MacGowan & Finigan "Perfect" Power Hammer

Mothman_c3w · September 10, 2023

I just picked up this MacGowan & Finigan 30? lb "Perfect" Power Hammer last week; really excited to get it set up. I found it about 20 miles from my house for 3K, and the guy said I could borrow his gantry crane to get it out of the trailer. I couldn't pass up that offer.

It runs, but it needs a good cleaning and a general once-over. I'm definitely going to rewire the motor and replace the switch, and I may replace the motor and belts altogether. The motor mount looks a little thrown together, so I may redo that as well. I can tell the spring arm linkage has been modified, but I don't know yet if I'll try to return it to the original design, or run it as-is. The previous owner ran it for almost 20 years off-and-on as it sits. One step at a time, I guess. Maybe I'll paint it, maybe I'll re-pour the bearings, blah blah blah. I'll get there eventually.

I have been researching the hammer, but I haven't turned up much besides a couple sales brochures and the patent info. The previous owner claims it was made in 1903, but I am not so sure. A M&F sales Brochure from 1905 calls out three sizes manufactured (not specified), but it seems that they went down to two sizes (40 lb and 80 lb) by 1912, possibly earlier. Mine is supposedly a 30 lb, but I have not yet weighed the ram to be certain. The hammer casting says "Patent applied for", but the Patent website says the inventor applied for a patent in Feb 1907, receiving the patent in Sep 1907. The company definitely existed in 1903, but who knows if they quit using the old casting molds right after being awarded the pamphlet. I feel comfortable saying it's pre-1910 though.

Is there anyone out there with any other info on these? They seem to be relatively scarce but I would like to see if there are any manuals, user's notes, or other documents floating around.