee-well. You look happy covered in soot and grime. Making steel do my bidding usually does a similar thing for me. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 7, 2007 Author Share Posted December 7, 2007 Thanks Frosty, very well said. Yeah, i like sturdily built KISS (Keep It Super Simple) machines, easy to build and easy to fix, easy to modifiy if need be also. I still have some work to do to this machine, add a hardy spring tool receiver, tool tray, and some other little mods here and there:D. Extremely happy, nothing makes me more so than working steel, glad to see i am not alone:D. Be it with welding forging, grinding or whatever, and of course getting dirty is always fun no matter what you are doing:D, i just love every minute of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMartin Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 good to see your hammer sam, i made mine about 3 weeks ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonS Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 I noticed the Anti Flag T-Shirt! The band was here in Edmonton yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skunkriv Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Not too great though sadly for forging of hot steel, for the hammer head weight and size of dies, the force is not focused enough to do sufficiently efficient forge work. Though I will try and make up another set of dies with a small 1 inch wide by 4 inch long work surface which should work a bit better. You don't need smaller dies to make this hammer forge better. Try putting less of the piece you are forging onto the die. Try forging some 1/2" square. Put just 3/8" to 1/2" of it on the die and forge down to 3/8". Then feed another 3/8" or so onto the die and forge that next section down etc etc. This technique is used even on large forging hammers. Clifton Ralph calls it "feeding the baby". By decreasing the area of what you put on the die you decrease the volume of material being forged which in turn offers less resistance to the power available. VARP When forging in steps like this you need a good radius on the edge of your dies so you don't get a cold shut when forging down the shoulder of the previous step. In your pics it looks like you already have a nice radius on the edge of your dies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Peters Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Congratulations on your hammer, Apprenticeman. Looks like you did a fine job on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted T Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Sam, I Just found your photos today. It looks like you could modify it to do what ever you want with it in the future as you said at one time. Simple is bliss in my book. I like the idea that it would not take up a lot of room. Thanks for sharing Sam. Be safe! Old Rusty Ted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonjic Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 it looks good, I wonder if you replaced the box section under the bottom tool with a piece of 2" sq solid (or diameter) bar it would act more like an anvil, and improve the efficiency? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerald Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Apprenticeman, Thanks for the pics. Looks like a functional and simple design. Will you be posting these pics in the Gallery? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrynjr Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I'm considering building a treadle hammer and yours looks the best and most straight forward of all the ones I've seen to date. A couple of questions though. How heavy is the hammer part and roughly how much force do you get out of it? Also with the treadle / pedal so close to the upright does that make working on longer pieces a problem? Thanks! Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timekiller Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 ..yours looks the best and most straight forward of all the ones I've seen to date... I agree!! I too, am going to build one similar, as soon as I get some 2X8 steel im waiting on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 11, 2007 Author Share Posted December 11, 2007 The head weight is a guesstimation of about 25-30 pounds. More so if i would fill the ram rube with lead or sand or concrete, which would probably bring it up to 45-50 pounds. Guys if you are gonna build one, Shoot Glenn the moderator an email he has plans for sale for a similar hammer i based mine off of, and then modify with any accoutrments(like i did) as you see fit. Will help you loads with the rough measurements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pault17 Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 Sam, thinks for all the pics. I am a visual learner , and your pics are great, I will be chatting with Glenn for plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmonds Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 Looks GREAT! Sam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 12, 2007 Author Share Posted December 12, 2007 Thanks guys! Was a treat to build this one, had a great time doing it. Paul, the plans will definately help get started, idid not have the plans, so i had to eyeball from the online pictures in the BP and from other hammers online. The plans no doubt would have been a huge help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrynjr Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 I don't yet own a mig welder but plan on getting one. What is the minimum needed to weld project like this? Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 I guess I'm guilty of over-engineering and over-building. What can I say - I really have fun designing things. I'm an electronics engineer, so it's in my blood. The over-building was mainly due to the stuff I had on hand. I've got this enormous I-beam that someone gave to me already mounted to a 5/8 plate. And about 500-lbs of anvil because it was free. I think I put maybe $50 at the most into this thing. Plans were helpful. Mine were Clay Spencer's inline hammer plans. They gave me some great starting points as to spring sizes, heights and lengths, etc. Then I took those and over-engineered from them. Woo Hoo!!! As for forging long items, I haven't done that yet with this, but I would probably use a stand to hold up the far end while I manipulated closer to the hammer. If you use top tools for drawing and spreading, then you don't have to move things around much. For dies I have my basic flat plates that I made out of 3/8" leaf spring and some drawing dies, which are just top and bottom fullers made of pieces of solid 1-1/4" round, forged with a slight crown to keep the edges from digging in. I use them for heavier drawing and spreading. For lighter stuff I use the flat dies and a top fuller/flatter tool. I find I like using this much more than the drawing dies. It's the only good thing for tapering, too. I'm thinking of making some kind of tenoning jig. My over-engineer is going to try something that I think is called "kiss blocks". The bottom die has a fairly sharp edge and some 5/8" holes in it for the kiss blocks. The kiss block acts as a stop for a top tool, like my flatter or maybe something with a sharper edge. I would hammer down until the top hits the kiss block, rotate and repeat. The kiss blocks will be 5/8" round, maybe something harder than mild, and be different lengths to accommodate different tenon, or really any type of shoulder, thicknesses. Another top tool I use all the time is a hack. It's basically a hot cutter made from some spring steel. With that and an aluminum plate on the bottom, I can cut 1/2" in two or three wacks. I've also got some other veining and texturing tools. The next thing I'm going to make is a can dispenser to drop a recycling bin's worth of cans one at a time, end-up, for recycling. OK, I'm only partially serious about that one :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 13, 2007 Author Share Posted December 13, 2007 Marc, there is ABSOLUTELY NOT ONE POSSIBLE THING WRONG with overengineering. You made a GREAT hammer, by far more well made than mine. While my hammer has it's limits, yours sounds like it would work circles around mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mills Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 larrynjr: there are many welders out there, you will want one that has support. Miller, Lincoln, Hobart, Esab. You will want one that you can run on what you have available. 220 is a better choice for power than 110 IF you have 220. A 140 size machine will be on 110 usually and a 180 or more will be on 220. The 140 is gonna need a 20A circut for its heaviest capacity but a 15 A will get by on lower settings if it is all by itself. There are some discussions already in the archives or you can start a new thread if you wish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrynjr Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Thanks Mills, I'll dig into the archives and see what I can find before I ask anything new on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrynjr Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 I found the BP for the treadle yours is based on ApprenticeMan, one thing I'm wondering about are the springs. I'm assuming 2? None of the pictures make it clear that there are indeed 2 springs being used. Also how strong should the springs be rated? I found several suppliers of garage door extension springs with ratings from 10 lbs. up to 220 lbs. I'm thinking, roughly twice the weight of the hammer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 15, 2007 Author Share Posted December 15, 2007 I salvaged my springs so i cannot recommend a size. build the hammer and get your springs, then attach the spring mount hook to the upper swing arm, then stretch them down and when the hammer head rises up mark how long the spring was stretched, then weld your second spring mount hook there. I used 2 springs so that i would not have one spring under high stretch, but two under medium stretch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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