Depew in Action

[irnsrgn]

Warning 5+Mb video, 36 seconds.

depewaction.flv - Video

[Dale Russell]

Jr , thank you very much for posting the video of your Depew in action ,,
Let's me know i'm heading down the rite path mate

Dale Russell

[dablacksmith]

nice hammer ! it looks like it really flys!

[BT]

Jr. you're just lucky that thing didn't fit in the back of my Jeep. :D

[irnsrgn]

Bernie, I make sure I check everyones vehicle who gets to play with it, when they leave. I really kept an eye on HONEST Bob at possums hammerin. LOL

[me miller]

That is just neat as heck. Wish i had one in the back of my pickup also.

[Ten Hammers]

Dale that is one smokin hammer. I'll have time someday ( when I'm 99 maybe) to build one.

[nonjic]

ahhh, its sweet, like a little woodpecker! - I wouldnt be able to resist painting a face on it :)

[MRobb]

How cool is that! What a great hammer you have there JR. I wish I had one too.

[keykeeper]

Same here, cool video and hammer, Jr.

Now I know what to look for in my travels. One like that would be perfect for me and my space limited shop.

Thanks for the video.

[Sam Salvati]

TOO COOL!!!!!! Little Woody is a real metalpecker! That little hammer is unbeleivable! Probably never see another wood armed helve that small anywhere. I sure would love to see that Depew in person!

[Dodge]

Thats easy, Sam. Just drive east for 2 or 2 1/2 days or till ya get to Omaha. Then turn left and drive another 100 miles. Then look for Jr's shop. Its the only REAL blacksmith shop in the area :D

[Ted T]

I consider Jr. to have one of the best toys yet.
Jr. must have done something good along the way of life to come across that Depew.
If it had not existed before, he would have invented it anyway!
Ted

[Hofi]

very very ''sweet'' hammer Jr
Hofi

[irnsrgn]

I wish someone could talk Sid into producing them again, its a nice small efficient hammer that many small shops could afford and use in a limited space. Supposedly Sid found the original molds for the Depews at a Garage Sale in Grand Island, Nebraska.

But I can understand his reluctance what with all the Stupid Laws Governing the production and sale of NEW Power Hammers or any tools for that matter.

[BT]

Speaking of Sid's Depews . . . here is a picture of part of his display at the BAM conference.

[dablacksmith]

WOW!! what a inpressive collection!

[Bentiron1946]

That is an impressive little helve hammer. To bad there aren't more of them around.

[Bentiron1946]

Jr., Do you think that it would be possible to build a helve that would hit as hard as your Depew and still have that small footprint? There is a helve in the blueprint section here plus several helve variations at Metalmeet.com and Metalshapers but they are geared mostly for sheet metal but with modification could be used for hot forging. I have seen one in action locally and I think it could be modified to have a heavier anvil and hammer to forge at least 3/4" and that is all I would need in my current state of decrepitness.

[Sam Salvati]

He built one, in fact 2 or 3 already I think, homebuilts about the same size. There is a BP on the build.

[irnsrgn]

Helves are different than in line power hammers like the air hammers, little giants and such. Helves get their ability to move metal not by increasing the Top or Hammer part weight, but by their speed and fast action. Increasing the top or hammer weight in fact reduces their efficiency because they have to be slowed down due to the increased forces the weight puts on the structural parts. The size and weight of the Anvil have a very large determination on the ability to hit harder. Planishing hammers do their jobs by lightly hitting the cold metal to stretch it and thus are not as heavily constructed as a helve for hot forging. By the time one would disect a planishing hammer and reconstruct heavier, one would be much farther ahead to start from scratch and build a designated helve hammer for the purpose of forging hot metal. It doesn't take that long to fabricate a decent helve if the needed parts are available. The main critical parts are an Anvil heavy enough to counter the action of the helve hammer, a base heavy enough to keep the Hammer from moving around, a decent piece of wood for the shock absorbing characteristics of the speed needed to move metal, and having the pitman attached as close to the helve pivot as possible to make it fast and the die opening larger.

The eccentric that operates the wooden helve on my Depew only moves the back of the Helve an inch to make the helve do its work.

[Bentiron1946]

So basically what you're saying is that the I Forge Iron helve hammer is a good design as it has a heavy anvil, wooden beam and a properly located pitman arm. Is that right?

[irnsrgn]

almost, I have since moved the pitman arms on both machines closer to the helve pivot point

[coolhand]

I have built the baby helve from Jrs plans and i am thrilled with it....i followed the BPs from this site and also took jrs recomendations to move the pitman pivot as close to the arm as possible and i also used a 9 inch flywheel run by a 3/4 hp motor. i think it hits very fast i think about 270x a minute. this hammer will knock the stuffing out of a 3/4 bar without even thinking about it. I have also drawn down 1/4 x2 up on edge no problem. I will take some photos and will post them soon. this baby helve is great. i spent a little under 300 bucks getting all the materials and took about 3 weeks planning (daydreaming) and 3 days to build. perfect hammer for hobbiests, beginners and limited space shops. I also have 2 sets of dies one drawing and one flat. the flat ones work good but only on material up to about 5/8 thick but you could make angled flat dies for larger material.

[Tom Lumpkins]

thanks for sharing with us, Yep that hammer was a getting it...LOL