Lame knifemaker tools

Mark Williams

Mark Williams

Moderator
Joined
Nov 28, 2000
Messages
4,760
Since a couple or more of us are experiencing some physical malfunctions (Jeff - el lameo, call me a dirty hippie will ya), I would like to hear about air hammers.

Anybody have any first hand experience with one?
 
yea, they are nice. I got to watch Charlie Oches forge out a blade using one with only some very little light touch up work after. With some practice you can get some very fine modulation of hammer blows on one.

WS
 
Mark Williams said:
Since a couple or more of us are experiencing some physical malfunctions (Jeff - el lameo, call me a dirty hippie will ya), I would like to hear about air hammers.

Anybody have any first hand experience with one?
Click to expand...

I got one and its great. It's a 25lb little giant. Once you get the hang of it you will not want to do the bull work anymore. You go most of the way with the power hammer and finish with the hand held.
It realy helps to know how to forge first so you know how to move the steel where you want it. A few peactice blades to find out how it works and you are good to go. Sure saves on the arm too. Hay I got something that might help that arm too. We'll talk at the hammerin.
Larry
 
Hi Mark,

Glad to see you're looking into this route, it'll save your shoulder in the long run! :) Len Landrum, James Gibson, Jim Prill, and myself are in the process of building 5 air hammers (and unfortunately have been for some time now due to trying to work around four different schedules, but, we're nearing the point where we'll be getting ready to assemble them). The head weight will be 85 pounds and the anvil is around 350 pounds if I remember correctly. This is all mounted to a 1 1/2" steel baseplate. I'm not looking forward to moving these things when we're done, but we are building them in a way that they can be disassembled for transport. We'll be selling one of them when we get them finished so we can all recoup some of our money on the ones we're building for ourself. That one you're looking into on the other forum, if it is any good at all, you should snatch it up at that price...you can't build one for that price unless all of the parts are scrounged! ...what I'm saying, is that seems like a very very good deal!

As to how well they function, well, I'd say better than a mechanical hammer from the ones I've seen. There is a certain romance in owning a Little Giant or one of the other brands of old power hammers, but the air hammers I've seen are more controllable then the mechanical power hammers. Having said that, though, I do want to own a LG and have the opportunity to rebuild one one day myself.

If you do get one and it has a four way limit for the head control, look into changing this out to two two-way limits. This will allow you to adjust the distance apart from the the two switches such that you can make the hammer repeatedly just tap the work piece to adjusting them such that you get the full power of the blow (albeit at the sacrifice of cycle speed). Also, keep in mind the one hidden cost, an air compressor if you don't already have one.

:)

-Darren
 
y'all have me terribly confused.

I've seen LG power hammers and hydraulic power hammers...but how does the air hammer work?

Are there any links to information, etc.?
 
is it a rapid-fire hit (like a LG)? or it is a squeezer like a hydraulic ram?
 
pendentive said:
is it a rapid-fire hit (like a LG)? or it is a squeezer like a hydraulic ram?
Click to expand...

Any way you want it, Dan. From ball-smashing hard to gentle planishing taps... all controlled with your foot.
 
Darren - can I ask what you have invested in your D-I-Y air hammers? (you can PM me)

Is this a daunting task, or ok if you have the time and $$...?
 
When I saw this thread I thought you guys were going to post pics of tools used by guys like me... :rolleyes:
 
raghorn said:
When I saw this thread I thought you guys were going to post pics of tools used by guys like me... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Nope Just some guys have lived to hard during the years when it didn't hurt to fall off cliffs and such nonsense.

So are most air hammers just electric selinoid operated . What actually controls the beat? I have a frame that would work I think. Just need to make some type of hammer with a die attachment and anvil with same. Are the air cylinders real expensive?

Mark
 
They're solenoid operated, and a microswitch controls solenoid activation. The switch is on a little arm sort of like the depthstop on a drillpress. You adjust it up or down to address the rate that will result in the foot pressure. I got to use one from a guy named Maurice Ellis of Lizard Ridge Forge in Belgrade MO. Awesome tool. About $2600 for a 40 pounder, but it was fine equipment. Hit on the order of 180BPM, enough to actually keep a billet hot longer from that rapid, hard hit. Utterly controllable, too, with 5 minutes of practice. Downside is they need quite a compressor to keep up. A minimum of another $500 investment.

Search ABANA for "Kinyon style airhammer". Plans are available for sale.
 
What kind of compressior would you need? About how many CFM? Sounds like a mechanicle hammer with a 1-2 horse motor would be cheaper if you had to have a 5 horse motor on a compressor?

Thanks
 
The one I got to see used a 60 gallon 2-stage 5 or 6HP; I don't remember the required SCFM. I calculated that buying a good American-made compressor and the Ellis hammer would cost me close to 4 grand.

Yes, a used, rebuilt mechanical hammer would be cheaper to buy. Even cheaper to buy an old LG and refurbish it. Some of the plans on ABANA would be cheaper yet to build at home. Matter of preference.

I sure did like that airhammer, though. Ron "Bowie" Claiborne says it was the nicest hammer he's ever tried. He has a LG in his shop. I don't know if I'll ever get to have one, but if I do, it'll be that Ellis. I'll just wait and save.
 
Hi Guys

I know that this does not conform to the specified topic, but I saw this in a book. Enjoy
 

Attachments

  • Forge.jpg
    Forge.jpg
    85.9 KB · Views: 23
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top