This is my second home built hammer and I tried to improve some flaws I found when I went to a 100# TUP.

1) Heavier anvil 800#? (8"x12"x32")plus the caps.

2)Pulled the column closer to the anvil to eliminate the flex in the guide.(I decided I would rather have less flex than more throat)

3)Made the height adjustable from the front. ( I saw a picture of an India made hammer and figured the lever was for this adjustment.)1" at rest die clearance with an addtional 1.75" available with lever.

4)Made stroke easily adjustable.

I think 100# is about the limit for the spindle off the passenger car. It flexes as is and will probably fail eventually. I think I'll try to replace with a forged crank ASAP.

I am running 4" of mechanical stroke and 8" plus of realized stroke and hammer behaves very well. Not sure on BPM but the drive is as follows; 1760RPM motor with 3.125 flat sheave on a 22" dia. tire. Combo dies from Big Blu were only thing I wasn't able to salvage.

I welcome all comments and especially ideas for improvement.

Hillbilly (Johnny)

I will try and attach photos.

Edited February 1, 200917 yr by hillbilly
post photos

I can't seem to get the photos to load. I went to manage attachments and selected the zipped photos but it doesn't get past uploading files...

Apprenticeman, Im not sure how I attach a photo to an email through this forum.

I never liked tire hammers as much as now. Biggest thing is the tire on
the bottom! Looks way better than on top lol. The hammer height adjuster
is cool, but im not to sure how it works or how it stays in position.
A video would be great:)

Ah i see now upon closer inspection, If i could make the pics bigger that
would help.

Is this "tire on the bottom design" your design are there plans with the tire on the bottom somewhere?

I hadn't seen it on an Appalachian style hammer bfore I made my first one. Folks seem to really like the control on the "tire hammer" and I could easily install a brake( abig deal to me ) I have since seen a couple hammers with this drive. Jerry Carrol has a photo in the gallery of his hammer.I wouldn't even begin to compare my ideas to the GIANTS of past generations or the Elders in my own. Even the Idea for the adjustable portion on my hammer is something I saw on a Manenkal Guided Spring Helve I saw on Google under "power hammers". I saw the lever on the front and assumed this is what it was for. It did take some time to figure out how to accomplish this. I only broke one design before this one and I can already see some improvements can be made to the geometry.(The vertical link arm loses vertical lift at the top of the arc. I think the pivot point needs to be in line with the actuator level)

Do you need a counter-balance weight on the tire like on the Tire Hammer?

I thought about it but figured it would be more weight to get moving. Don't know if I made the right call but hammer seems to work well as is.

Nice hammer. I converted my spring helve hammer to a tire drive down low in about 2003. Works much better that the V belt on a flat sheave.
I would love to see a sketch of the slide arrangement. I need to improve mine.
Could you email me a hand schetch maybe?
ptreeforge at aol dot com

What kind of leaf-spring(s) are using? It seems pretty flat - did you use flat leaf springs, or are they a typical arched pack that straightened out as you compressed them with the plates as part of the pivot mount?

Thanks,

don

Don, the longer springs were pretty flat to start with and pretty heavy.(old chevy Blazer front.) The shorter ones I straightened cold on my Fly Press. I marked out 1" increments and used 1/8" "blocks " on both sides of a 1" fuller that I bumped in the middle. Could do the same thing with a shop press too. My Dad said he used RR track at a side or switch rail and a sledge to straighten springs.
By the way, just because their are no guards on my hammer doesn't mean they aren't necessary.Ptree has a similiar design in the gallery that is properly guarded if you need some ideas.

Good luck
Johnny

I would strongly urge that every machine containing large, loaded, springs be guarded, and especially ones where the loaded springs are close to ones face:)
My hammer has been in use since 2002, and as I have modified and so forth I have broken a couple of springs. The hood has nicely contained the parts.
I did learn to use only new spring stock. The reused old springs failed pretty quick.

Don, the longer springs were pretty flat to start with and pretty heavy.(old chevy Blazer front.) The shorter ones I straightened cold on my Fly Press. I marked out 1" increments and used 1/8" "blocks " on both sides of a 1" fuller that I bumped in the middle. Could do the same thing with a shop press too. My Dad said he used RR track at a side or switch rail and a sledge to straighten springs.

Thanks for your reply. That is interesting. I had considered straightening leaf springs, but I figured that I'd need to use heat and thus ruin the springs. I didn't expect that cold they would take very well to (staying) bent, but I can see it working using the incremental (FP) approach as you did.

I was considering sandwiching them together with the concave sections facing each other, resulting in a straight string, which (I think) would be a lot stiffer (because the springs are under tension).

don

You are pretty close to an old Helve Hammer out in my back 1/4 acre. Here are some pictures of hammer slide detail and adjustment and overall hammer. It is still out there if you want more pictures.

Great photos Stretch! Do you know the make of this hammer? Or age, history,...?

Johnny