A quick video of my fairbanks #150 running.

Ahh well maybe next year Phil. :)

Well Dewey the retort is still an empty shell, I'll probably pick up the clay on wensday. As for the ore... I'm still dead broke. Monday is my last day of highschool so starting on tuesday I'm working 8 hours a day in the shop. Once I have the bars done for the giveaway I'm hoping that there will be enough interest in my damascus to be able to buy the ore soon.

By the way Dewey, Aldo says hes going to be dropping steel off to you in a few weeks then stopping at my shop. Your more than welcome to join him but we are mostly going to be working wrought iron.
 
Geesh, I guess I missed it...I didn't know you were a teenybopper Dan. I'm impressed! Holy smokes, life sure is a trip.
 
Thanks for the invitation. Got room for a tent and dog in the back 40??

I'v been playing with hand-hammering some damascus so I'm not sure playing with a BIG hammer is a real good idea! :D

PM me your phone# and I'll give ya a call.
 
UNCLE ALDO! The wrought is sitting on and under my new work bench. I got a hold of sam so we will have tongs for the next time... I hope. Hehe :p

Heck yea Dewey, just make sure your dog is friendly cause my dog loves to play. Pm on its way.

Dan I'll have to look for a picture of you, it might jolt my memory. :thumbup:

Yeeaaa Phil, I'm a wee runt compared to most of you guys. :)

-Dan
 
Can you say hammer time?
largedamascus.jpg


I ran out of cutting discs so I went and welded up a 3'6"x1.5x1.5 billet. Its welded and cut in half now, gonna finish it over the next two weeks since my new forge supply's arrive tomorrow.

By the way mike my motor runs at 1725 and the pully is 4".

-Dan
 
Nice pic Dan. You should'nt of put you head in the hammer to test it out. No look at your self, your head is flat in the pic. j.k. lol. Thats a nice lookin hammer you got there.
 
Hehe Pancho, thanks. I almost finished Phils bar of damascus but these dam bees (or other flying stinging insect) seem to think that once the shop cools off its time to land on me... and I'm scared of bees. So tomorrow his will be done and then I have a billet almost finished for about 3 more. Then I'll be back to working on the big billets. Am I rambling again? :confused:

Yes it is Sam, but it was too large cause of my limited shop space and damaged wrist. I think 1' long would be the best balance. By the way I'm gonna send you an email tomorrow. :thumbup:
 
Hey Dan,

I'm pretty excited about getting your gift! I just sent you a PM with my folk's address in NH. I'll be there soon and once it's received I can take it down to Indian George's. Make sure you put w description in with it describing what you've made and how! I'd be please to pay the freight (at least), if you'll let me.

Thanks so much, and All the best, Phil
 
Dan Seaver said:
Can you say hammer time?
largedamascus.jpg


I ran out of cutting discs so I went and welded up a 3'6"x1.5x1.5 billet. Its welded and cut in half now, gonna finish it over the next two weeks since my new forge supply's arrive tomorrow.

By the way mike my motor runs at 1725 and the pully is 4".

-Dan
Click to expand...

Dan,

That is a sweet looking ol' girl... =]

With a 4" pulley your beats per minute is 431max. As I mentioned, 150# are designed to max at 275bpm. The ideal motor would be 1140rpm but I don't suppose you really want to switch the motor out right now. A 2.5" pulley with the motor you have would be about 275bpm but that is likely too small a pulley for the stoutness of the belt needed.

Birdog and I were e-yapping after looking at your video. It could just be the sound pick-up of the recorder but to us, your hammer doesn't seem to be hitting very hard and it sounds like something is loose.

I don't know for sure, but I think the belt needs to run with the idler on the outside instead of the inside. Or at least that is what the old Fairbanks hammer pictures I have look like.

Mike

PS -- The original motors were mostly 900rpm with some of the heavier hammers at 800rpm... or just under 5" pulley for your hammer's 16" drive and exactly 5" for our 50# hammer's 12 inch drive. A bigger motor pulley has more friction on the belt and should give more sensitive power application. Unfortunately, 800rpm - 900rpm motors are darn scarce.
 
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I had an old 1140 motor on it but it burn up rather quickly. The thing you have to remember about flat belt hammers is the belt is made to slip, so theoretically you should never achieve the max bpm.

As for the not hitting hard; I'm not sure. I've never used a different hammer. I can draw out a 1.5"x1.5"x6" billet of damascus to .75"x1.5"x12" in one heat; so I don't believe there is an issue. I check and lubricate all the parts each day before I run the hammer, nothing is loose. One thing that concerns me is the drive shaft moves forward and backwards by about 1/4" while its running. My braking system is kinda funky so I might just remove it.

Edit- I hear that rattling sound in the video, I think its just a piece of steel that the hammer is vibrating next to it.
 
Dan,

I get the belt slipping aspect, but if the idler position, treadle travel, and brake release are set to take all the slack out of the belt, it will run 431bpm with a 1725rpm motor.

Right now I'm trying to find more information on Fairbanks setup than there is in the catalog I got from Sid & Keri (Little Giant) and from the "directions" plate on our machine. My present understanding is, for the hammer to hit at max, it needs to be set in a particular way... involving die spacing (assuming standard die ht.), wrist pin position, crosshead-on-pitman position, spring tension, primarily. But also involving idler/treadle/brake as they influence speed, as in beats per minute. I don't have a mental picture of the curve, but, for any given setting, the faster the hammer goes the harder it hits. Also, all of the settings, done properly, define "timing", so the hammer can be in or out (common problem and occurrence with Little Giant hammers).

I think the 1/4" end-play on your hammer shaft comes from wear on the shaft bushing ends. I've got no idea what the play +/- is supposed to be or what the setting process is. That and some other "setting unknowns" (like brass gib/hammer +/-, procedure, and lube schedule... or not) is why I'm looking for instruction data.

So you know, Birdog told me the Navy used to have a lot of Fairbanks hammers. One of the places I'm going to look for setting info is in Navy archives, if I can figure out how to access them (not so far, in a few tries).

Last thing... the original rpm for your machine was 850 (25#, 75#, 50# @900rpm... 100#, 125#, 150# @ 850rpm... 200#, 300#, 400# 500# @ 800rpm)... a motor pulley range of 4.50" to 5.50", depending... yours was a little over 5", not just under, as I said.

Mike
 
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