Rubber; Does it deadin the impact at the dies?

Fred.Rowe

Fred.Rowe

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
May 2, 2004
Messages
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I just moved my Big Blue air hammer onto the floor of my new shop.

The machine weighs around 1800 lbs when its filled with sand.
Its a hundred pound machine.

The floor that it sits on is made up of 4 inches of compacted sand, one inch insulation board, plastic,reinforcing wire and 5 1/2 inches of concrete.

I have the machine set on 3/4 inch horse stall matting with 3/8 inch anchor pins on the corners and into the concrete floor.

What affect do you believe the matting will have on the function of the hammer? Do you believe the matting will deaden or divert some of the hammers force at the head?

Fred
 
I would think it would actually provide some reactive force as the rubber compresses and returns (on a small scale anyhow). Shouldn't be any sidewards movement due to the base being anchored to the floor. As far as up / down movement, being that the frame is all one piece, I doubt you will see any change in the head force. The biggest benefit I would think will be some shock dampening in the surrounding concrete flooring as the rubber absorbs the shock and vibration instead of the metal transferring it directly onto the pad. Just my .02 :D
 
There are varius vibration dampers available commercially. The ones I've seen are made of rubber.If you want to be serious then use a lead plate !! The PanAm building [now MetLife ]
built over the Grand Central Station in NYC has plates of lead underneath ! Lead has inherent vibration damping properties.
 
i've heard that rubber does provide some movement and you should watch the mounting nuts...as they may back out..

- if you use some thin marine plywood sheet.. its only to take up some irregularities in the flatness of your baseblock and bottom of hammer .. .. but if i read correctly, you don't have an isolated baseblock ...so i'm not sure ...

some folks put them on timbers....that seems to work ok and less likely to crack the floor.... although it won't stike as hard as with a baseblock !

maybe contact manufacturer and see what their opinion is


good luck
Greg
 
I can't speak for the Big Blu hammer, but I know that John Larson recommends a piece of 1/2" plywood under his Iron Kiss hammers. It keeps the hammer from pulverizing the concrete, doesn't rebound too much, and actually helps keep the machine in place since the plywood works itself into the grain of the concrete and helps cut down lateral motion.

-d
 
The more solid the foundation, the better the hammer will work. My 100 LG was mounted to a 1" steel plate, 600lbs and sitting on dirt. It worked OK but when I moved it into the new shop and bolted it to 3'x5'x3'deep concrete it became 100%+ more efficient.

I have a 3/16" truck bed mat between the hammer and foundation and the hammer is bolted down tight. I think some type of industrial belting would be better than rubber under a hammer. But I used what I had.
 
Thanks for the feedback, guys.

I will have the hammer running by the first of next week and will post the results of placing it on the rubber mat.

Fred
 
Fred I have a Sahinler and when I first put it in I put a rubber horsestall mat under it. Well that didn't last long at all - too much rock and roll when I really got up on it. So I put a solid hardwood layer between it and the floor and have not had any problems since.
 
Fred, whether you use a piece of plywood or mine belt or whatever, it's really acting as a gasket, filling in low/high spots.
I have my Fairbanks A mounted atop 3 foot of bridge ties and an 8" layer of white ash. A 3/8" thick piece of mine belt just leveled everything out nicely and filled in all the low spots.
 
Plain ol Bill said:
Fred I have a Sahinler and when I first put it in I put a rubber horsestall mat under it. Well that didn't last long at all - too much rock and roll when I really got up on it. So I put a solid hardwood layer between it and the floor and have not had any problems since.
Click to expand...

Hey Bill,

Did you have the hammer bolted down to the concrete or was it sitting free?

Fred

birdog4 said:
Fred, whether you use a piece of plywood or mine belt or whatever, it's really acting as a gasket, filling in low/high spots.
I have my Fairbanks A mounted atop 3 foot of bridge ties and an 8" layer of white ash. A 3/8" thick piece of mine belt just leveled everything out nicely and filled in all the low spots.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a very firm base to work on. I figure the ash gives a 100% compaction and only gets more firm as the hammer goes through its motions.
I set my anvil in a 6 inch deep box with a rubber mine belt tacked to its base, then filled with sand. The anvil has a bridge tie base its attached to and this sits atop the sand. This makes a very solid base to pound on.

Thanks for the feed back guys, Fred
 
8"x8"x4" white ash cribbing Fred. Figured that was the most impact resistant wood out there, according to Willie Mays and the Louisville Slugger (BOG)
I live on top of a ridge here in WPa and, believe it or not, this hole is sunk into very very sandy loam topsoil. Dang few rocks.A rarity for this part of the country.
You can feel vibration out to about 15 feet around the hammer.
 
birdog4 said:
8"x8"x4" white ash cribbing Fred. Figured that was the most impact resistant wood out there, according to Willie Mays and the Louisville Slugger (BOG)
I live on top of a ridge here in WPa and, believe it or not, this hole is sunk into very very sandy loam topsoil. Dang few rocks.A rarity for this part of the country.
You can feel vibration out to about 15 feet around the hammer.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clearing that up.

We are on a sandstone ridge. The turkey hunters around here tell me they can feel the hammer, when they are sitting in their blinds and hunting along the ridge my forge sits on.
How far west are you in the state?

Fred
 
I'm about 40 miles east and north of PGH. in the very southern tip of Armstrong Co.
There ris a sandstone outcrop behind my shop. When they sink gas wells to the south and east I can feel the vibration in the shop and house.
 
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