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I Forge Iron

Hawkeye Helve


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I did a search and looked through all of the old Hawkeye threads and could not find one like this. Is it a #1? It looks different than Jeremy's restoration with the yoke and anvil size. Also, how well would it move metal? I was thinking about buying it, or a 25lb Little Giant. But after seeing his restoration, I'm thinking I like this better because of its rarity and buying it to use while I build an air hammer. Then restoring it to original condition as a show piece afterward. Thoughts from the experts?

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You'd get a lot better feel for how well it would move metal if you could find video of it or something similar in action. It looks like it would be great for freeing up a hand for holding a tool but like you I'm wondering how well it would do with things like drawing out. Hopefully someone will chime in with some first hand knowledge.

Pnut

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The belt pulleys are not correct...but the original flat belt pulleys might not  be the best choice anyway.  It also looks like they did something funky for the motor and pedal operation.   

I haven't actually used the one in our museum so can't say how well it works under power.  Hand cranked, it looks like it'd do the job but only in the OK range of things.  That implies that cost has a great impact on decision making vs a more traditional/common hammer.

If there is something you want detailed photos of, let me know.

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So were the smaller Little Giants, but folks today try to use them for general use.  Any well made power hammer is better than no power hammer. 

@Kozzy the tag looks like it says "1993"?  Assuming that was the date of donation, might want to tell the museum it *wasn't* made in 1993!

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I used one a few weeks back.  I suspect like all mechanical hammers,  efficiency depends a lot on 'tune'.  Example being- I moved the helve connection, back towards the pivot, more directly over the  crank.  Made a world of difference, compared with the previous 2 or 3 weekends on it.  Hit harder and almost got the springs effective.   Far more work would be good to do on it.  A challenge with these unguided helves, is that the die faces are parallel in one position, only.  This can be overcome with rocker or round-back tool.

 

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