Looks like it's being run off a motorcycle engine?

 

That is very interesting, Kinda like a tire hammer.

I can’t control the wind. All I can do is adjust my sails. ~Semper Paratus~

I’m not sure I’d like that. I’m used to having control from a foot treadle and having both hands free. On for tongs the other for top tools. It looks like he’s controlling the hammer with his right hand…

Keep it fun,

David

Next thing you're going to tell us is that you prefer to stand up when running a power hammer, at the anvil, etc. 

Lots of cultures blacksmith sitting down. I don't see the advantage but there must be good reasons. Also the smith in the video operates in the 3rd. world and probably only has a couple products, maybe only the one shown, also his power hammer isn't very suitable for top tools. What he has appears to be well suited for what he does.

A pair of tongs is insanely easy to make, take a straight branch or sapling say 1.5-2" dia. x 24-30" long, wrap one end in a binding, like whipping a rope, so it won't split full length. Then split the branch lengthways slip a twig, say 3/8 - 1/2" dia. between the halves to spread them at the open end and you have a pair of tongs just squeeze them closed on the work. Throw them into the fire and make another pair when they're too burned to use. Gathering fuel, scrap and work is what village kids do for the show, learn a trade and maybe have grandma's peya pan repaired or make one for her Birthday. Money isn't nearly as common as barter for this kind of work in the 3rd. world.

I started paying attention to this level of technology largely because I worked in the field literally 3/4 of the time I was an exploration driller and I've never been one to knock off a half rack of beer after work every night. I read and after a while started hitting found steel with rocks on boulders. learned how to shape and build wood fires hot enough to weld in, the stick tongs trick and others. Then I discovered "The Art of Blacksmithing" by Alex Bealer on a freebie table at a local book store along with a couple others and discovered more tricks. 

The lessons I took from watching videos like this were, how little a blacksmith actually needs to do good work and how many places and things to look for tools to do it. 

Anybody who really wants to learn the craft should be watching 3rd. world smiths to see what it really means to be a (Please forgive me for using a term I loath) "traditional"  blacksmith. The true tradition of the blacksmith is someone who can do most anything with almost nothing. As the old saw says, The blacksmith makes the tools.

Think about it, a front spindle, wheel and tire, whatever motor you can find a rubber caster, leaf spring pack and some found steel, light shafting, say a tie rod and a bit of pipe and heavy shaft, probably an axle. The anvil could be most anything, even a largish rock but probably another axle driven into the ground.

I'm sorry if I should like I'm picking on you Dave, nothing could be farther from my intent, this is just a topic that is close to my soul.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

6 minutes ago, Frosty said:

Lots of cultures blacksmith sitting down. I don't see the advantage but there must be good reasons

Well, it's certainly easier on the feet.

3 hours ago, Goods said:

I’m used to having control from a foot treadle and having both hands free.

A lot of videos of Japanese smiths show them sitting down (either on the floor with their feet in a largish hole or on a chair) operating their powerhammers with foot pedals.

Sitting may save knee strain some but I don't see any mechanical advantage. Try looking wider sitting or kneeling is common all over the world unless anvil stands are too expensive or hard to come by I don't see the advantage of sitting at the anvil.

Frosty The Lucky.

Sitting means that at some point you have to stand back up. I am getting old and have blown my knee out by standing up. Nothing else, i was doing the brakes on my SIL's car sitting on the tire. Stood up, knee popped, and could not walk for 3 days. Now i have to kind of roll to one side and push my self up with one hand. That and my gut makes it uncomfortable to sit and bend forward now. Bad knees, rhumatis, and fat... getting old sucks. 

I have noticed a lot of Japanese smiths sit down but have 2 maybe 3 strikers whom i assume are apprentices. I take that as he has earned his chair now those guys do the brunt of the work. 

Or the powerhammer does.

True Billy, a lot about getting old sucks but it beats the alternative. So far anyway.

Frosty The Lucky.

  My knees at 59 sound like Rice Crispies standing up from a chair.  Snap, Crackle and Pop.  Leaning over to do a task binds up all my lower back for some time.  I blame it on crawling around the garden picking stuff for the farm market.  20 years worth of that.    It sure was fun but I'm not sure on the return on investment.

  I still like the lawn mower hammer though. 

Time for a raised bed eh Scott? I'll bet either of us could come up with a "robot" tiller that ran on tracks and turned the soil so we wouldn't have to climb up on the beds to prep the soil. Hmmmm? 

How about an old Analog magazine Mole Machine garden tiller? Let us know when you figure out how to make one harvest root vegetables, I'll bet there's money in that one.

Frosty The Lucky.

  I'll have to look up the Mole Machine, but here's a back saver I made to to pull behind the rider mower to make furrows in well tilled soil.  With a couple of chunks of steel bolted on it turned potatos...  A robot one would be even better.   I had a 8n + plow but this actually worked better.   I saw a youtube video of a guy that made a ride on tiller.  

Here's a recent image of one. The Coyote often tried to get Bugs with the Acme Mole machine.

Frosty The Lucky.