October 20, 201510 yr Found this guy about 5min. From my shop. It was used 15 years ago and has been owned by the same owner for decades. Belonged to the RR to ReSharpen chisels, until the late 50's. The owner is offering my some extra things, including a tire shrinker for wagon tires! It is on its side right now, but the machine shop it is in has a 10 ton gantry crane to pick it up and load it on a trailer with. Not sure what to do. Can't really afford it outright atm, but I do have credit! For the price it just seems too good to pass up. I have a seperate shop from my main shop I can run it in. Little iffy over motor size but he says he used to use it. Corner was broken off long ago, and they fabbed a bracket to hold it down there. Also it's hard to see, but the sow block is upside down. The rubber cushions were also replaced around the time it was last used 15 years ago.
October 20, 201510 yr I saw your post about this on FB - I would definitely recommend you grab it if at all possible. This is one of those things you have to catch at the opportunity or you'll never see another one. Looks too good to pass up...
October 21, 201510 yr Get it. It's only money and if it is at least a decent price then you can always sell it later and not take a huge loss. Plus 200 lbsr's don't show up all that often.
October 22, 201510 yr Looks like alot of machine laying there, to bad about the corner, but it doesnt look like it would affect anything
October 23, 201510 yr Author I swear this thing looks like a 300 pounder with a 200 pounder tag. I am aware of other bradley owners saying the actual ram weight being about 30% heavier than advertised....
October 23, 201510 yr Sooo jealous... I've been half heartedly looking for a bigger mechanical for some years now. Eagerly awaiting pics!
October 23, 201510 yr Once you get a foundation set, it looks like you can stand it up, give it some lube and turn it on. I can't see anything missing or broken.
October 27, 201510 yr Author Me too. And surprisingly....this thing is set to run at 300bpm.....my Murray 50# runs at that speed! It isn't by mistake either, the factory specs call for this to run that fast. Holy cow! I am anticipating moving a LOT of metal with this!
October 27, 201510 yr yay My reply box has returned!Nice find Daniel.Do you have any idea how much adjustment you will have between the dies for hitting larger pieces? I would be interested if someone knows, I have not seen a compact Bradley in the flesh. Would it be suitable for a set of dies that are multistation? it looks like it would handle off-centre striking quite easily.
October 27, 201510 yr Author I don't know 100% yet since I haven't used it yet, about adjustment, but from what I was told, it has a lot of adjustment for different thicknesses of work. I was also told that it is very suitable for multi-station. Infact a previous owner used it for just that. I posted a video of the hammer going over a few things but this forum's bugginess has yet again kept me from posting content. It just reset after I hit reply with no post. Edit: nm, that will workVideo of hammer Edited October 27, 201510 yr by DanielC
October 28, 201510 yr I was able to watch the video with no problem. My only comment is that I would leave the set screws alone as-is and forget about going back to wedges. Somebody did that mod on purpose - probably to keep everything lined up between top and bottom dies.
October 28, 201510 yr Author The story goes by the man I bought it from....he owned it in the 70's and sold it for a 5 year period or so. The man he sold it to passed away and he bought it back. He used wedges before he sold it, and this mod was done by the other person. He also said they weren't the same dies he had on it before either. I haven't got a good look at it yet, but perhaps these new dies aren't quite dovetails, and he had trouble getting then to stay. We shall see. Edited October 28, 201510 yr by DanielC
October 28, 201510 yr I just found an old brochure that lists the average size of work for the compact 200 lb as 3 inch. Not sure how to interpret that!
October 31, 201510 yr Author This plate puts my hammer in the early 1900's, as that particular company went by that name from 1901 to like 1932. I also found out it is from the Southern Railroad in Spencer, NC (my area) - which was one of the biggest train repair shops for the Southern Railway of the time. Historic Pics from the shop I had also found. Havent found a pic of this running, though probably because it was just a toy compared to the larger hammer? Not many pics to be had, surprised I found these. Edited October 31, 201510 yr by DanielC
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.