Question about a Beaudry "conversion"...

[Bob Brandl]

Hello, all. So, as you might guess from the title of this post, I have a Beaudry #4, and I'm trying to "convert" it. It was originally designed to run off of a line shaft back in 1918. I'd like to run it that way, but my shop setup necessitates a different way to run it. So to that end, I've been beating my head against all the walls trying to figure out how to just 86 the jack shaft and have the hammer run directly off the motor. Anybody have any suggestions? If so, thank you So very much!!

[HWooldridge]

They work better with a jackshaft arrangement and you may not be satisfied running straight from the motor.  Here is a pic of how I built mine - and it is also a #4.

[Will. K.]

Here are some pics of Beaudry with the jack shaft mounted on the back of the hammer rather than overhead. On some photos I have seen with similar jack shaft arrangment the tensioning pulley location was rearranged.

The original thread on this hammer was here, but the original pictures are no longer working. I saved these off of a Google image search.

[Judson Yaggy]

First, I'd like to say thank you for saving that beautiful piece of our American industrial heritage, well done.  

Second, that's not your great grampy's 25# Little Giant.  It's a serious piece of finely designed and built forging equipment.  There were reasons they had it hooked to a jack shaft.  It gets you just the right HP, torque, and RPM.  It isolates the motor and it's bearings from shock and overload.  And MOST importantly for a mechanical hammer, it keeps a significant mass rotating at speed (v belt pulleys, flat belt pulley, and shafting add up to a bit of weight) so when the clutch or flat belt tightens up the hammer does what you are asking it to do very quickly.  The rotational mass translates into getting the tup moving VERY quickly.  That and a well tuned brake, which the higher end industrial hammers all had, will easily give you the ability to hit your work with a single blow hard or soft.  

If all you want to do is draw stock and not worry about slow start up and some uncontrolled blows at the end of the heat after you let off the treadle then hook it up any old way.  But that's not what this hammer was made for and you will be seriously underutilizing it's capacity.  Plus you have all the parts there already, why not use them?

Jack shafts don't need to be attached to the hammer, you can mount them to a wall, on the other side of a wall with a hole for the belt, in the attic with a hole for the belt, on the roof, wherever you want, just buy a longer (or shorter) belt.

Good luck!

[Dulfermetal]

Here's a late response-

I did a conversion with my No. 7, which I've been using professionally for 8 years since.  In addition to building a tower for the motor and jackshaft, I repositioned the idler arm by cutting off the original pull arm and adding a counterweight.  This allows the entire linkage to hang from the idler assembly so there's no slack in it when you first step on the treadle.  The idler arm assembly is cast steel so it's easy to weld on new parts.  I also replaced the idler pulley with an aluminum one that has ball bearings.  It's lighter, more durable, and more concentric.  Makes the action snappier.  Here are a couple photos to give you some ideas (if you still need any).  You will love your hammer once you get it running.

[Andrew T]

Dulfer, nicely done.