beaudry Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 I've noticed that I'm getting some scoring on the inside of the ram on my Beaudry #7 [200#] hammer , which is an indication that the rollers are not turning at the ends of the spring arm as they should. I'm religious about squirting oil down into that part of the ram twice a day when I'm running the hammer , but it is difficult to be sure the oil is getting where it needs to go to keep the rollers turning freely. I'm using Vactra #2 way oil for this as well as the ram guides, top bearing , idler bearing and all linkages as it seems to be designed for the purpose of heavy loads and low speed. I'm wondering if other Beaudry hammer users have had this issue and any tricks for getting the oil in there where it needs to go ? The hammer runs fine as is. The rollers were replaced about 12 years ago and the inside of the ram resurfaced at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salem Straub Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 I've just been doing the same as you, squirting oil onto the rollers from above. But I recall Grant Sarver's "hillbilly oiler" method of keeping rags in the ram, saturated with oil. He said with enough oil in there it would continually hit the rollers at the bottom of the stroke, keeping them oiled. I'm interested to hear of any other method anyone may relate, as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaudry Posted March 11, 2018 Author Share Posted March 11, 2018 I read the same thing and I do keep a rag sitting in the pool of oil in the bottom of the ram cavity as well. I'm not sure if it does much to oil the rollers at the bottom of the stroke , but it keeps oil from splashing out when the hammer hits hard, Another trick I've used is to set a 4'' block of wood on the bottom die and let the ram fully down onto it. This effectively chokes the hammer at the bottom of the stroke and the rollers are visible through the oval hole in the ram. I can then squirt some oil on the rollers where they sit in the notches in the ends of the spring arms. I put a handle on the block and keep it handy so I can do this twice a day. A bigger or smaller hammer might need a different height block. I set the ram height on my 200# at 7/8'' at full down , which seems to give me the most useful stroke and power range for the kind of work that do. The rollers at the ends of the spring arms seems to be the weak link in the Beaudry design. When I first bought my hammer ,the right hand roller had been worn flat by a good 3/4'' and the left just a bit. I had new rollers made from heat treated 4140. Salem Straub, how is that big Beaudry working now that you've got it all back together ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salem Straub Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 Ram height at full down is a very important thing to optimize for you normal work, I've been finding. I've settled on about 1" for forging 4" tall billets down to 3/8" thick stock, but it did take some experimenting. Dialing in spring tension took a bit too, mine are fairly loose and the stroke length is set all the way out. It's beastly powerful! I'll post a video of my hammer running, to the end of my rebuild thread, right now. Have a look if you like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneAcre Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 On 3/10/2018 at 7:38 PM, beaudry said: The rollers were replaced about 12 years ago and the inside of the ram resurfaced at the same time. beaudry... This thread is a little old, but if you are still around, what did you resurface your ram tracks with? How is it holding up? I started a thread on that very topic with few responses. If you have time, could you respond there for the benefit of myself an others? https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/67569-beaudry-hammer-roller-track-repair/ ...OneAcre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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