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I Forge Iron

Interesting old hammer I found


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20151011_153252.thumb.jpg.c077f484119005sorry for the sideways pic. I picked up this gem at an auction a week ago. The dies are shot and it has a rope in the middle of it that is broke but everything else is there with the exception of the data plate that used to be attached to the front. 

Anybody got a clue how old this thing is or who made it?

power hammer 2.jpg

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There is a crank attached to the pulley that lifts and drops the hammer. It's hard to see but there is a rope that runs through above the crank from and to the back of the hammer. It's broken but in playing around with it the tension on the rope determines the height at which the hammer raises. 

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power hammer.jpg

power hammer 3.jpg

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I'm afraid your description of the way the hammer works isn't making sense to me and the pictures aren't helping.

Is it a cat head lift system? The rope runs from the tup up through a sheave at the top of the frame then back down to a capstan? That's brief description of how a cat head lift system works. I've driven thousands of samples using one and I don't know how many thousands of feet of casing before we got the auto hammer on the drill.

A cat head lift would make a nice drop hammer but you'd need a hammer driver to operate it.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Frosty it's not what you described. 

Above the big pulley there is a crankshaft. It simply moves up and down about 2 inches. Lifting and dropping the hammer. 

Look at the picture with the rope. The crank is visible in the middle of the machine.

I will get some better pictures today. 

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Lets see if I get I've got this correct.....

Referring to the 1st pic of your last post.....

Belt drives the large lower pulley when tensioned by the smaller pulley which is pivoted.

Large pulley turns shaft on which a cam (or crank) acts on a lever, on the end of which a rope runs through a sheave.

The rope, being anchored at one end and via a second top sheave, connects to the hammer.

Thus the hammer is raised and lowered by the movement of the sheave we see in the pic.

.....yes?

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I'm still not getting a handle on how this works. How about replacing the ratty broken rope with a length of any rope so we can see where it's threaded? Say yellow poly rope, it doesn't need to be functional just map it's route.

It's probably my old eyes and befuddled brain but I don't see a cam, don't see what the rope does, I'm just not getting a functional handle on the works.

I do see a number of pins in the section adjacent to the top flat pully that looks like belaying pins on a capstan on a ship's rig. That's not what it is of course but it's made to be adjusted by moving the pins.

This was made in a day when you didn't include things for no reason, not counting the occasional decorative flourish.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Actually, I don't think this is like a guided helve if I understand it correctly.  It simply a drop hammer with nothing but gravity to make the hammer drop.  Still very cool, but not as fast as a full power hammer.  I'd take it!

I was at the North GA Fall Mountain Festival over the weekend and the blacksmith shop there had a Mossberg and something or other drop hammer.  It used a leather belt to raise the hammer, then gravity drop.  Had a nice, small footprint.  I don't think it has been used lately, though.

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Drop hammer is what I was thinking, too, Fab.  I've searched the entire internet with no luck so far.  Not an image to be found, but I'll keep looking.  Very curious to see how it actually operates.  The BPM of the hammer couldn't be very much, I wouldn't expect, but certainly good enough for a lot of neat things.

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After HWool's last post I blew the pics up bigger and finally see where it appears the vertical link attaches to the "helve" arm.  Before it looked to me like only the rope connected the helve to the hammer - making me think drop.

Something must be off in the connection of the hammer slide to the helve, though. The helve appears to be about centered in travel, and the hammer slide looks bottomed out. This was also a factor in my thinking drop...

Ok Wicked, let's get your priorities straight - forget the harvest and get to work on this hammer!  

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In the following pictures I ran a yellow rope along the path of the original. This is definately not a drop hammer. The yoke is mechanically connected to the crank. Everything pivots in the back. The bottom spring of the yoke is bottomed out against the wood blocks that guide the ram. I think this is because the dies are pretty worn. There is also a brake that releases with the foot pedal. 

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I was just about to post as you did.......given the new info from later pictures and now this one with the yellow rope in place.....

Is the rope attached to the lifting slide at about it's middle? If yes, it suggest to me that the rope system is to set the stroke height of the hammer.....does that make sense?

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Yes and yes that's what I was thinking also. It actually uses the rope to lift the hammer thus isolating the rest of the machine from stress. 

I was just about to post as you did.......given the new info from later pictures and now this one with the yellow rope in place.....

Is the rope attached to the lifting slide at about it's middle? If yes, it suggest to me that the rope system is to set the stroke height of the hammer.....does that make sense?

Yes it is attached in the middle. Initially my thought was it adjusted the lift height however I think it actually is used to lift the hammer and isolate the rest of the machine from stress. In th3 following pic the dies are 2 inches apart. If I use channel locks and center the rope attachment point between the pulleys the jaws are open 6 inches. 

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Sorry for the sideways pics. Doing this with a phone is a pain. The pulley on the right is actually at the bottom. 

power hammer.jpg

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Then the rope both lifts the hammer and adjusts the stroke area via the capstan style adjustment. Sorted....when will it be running?

Pretty much. 

Not sure. I would have to fabricate an overhead pulley and run it off of a tractor. 

We have a 41 john deere h that would work pretty good thpugh. 

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