Any designs or ideas for a power hammer

[Jackson S]

I am looking for some designs or ideas for making a power hammer any blueprints you guys might have would be much appreciated

thanks
Jackson

[ThomasPowers]

So mechanical or compressed air or steam?  What tools and skills do you have? Be rather distressing to spend half an hour typing stuff in only to get an "I can't run steam where I'm at!"  I will say that the Tire hammer has a lot of folks who have built and used them.  I participated in a workshop to build a Rusty and was not impressed with the design.

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Jackson, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the Iforge gang live within visiting distance.

A couple questions before we dive into power hammer designs and plans. First, how long have you been blacksmithing? Second, how good a welder fabricator are you? Third, do you know how to read a blueprint?

Frosty The Lucky.

[LawnJockey]

The three most popular styles of owner built power hammers are the Appalacian (Rusty, etc and variations), The Clay Spencer tire hammer (Dupont linkage like a Little Giant) and the Kinyon (2 styles, look closely at the new style, both are air hammers).  Plans for all three are available from some dedicated people who are probably just covering their costs selling them.  Please don't try to buy a bootleg copy as that really hurts the blacksmith community as a whole.  Paul Branch sells the Kinyon plans, Clay Spencer sells the tire hammer plans.  The Appalacian plans are easily found on line from two sources, a blacksmithing group back in Appalacia and a nice guy from the Sacsamento/ Foothill area of California.  Sorry his name escapes me right now.  I think he is actually selling his through Amazon as well as directly.  If I recall correctly he gets to keep a larger share of the proceeds if you buy them directly from him.

I am in the process of building a Kinyon II.  I started gathering materials for a tire hammer but after a discussion with a guy who has built many tire and air hammers I altered my plans since I already had a large shop compressor.

If your welding skills are limited (me) you can always seek out a welding student from a local community college to do the final welding after you tack it together.  If your fabricating skills are limited this can be a learning experience.  Don't be bashful about cutting out something that isn't right and doing it over until it is.

I don't know what your situation is equipment wise but it could get expensive if you are having to buy tools along the way.  I have 40 years of accumulated equipment including grinders, saws, torches, welders, plasma cutter and on and on and I still estimate I will have $1,000 invested in the hammer before it is done.

If I were you I would think carefully about what you want to do with it and then compare the three main designs to see which one fits your needs and abilities.  Be realistic and calculate the costs.  It seems like once a week someone is asking about building their own hammer here but we only see posts about a finished hammer every four months or so.  That should tell you something.  For my hammer I actually found a 1,500lbs base and anvil with guides and tup from a guy who put a lot of effort into building one and then lost interest in the project.

Don't take the grouches too personally.  Some of them have a great deal of experience but are tired of the same questions being asked or mad at life generally.  If you really want to build one you can but go into it with your eyes open as to costs and commitment.

[jason0012]

There was a good set of plans from Hans Peot that are available from several of the book sellers as well. His is based on a 50# Little Giant. There is also a set of plans for free download on Larry Zoeller's site for a small air hammer.