Zahg Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 Waved down a scrap metal guy the other day when I saw this in his trailer. $50 later and we were unloading at my house. It's missing a linkage rod on one side, and someone popped off the riveted oem nameplate. Other than that it seems all there and ready to rebuild. So, anyone know what I got here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 That looks to be a BEAST of a helve treadle hammer. Doesn't look like a commercial build but might be. There's no telling what the rivets held but a model, serial # plate is a definite possibility. Looks like an easy job to get it hitting stuff again. Does it move freely or is it grunged rough? A mix of acetone and automatic transmission fluid, (ATF) makes a good home brew for freeing up rusted components. Lay a tarp though, you don't want it soaking into the lawn. Keep us in the loop while you have at it please. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 Looks like it would be handy for knife work, not a lot of free space to use tooling with it; but a GREAT buy at US$50! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judson Yaggy Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 There were some commercial manufacturers (mainly British IIRC) that produced a very similar looking Oliver hammer, but using more cast parts. Look thru the old google patent pics to see what I mean. There were some adds for helve type olivers in the old Blacksmiths and Wheelwrights publications of a century ago but I wasn't aware of any American made models still existing before the ABANA/Spencer treadle hammers got popular in the late 1980s. Recently someone posted what they thought was a hammer made in Texas that looked much like the one in the pics above on Facebook or ebay. Maybe the same hammer? Of course now I can't find the pics of the "Texas" hammer on the other sites... What's the wrapping (leather?) on the back of the helve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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