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Tire hammer Question


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Clay Spencer's plans show the tire hammer being about 6' to 6 1/2' tall. You can shorten if you need to. Just make sure that you decrease the anvil just as much as you decrease the total hammer height. Keep this in proportion and the hammer can be as tall or as short as you want it. I highly suggest buying Clay Spencer's plans. They're very well-made.

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Ray Clontz Tire Hammer Plans by Clay Spencer

These plans are for a 50 lb. power hammer that uses the rear axle and hub from a front drive car and emergency spare tire and weighs about 700 lbs. It is powered by a 1 hp, 1750 rpm electric motor, 120 or 240 volts, runs about 250 blows per minute and uses a spring toggle mechanism similar to Little Giant hammers. The anvil is 6" solid round (minimum size) by 36" high and the frame is 5" square tubing. The plans are 40 pages, printed front and back on 20 sheets that include parts list, detail and assembly drawings, sources, notes, installation, adjustments and maintenance. Over 200 hammers have been built using these plans. Price is $30US including postage to US and Canada, $32US to other countries. Send check or money order to Clay Spencer, 73 Penniston Private Drive, Somerville, AL 35670. Tel: (256) 498-1498 or E-mail clay@tirehammer.com for info. Also, Clay leads workshops for chapters or groups to build 15 to 20 hammers and has Tire Hammers for sale, $2000.

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They have *totally* different use cases though, go with the one that makes the most sense for what you do a lot of not with "what fits".

Won't do you any good to have a fly press if you *need* a power hammer and vice versa! In a good generalized shop you might end up with a fly press, power hammer, and a hydraulic forging press and use them all at different times for different tasks, choosing the one that is best for the task at hand.

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  • 4 months later...
UMBA Online has a video showing 3 hours of Clay forging with a tire hammer and a video of about 6 hours of Bob Haverstock working with two differrent fly press
cost of the videos are $7 for the first and $5 each for the rest in same order and you never have to return them. This deal is for US delivery only. They do ship to other countries but postage is extra. They have 150 differrent videos
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I had e-mailed Clay and asked about the details of getting a tire hammer class together and he said he estimated almost $1600 for each person if all supplies were bought new. Since it will probably take 6 - 8 months to get something like that together I have decided to build my own tire hammer and hopefully have it done in 3 months or so. I just sent away for Clay's plans and have enough money to start the bulk of the project. (the money is all from profit of me selling forged items!) Unfortunately since I am saving every penny for this tire hammer, I have decided to miss the SOFA event this year. I really want to go, but saving for my hammer (and a house) is more important right now.

The only other power hammer I have used is a Big Blu 75. Has anyone ever used a similar Air Hammer and the Tire Hammer? I am curious how the Tire Hammer will compare to the Big Blu 75 or perhaps any other small air hammer.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Clay Spencer had a 1/3rd scale tire hammer at quad state, it was, as he told me, a 15 lb hammer. It was about 3.5 feet tall as I recall, painted in John Deere colors. It was presented to him by John Wayne Taylor from one the southern groups. It was a very cool little hammer, made with a combo die, and ran like a charm. I hope the plans get released as me and a couple Northern boys wanna make us one.

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The 1/2 scale tire hammer was built by myself and Clay Spencer's nephew Mitch, at my shop in Wetumpka, Al. It is tribute to Clay for his many years of contributions to blacksmithing, especially in the design of the tire hammer. Clay has taught many workshops, including tool making, building treadle hammers, tire hammers, and too many other workshops to mention. These workshops have touched the lives of smiths all over the world. This hammer is small token to pay for someone like Clay who has contributed so much. It was presented to him by the membership of AFC at our conference this past September in Alabama. I basically scaled down Clay's plans to 1/2 scale using a foam filled wheel barrow wheel. In a few days I will upload more pictures when I can figure out how to use this new computer. I can be reach at jwtrht@att.net or by phone 334-514-2254. If you haven't figured it out, Clay is one of my mentors, as he is to many others also. keep you fires hot.
John Wayne Taylor

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Clay Spencer is a giant among blacksmiths, and one of my favorite demonstrators. But... he didn't design the tire hammer, Ray Clontz did. Clay sells plans and leads workshops where the hammers are made. I exect he probably improved the original design, but we need to acknowledge the original designer... Ray Clontz.

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John,

I was told it was 1/3rd scale, thanks for clearing that up. You really did a bang up job on that little guy. Everybody at quad state was looking around it and wishing it was theirs. Old John Rausch and Dick Geier and I were talking about having a little hammer building seminar if ever the plans are released. Clay was really proud of the little guy, showing it off and letting people run it, and no one in the industry deserves that kind of honor more than he. It looks like a little piece of art sitting there!!

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My bad. It was a poor choice of words to say that Clay designed the tire hammer. I knew that he actually made many improvements and changes and not the inital design, but what can I say about my writing skills. Thats why I'm not a writer. There was no intent to exclude any credit due to Ray for his contributions. The tire hammer is one of the best designed hammers that I seen yet. It's simple, works very well, easy to maintain and easy to build. I hope to thank Ray personally, some day, for his contrbution to blacksmithing. But until then, thank you Ray, you did good. JWT

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