simmonds Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 I have been scrounging parts for the past year and have the material at hand to put together a junkyard power hammer. Now that I have all the material, I am instead contemplating building a treadle hammer instead...at least just for the time being. What would you guys build first if you had the material for either? What are the advantages of both designs and how do they differ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 With a treadle, you get controlled single blows. Great for slitting, punching, veining, etc, anything that needs accuracy in placement of such tools. Power works for some of this too but usually isn't as easily controlled unless its an air hammer. Main advantage of a power hammer over a treadle I would think is the fast, continuous heavy blows allowing more work per heat. I don't have a treadle but I can see where I could use one as well as my power hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmonds Posted May 4, 2008 Author Share Posted May 4, 2008 Dodge, Thanks. Maybe I will start with a treadle and build the JYH later. Or maybe just build both. There isn't really much parts to a treadle. Hmmmmm...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Totally depends on what kind of work *YOU* will be doing; what I do has no part of it! For the stuff I do a powerhammer wins hands down as I can do the stuff a treadle would help with manually but drawing out hefty stock or billets is a clear call for more power! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 I went back and forth for years while scrounging the parts. I settled on the treadle hammer for the reasons mentioned above. Most of my work is small stuff and the power hammer would just sit quietly, pining away, while I worked on that. I bet that I use the TH pretty much every single time I'm in the shop. That third hand is extremely useful for the things I do. And when I do need to draw down something big, the TH is much easier on my bones than the hand hammer. It pales in comparison to what a PH would be able to do, but a foot-powered sledge hammer can move a lot of metal pretty quickly, ..., with a bit more investment in sweat. As Thomas said, though, it all depends... On a related note, start putting together top tools for the new hammer, whatever it turns out to be. I made a couple dies for mine, and only really use the drawing dies once in a while for some serious drawing or spreading. For the most part I leave the flat dies in and use a handled top tool, whether drawing, spreading, flattening, most of the time. Much more flexible, in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmonds Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 Marc. Thanks so much for the response. I got enough material now to build both so that is what I will be doing. But like you, I bet the power hammer will have a lot more idol time than the TH. Thanks for the tip on making dies. Really good information. Which style of TH did you make? do you have any photos? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Chris, that's cool about having enough parts for both hammers. Some day I'd like to get a tire hammer going. I probably wouldn't use it all that much to start, but you never know. Plus, I really like building tools. I built mine using Clay Spencer's inline treadle hammer plans. I didn't follow them exactly, as I had different stuff scrounged up. You can see some pics and explanations at Blacksmiths Gallery'. There's a bunch of other stuff in there, but the TH pics are easy enough to spot. I also made a few design "improvements". One thing recent change from those pictures is the return spring arrangement. I wanted a quick return and someone suggested using a short spring that only engages at the bottom of the hit. So I shortened the middle spring and connected it with a loose chain. The slack is taken up when the head is about4 - 5 inches from the anvil. That speeds up the turn-around time, and the other springs then are just needed to hold the ram up. Chances are my "improvements" don't add up to too much, but tinkering is just fun. And, for me, it's all about the fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 One thing I should mention is that I bought a large screw press for US$50 and so some of the stuff I might use a treadle hammer for I do with the screwpress leaving the treadle list much shorter. I plan to build a treadle hammer and have most of the stock to hand--including a 400# anvil piece. Need power to the shop for the welder first though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmonds Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 Thanks everyone for the useful info. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 One thing I should mention is that I bought a large screw press for US$50 and so some of the stuff I might use a treadle hammer for I do with the screwpress leaving the treadle list much shorter. I plan to build a treadle hammer and have most of the stock to hand--including a 400# anvil piece. Need power to the shop for the welder first though. Thomas just HATES treadle hammers:mad: :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryCarroll Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Like Marc, most of the stuff I do is small--not little--but small compared to big blades and such. Lots of RR spikes lately. It took me over a year to finally get my 30 lb. hammer setup running well enough to say "I got it"!! The tire and drive pulley arrangement and several adjustments for travel--distance between dies and now finally some tooling make it nice to have. And the fact I have invested only about $100 by being a good scrounger makes it nice too! It's based on the rusty hammer except for the drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmonds Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 Jerry, the photos of your hammer were the inspiration (and parts scrounging list) for the hammer I am going to build. Thanks for the info. Maybe when mine is finished you could give me some tips on setting up my hammer to work efficiently. Thanks so much, Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Well I'll admit to a dislike of folks claiming that treadle hammers are a replacement for a powerhammer. Sort of like folk telling me their SUV is a replacement for a pickup truck (and then wanting to borrow my small pickup all the time cause it wasn't!) My scrounging so far is a 2'x4'x1" plate for the base, a 5.25"? diameter solid for the anvil and a heavy piece of I beam for the back, plus a bunch of misc steel for arms, etc and some springs to experiment with. I've got US$40 into it so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmonds Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 Yeah, I dont think of the treadle as a replacement for the power hammer. I see it more of having a striker with a 10 pound sledge thanks to the clarification from everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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