homebuilt power hammers

Joe Calton

Joe Calton

Joined
Jul 8, 2008
Messages
1,079
Hey guys! I just spent the weekend cleaning out the shop and building my grinders into their permanent designs. Also cleaned the shop out and made room for a power hammer. Looking at the rusty designs and thinking I have most of the parts already for one.

Does anyone know what a 4 pound hand swung hammer is in mechanical hammers? is that like a 15 pound mechanical hammer?

I have used a 50 lb little giant, and that was nice, but Im thinking something smaller. Im wanting something to work 1" diameter round bar down to blades, what poundage should I be shooting for?
 
Sorry dont have any info for ya but this is a interesting idea. Thinking bench top power hammer ...... ok maybe not. I wonder how small ya can get a power hammer and still be effective, for knife making that is.
 
What about a 25lb little giant. There are also the elusive 1lb little giants! Talk about a salesmans sample!


-Xander
 
Wasnt trying to see how small i could go, but that could be fun project! I was more after a weight comparison. Just found out that was a 100 pound little giant i was working on. That would be overkill.

Ive got some parts already: 1hp motor, spare tires, tons of leaf spring packs in different sizes, rr track for top and bottom tools. Salvage yard has plate steel for base in differnt sizes, need to hunt down inbetween parts.

Would like to stay in a 2x4' footprint
 
I plan to go with a Ray Clontz Tire Hammer with the plans by Clay Spencer (clay@tirehammer.com). Probably be best to stick to the plan but, searching got me pictures of this little guy of the same design, no idea how hard it hits, but I don't think the normal sized rusty would be over sized for your use.

littlehammer.jpg


I think the tire design hammers are more compact than the leaf spring hammers
 
I bought the plans, and started building the Rusty hammer a few years ago. The hammer/ ram probably weighted about 15 lbs but not sure how it related to an actual man hammering a 4lb hammer. After getting into it, there were a few things that I questioned design-wise (clutch system, pivots on the leafs), so I put the build on hold until I figured out how to modify it to be more robust. A bunch of folks here on the forum use that design, so I am sure they work pretty well, I just wanted to build something that wouldn't rattle and drift after it wears in from a bunch of hours using it. After a couple years of collecting dust, I decided to just buy an Air Hammer from Ted Banning. Plan to to pick it up in October.
 
I would really enjoy learning about that little hammer. Any links or anything?



ib2v4u said:
I plan to go with a Ray Clontz Tire Hammer with the plans by Clay Spencer (clay@tirehammer.com). Probably be best to stick to the plan but, searching got me pictures of this little guy of the same design, no idea how hard it hits, but I don't think the normal sized rusty would be over sized for your use.

littlehammer.jpg


I think the tire design hammers are more compact than the leaf spring hammers
Click to expand...
 
JMJones said:
I would really enjoy learning about that little hammer. Any links or anything?
Click to expand...

I tried tirehammer..com and it wasnt working. Then I Googled "Ray Clontz Tire Hammer" and got good results.

Cant wait to see what you come up with Joe.
 
There is a guy about an hour from me who rebuilds power hammers and I could have gotten a rebuilt 25# little giant for 2500, which I thought was a bit steep. You raise a good question, how small can you get and still be effective. I don't have the room, and because I'm a preacher, I know that I move every 5 years or so, so it won't get bolted down, and will have to be moved by me and a buddy with no extra equipment.

So how small can you get and still be effective?
 
I tell you guys, im really split between the rusty type and the clay spencer type. I went down to salvage yard today for some ideas, and they charge $0.30 a pound for steel. Doesnt matter what size or shape. They have tons of 1" plate in different sizes, some 6" square hollow stock from 4' to about 10'. Some 2" hydraulic pistons about 8' long i thought about for the guide for the ram.

Will have to stew on this for a bit

Anyone have a preference for either the rusty or the tirehammer?
 
Had a friend made his ram and base out of a railroad axle. Head weighed 65 pounds.
He made the Rusty design.
 
I would suggest if you go with the Tire hammer, try to take the class and build it like Stacy said. I bought the plans and frankly I can't follow them, they're hard to read in places (photocopies of photocopies) and just not laid out simply. Plus you need to have a couple things machined, so unless you have a mill or a machine shop around, you might have some trouble.
 
I would say that 15-20# is about as small as is practical and still be able to do more than you can by hand.

Another option would be a treadle hammer. You can build it from a kit, or from scratch. It can be unbolted for moving if needed. They are more popular with artisan blacksmiths that knifemakers, but they do work.
 
Been thinking all day, and got the rusty design straight in my head, so thats what Im after. The best one Ive seen is on youtube under gunhilda. With what the salvage yard has available, I think it will be somewhere between a 30-50 pounder {so much easier to just pick the parts up and use what size they come in}. Im headed there tomorow with tape measure to pick up the frame 6" about 6' tall square tube, 1" baseplate, anvil {1" plate to weld or bolt together}, and ram 1 -1.5" plate thats about 3" wide. and theres a part there that might work for a upper rocker. and some 1/4" plate to sandwich some nylon boards for the ram guide and something for the cross supports.

Ive got a buddy that hauls scrap cars that thinks he has a front wheel drive car that we can salvage a rear tire and hub assembly for the tire clutch.

going to use railroad rail for the upper and lower bolt in dies.

just need:

the nylon for the ram guide, Im thinking nylon cutting boards

the threaded rod and ends and turnbuckle for the drive rod

rollers for the upper end of the ram

sand to fill the frame

time to put it all together and get it running!

about the only thing Im concerned with is my garage floor supporting the weight and shock. Got to talk to my neighbor who is a concrete contractor about that.
 
Sounds pretty kicka. A work in progress thread would be awesome if you have the time.
 
Gunnhilda? Hey, that's mine! :D

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-lb-homemade-power-hammer?highlight=gunnhilda

She's on the large end of the Rusty design (as in, a guided helve hammer built from junk), but the design's pretty easy to scale between around a 15 lb. ram (the original Rusty) to 100 lbs (Gunnhilda and a few others I've seen).

A major advantage over the standard tire hammer is the amount of adjustability I have to allow for different tooling. It does take up a fair amount of floor space. Using a tire clutch gives better control than a Little Giant, though Gunnhilda, at least, hits fewer beats per minute.

I used UHMW plastic for the ram guides, following some other folks' examples. Slick like Teflon, wears better than steel. I got it from McMaster-Carr.

The turnbuckle is for a three point hitch on a tractor.

Careful with the railroad track dies. Preheat before welding to around 400 degrees, then post-heat afterwards at the same for at least an hour. Otherwise you may have some cracking.
 
Jawilder - Is that fellow who rebuilds Little Giants over in Goldthwaite? I drive past him when I go home to the family farm in Comanche county.
 
He sure is. Seems like a nice guy when I stopped to ask about it. He has several hammers there every time I drive by.
 
James, your gunhilda is by far the best Ive seen on that design on youtube! Very stable, and all the parts seem to line up the way they should! Thanks for the tip on the plastic plates, I get 52100 from mcmaster carr also.

here is a couple pics of my haul at the salvage yard this morning. 600 pounds set me back $180. I think about another $200 should do it.

82312hammerstartframe.jpg82312hammeranvilramtireclutch.jpg82312springs.jpg

Im hoping to bolt the major pieces together in case I ever have to move the thing! Finished weight will probably be around 800-900 pounds or more with the sand in the frame. I will probably make a couple plugs in the frame to allow draining of the sand if I ever have to move the thing.

I found a part at the yard that should work for a top pivot. the ram will have to be cut in half, and the anvil needs cut down and welded together, will start at 3 pieces, and may have to weld more on if it ends up too light. looks like the ram and top tool together will weigh around 50-60lbs. Might go back to my junk piles and get a set of bigger springs.

so for the next week or so, it will be just having it in the shop and working around it to make sure that is where I want it to be, and tweaking measurements. then cut down the frame to the right height and install the pivot and springs, then bolt the frame to the baseplate with the wood under the baseplate. and then Ill be able to see where the anvil needs to be so I can build the anvil and support, and the ram guide and ram assembly. and with a little luck by the time Im done with that, Ill have scrounged a tire and hub assembly, and threaded rod and turnbuckle for the tireclutch.



When they say that the anvil needs to be 10 times the wieght of the hammer, do you count the baseplate and frame in that?
 
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