Jason Fry Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 I've been looking at Appalachian style helve hammers alot, but haven't bought the plans. I think I have it pretty much figured out, but have a question about the flywheel. I've seen some like James Helm use a tire clutch, with the push rod attached directly. I assume the wheel is weighted somehow? Or, alot of folks put the tire clutch on a shaft with a flywheel on the other end with the eccentric and push rod. It seems like it would be less parts if if the tire clutch and eccentric/flywheel were all one piece. Talk me through this... what are the advantages either way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krush Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 if you message my account i can forward some pics and extra info to make your hammer perform. ive had homemade helves and worked on industrial ones. im rebuilding an old federhammer now which the appalachian hamers are based on. there are a few basic design features that will make your hammer perform significantly better. how heavy a ram will you make it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 Krishna, I’m sure there are several people that might be interested in what you have to share, myself included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krush Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 ok i will answer what i can here, try to size your hammer head by the largest weight anvil you can get. a laminated anvil will work but one solid mass will work better and try to get 10 to 1 minimum ratio or higher. if you dont you will have all kinds of energy flying around with the ram and the energy would be lost if you have an anvil that doesnt size up. check this link, a counterweighted flywheel wether a tire clutch or not is one option but this link will show an old patent which would give single hits and negate the requirement of a counterweight on the flywheel for the ram by using a heavy spring to always pull the ram back up and serving the same function as a counterweight, you could use a heavy spring and tire clutch setup. http://www.google.com.pg/patents/US2665600 also notice in the picture that the Pitman arm on my industrial helve hammer has 2 pieces of 3/4 by 1.5 inch flat bar that has a bow in it, the bow is not to pass material through the pitman arm but acts like a spring and takes alot of the shock instead of transmitting that resonant energy into the frame or eccentric setup. Also the hammer has 36 individual springs sideby side 1 inch wide and a little less than a quarter inch in thickness. The Rusty appalachian hammers ive used in the past only had 3 or 4 wide flat springs. I had the springs fail and launch the broken parts out and nearly hit someone in the head. The many springs together are like a bundle of wood and will flex and take more stress than a few thick ones. This is a significant difference. It makes for a little more cost but service and safety of the hammer would be improved. check out the following link and you will see a pretty good video of how an industrial unit works. I might build a nice 50 pounder in a year or so but need to get this one up and humming before starting the next project. also here is a nice little read on the hammers laying out specs. the rusty is the same thing just doesnt use the drifting slack belt from wheel to the other as a clutch. one other thing, make the frame solid as you can, or you will get yawning in the frame when the hammer hits, if you use too light a wall tubing and dont reinforce it well enough there will be too much flex and you will lose energy that should go into your workpiece or brake with time the machine will tear itself apart. sorry for long winded reply but those are the things i see alot of and its a shame when a lot of effort, time and money goes into building a machine with the best of intentions but if the few things mentioned are over looked the machine performance will not be as good as it could be. ajax hammer.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 Interesting, the spring return is actually secondary to the cone clutch used to engage the belt pully /flywheel. The spring is only needed to raise the hammer when the clutch is disengaged and the crankshaft is no longer driven. The way the spring and head I gage is also interesting. I would be interested in your other ideas as to building a hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 Thank you for sharing all that, Krush. I look forward to coming back and re-reading that as I get closer to putting my krusty style scrap hammer together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krush Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 just my .002 of a cent. i have an idea for a telescoping throat so throw height adjustments could be done on the fly when running just like how a high hoe has an extendable boom. similar to the Dave preston hammers but no bolts to tighten, just flick the switch up or down to adjust die clearances with a hydraulic cylinder or heavy linear actuator. it would make using hand tooling alot easier than stopping to adjust the pitman arm. im going to build that into the one that i am going to build one day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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