canman Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 What size air compressor would you need for a kinyon style air hammer? What is the most air efficient air hammer? Thanks, canman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy seale Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 you can probobly use a 5 hp/30 gal. but if ya can- get a tank and make a accumulator out of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterDE4 Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 You'll want a compressor that puts out at least 10 cfm@90 psi. I seem to recall that the Kinyon plans call for a 11cfm air source. !2-13 would be better. My compressor only puts out 6.4 cfm@90 psi and it has to run 100% of the time when I'm using my hammer. I'm using a 2"x10" cylinder. A smaller cylinder will need less, and a larger cylinder will require more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmike Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 With an equivalent tup weight a larger bore cylinder won't take more air as it will need less pressure to lift the weight... A longer stroke would... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 The old rule when buying compressors is take your current requirement and double it then buy accordingly. Now I know from experience this "old rule" can create a serious expense quickly. So where does that leave us? Well you have to look at your budget first. Define what you can afford in a compressor. Then figure out what is the best thing in that price range. Air compressors are all about you get what you pay for. Remember cast iron is the best for a pump. If your going to be running an air hammer look for the words "continuous duty" otherwise you will destroy the pump in short order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Stegmeier Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 I have a 7.5HP Quincy Air Master light industrial air compressor with an 80 gallon reciever. It produces 21.3 CFM @175PSI and to be honest I can bury it with my hammer. If you are planning on doing a lot of drawing, you will want a lot of compressor. If you mainly use hand tooling and use it like a striker or a treadle hammer you will likely be happy with just the bare minimium for your compressor. Questions to ask yourself to figure out just how big a compressor you really need??? Do you work multiple pieces at the same time? Do you have a gas forge, and do you stack it high and deep? Do you want to do a lot of drawing, table legs, tool handles, damascus??? Do you mainly like to work one piece at a time? Do you use a coal forge with a hand crank blower? Do you mainly want to use the tremedous control of an air hammer? Do like using hand tooling? There are lots of people who get by with smaller compressors and are happy with their hammers and the amount of money they have invested. But to be honest even an inefficient air hammer is better than trying to beat your way through by hand, if your not smithing all the time. An air hammer always works better with extra free air, and lot of capacity. ALL hammers work better with a proper foundation, that is isolated from the main floor of the building. Do big wooden bases work, yes most of the time. Is it the best type of base, no. Would I use one, maybe;-) There is a big difference between ideal, and what we need to settle for in a practical world. Ideally you should have a anvil to ram ratio of between 20-40 to 1, but there are a lot of hammers built that have an anvil to ram ratio of 6 to 1, they bounce abit more than they should but they do work, and if built strudily enough they will last and do an ok job... Bottomline... Strech and do the best you can, and don't let the lack of being able to do what is "IDEAL" keep you from doing what you can;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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