Hi I am Rocken Mike I started forging my own knifes and blades last year and I have been having a great time doing it.

I have looked for power hammers and all are too big or too expensive so I checked out a few You Tube videos  and built my own

It works better than I was hoping for. My biggest expense was the treated 6 X 6 post I used for construction it took 2 8' X 6" X 6" treated post.

Anybody with a little skill and a welder and a circular saw and a drill can build this cheep.

I got the bearing from a local motor repair shop and the pillow block bearings same place. The recoil spring is from a set of porch swing springs the rest was from my shop.

This was a simple build with easy to find parts with a budget in mind. I would recommend anchoring the base to the floor with the force of the hammer it wants to walk around a bit.

So I will share this pictures of it completed.

Powered oliver; have you looked into building a tire hammer?

I like it. I have been thinking of something similar.

Mel

41 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Powered oliver; have you looked into building a tire hammer?

Yeh but I have a small shop so room is a premium in my shop. Or is that the one with a wooden cam lobe on a roller wheel  

31 minutes ago, Melw45 said:

I like it. I have been thinking of something similar.

Mel

Thanks Mel if you need any dimensions or help on your build I will share what I know. I am glad I did use a 6x6 instead of a 4x4 it makes a much better base.

 

Tire hammer is a common name for one of the most popular home built powerhammers and is the one with the smaller footprint.     How many hundreds of hours have been put on it to judge its usefulness and reliability?

Nice

Thanks I had to work with what I could readily find in my area but it does work very well.

On 7/11/2017 at 3:25 PM, ThomasPowers said:

Tire hammer is a common name for one of the most popular home built powerhammers and is the one with the smaller footprint.     How many hundreds of hours have been put on it to judge its usefulness and reliability?

Thanks I had to work with what I could readily find in my area but it does work very well.

What;s the BPM?   How much head room for tooling? How adjustable is it?

Not to denigrate your inventiveness; however "work very well" is very subjective---do you have a lot of experience with other powerhammers and so can compare it with them? I've owned 4 powerhammers so far and was part of a class on building an Appalachian hammer and used a dozen different ones before including 4 different hammers on *1* project. So I'm barely  broken in on them myself.

I once designed a water powered hammer to  run off an undershot wheel in a particular creek. Designed to use materials and supplies I had to hand. (Used a cable spool as the base for the waterwheel construction and the axle had multiple projections to engage the 20# sledge's handle.)  It would be a lot better than working only by hand  but a very poor powerhammer in general and not as good as having a couple of trained strikers.

I have 7" to use different tools for cross penning  and flattening and fullering 

I just started this in march of last year just having fun turning raw stock into usable product.t.

More Power!  makes a big difference!

Thank you I will get there soon I hope.

 

Hey Mike,

Any chance we can see a video of this thing hammering on some steel?

Yes as soon as I get back home from my fishing trip I will post a video of it in action...

 

Thanks Mike.  Great pictures and a great build.  Started on mine today

 

Yankee Boy

Howdy everyone, I am new here and I know I am digging up old threads but I need complement the builder for keeping thing simple and using what he had.

Good Job

I like the design and may just use some of it in the near future as I continue to add tools to my hobby (therapy) shop to make jobs easier. Most hammers here are very nice but the parts list adds up very quickly for someone who doesn't use it all the time. 

Welcome to IFI... Have you read this yet?  READ THIS FIRST   It will help you get the best out of the forum with suggestions like editing your profile to show your location, how to do the best search, among others.

No problem with opening old threads, it gives new folks a chance to look at them. However the builder of this hammer hasn't been on since Aug. 2017 so I doubt he will see the complement.

 

Sorry for not being on for a while but man I have been busy making knives a lot of knives.

My skill has improved a great deal in the past few years and I hate to say it but my Little Thumper is worn out and I am doing an upgrade on the little guy this winter he has served me well but the wood construction was not sturdy enough to take all that pounding.

But I have a design in mind and when I get it done I will share it with everyone.

 

Nice. 

Thank you it's hard work but rewarding when your done.

 

Mike, what is the size of the roller bearing you used on your hammer?

thanks

rob

Would love to see some detail around the bearing and pillow block assembly. Is the shaft from the motor on the bearing center or between the ID and OD?

 

Do u have a step by step video or anything I could go by please if u got it. For the home built power hammer. Not just pictures. 

Welcomme aboard from 7500' in SE Wyomming.  Glad to have you.

If you put your location in your profile we can often give better answers.  This is a world wide forum and we don't know if you are in Tasmania, Siberia, or Chicago.

There are a metric ton of videos on powerhammers, construction, tooling, use, etc. on You Tube.  Browse around and you may find what you need.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Welcome from the Ozark mountains. ROCKEN MIKE hasn't logged in since Jan. 21, 2020 so I doubt he will see this post. There are quite a few threads about building power hammers right here on the site, all it takes is scrolling down looking for them or doing a search like suggested in the Read This First thread.

 

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sails. ~ Semper Paratus

Can I come work for you mike