power hammer

[captmattman]

so, im wanting to build myself a power hammer. I am a qualified welder/fabricator, I just need a little help with the details. how heavy of a head do you guys like? what rpm range and what size electric motor? any other advice, tips, or tricks would be appreciated.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Download some hammer plans and you will get most of your answers. The spare tire hammer is a good build.

Head size depends on what you will do with it, but 50 pounds is a good general size. Motors are generally around 1HP.

 

[Justin Schmidt]

Check out raymond head on Facebook. He makes great tire power hammers and can really give you tips

 

[Jason Fry]

https://bladeforums.com/threads/rusty-appalachian-hammer-build-along.1571554/

Here's one I did from scratch.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Jason, now that it has run about a year, how is it holding up? Any more welds pop?

 

[Jason Fry]

So far so good, mostly. No major malfunctions. I did have trouble with the way the plastic bushings were held inside the top guide. I've got to take that apart and replace the plastic and figure out how to better keep everything together there. I also occasionally have to re-weld the die to the ram, as there's a little bit of slop between the bolt that holds the die on. Even with lock washers, I still get a loose one every now and then. Overall, it's been about what I expected from a home built machine. A little bit of tinkering here and there is within my expectations.