Tire hammer ballast

[Gavj75]

A quick question for thoses who know:

Is it crucial that the counter-weight on the opposite side of the wheel from the ''spring mechanism'' (not sure what else to call it), is the same weight as the hammer and spring mech?

Thanks

[Judson Yaggy]

Same is optimal, close is good enough.  The closer you are the less wobble the whole thing will have.  Many antique mechanicals had no provision for counterweight, they relied on over engineered adjacent parts or expected frequent replacements or just figured that if you bought a budget hammer you got what you paid for.  If you can't figure out how to build in a counterweight, at least bolt the hammer down to a solid concrete slab.  

[wicon]

Same weight - not necessaraly. The center of gravity of both - the "spring and hammer mechanism" and the counterweight should be in the center of the tire.

[Gavj75]

Thanks guys, this helps my decision making with regards to my hammer build a lot.