WIP - Restoring a Bradley 40lb Helve Hammer

[Matthew Gregory]

Almost a year ago I did a trade for some things with my PLB Mikey Spangler, and this hammer was the big part of the deal. Other than Paul LeTourneau and his lovely bride getting it to my house last year (in August), the only work achieved on it until recently was to kroil the bejeezus out of it in hope that some of the rusty relic would break loose.
The last patent stamp date on it is 1909, and that seems like an historically plausible date of manufacture.
These first photos were taken as the machine sat in Fairhaven, MA. It was kept outside for approximately 5 years before I got it, and who knows where it was before then...

 

[Matthew Gregory]

As you can tell, the poor lil' girl was not in the best of moods. I acquired a slugging wrench to free the jamb nuts for most of the adjustment screws, as well as the nuts and pitman bolts for the eccentric shaft. The wrench and a 10lb sledge made wuick work of the nuts, and my spirits rose.

Here she is sitting at my house, glistening with kroil.

One pitman bolt out:

The bolt:

A cushion seat:

Upper cushion threads getting cleaned:

Starting in on the bearings:

Showing the eccentric arm in place, the slip sleeve and pitman arm were fused with rust, and took a lot of work to free. Once it released, however, it was a walk in the park to get them slipping together perfectly.

A shot of the bearings after cleanup, with the eccentric in place:

 

[Matthew Gregory]

Getting the lower die free of the anvil was nasty. The wedge had rusted in place and basically become one with the anvil. LOTS of kroil, sledging, weeping, and cursing later:

The placard on the front of the anvil:

I just heard from a friend of mine that works for an industrial rubber company that the replacement lower cushions he's making for me have been poured and cured, and are now awaiting final machining to shape.

Next step is to get some rock maple for the helve!

...stay tuned...

 

[Burton Harruff]

Very cool! Keep the pics coming.

 

[Allen Newberry]

That is going to be one cool hammer when it is done!

 

[Phillip Patton]

Very cool, Matt, it's looking good.
Is this a guided helve or straight helve?

 

[Matthew Gregory]

Straight helve, Phillip. Here's a couple shots of what it should look like:

 

[coolhandluke4]

VERY cool!

 

[C.Edmondson]

This is awesome Matthew!!!!!!!! I cant wait to see more pictures of it coming together

 

[gixxer]

Wow, very cool!

 

[Salem Straub]

Great thread. Can't wait for more. LOTS of weeping, LOL.

 

[Miles Undercut]

Fantastic job! Wow! I like B'laster for derustification. They all take a while, a lot longer than you ever think they should, but patience pays off, as it has here!! Thanks for the snaps!

 

[Wulf]

That's great work Matt! The first hit from that hammer will ring so sweetly on the anvil ...

Now hurry up and finish it so you can come up here and get my fairbanks up and running too, k?

 

[JasonSCarter]

Unbelivably, cool Matt!

 

[birdog4]

Great projecvt you have going Matt!
How big is the footprintof that machine?

 

[bullet101]

Great pics. Hope you'll get it done without running nto some major problems.

Here's something came to mind when I saw that someone ground your dies into combination dies.

I recently had some trouble with my power hammer and got some good tips in this thread http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?showtopic=16961

Turns out for our kind of work (damascus and blade forging) combination dies are not a very good idea. I turned mine back into flats and the difference is just amazing.

So if you can grind your dies down a bit. go for it. A good flat in the middle with strongly rounded edges, just like Don Hanson suggested it.

Not sure though if you have any wiggle room left with these Helve hammers or if the dies have to be of an exact height.

Regards

Marcus

 

[Matthew Gregory]

That's great work Matt! The first hit from that hammer will ring so sweetly on the anvil ...

Now hurry up and finish it so you can come up here and get my fairbanks up and running too, k?

Wait a minute... isn't it your turn to come out here and help me? I kind of remember it was me picking up dead things in your shop!

Good times, man...

 

[Justin.Mercier]

Bah Wulf, i offered to help get that fairbanks running years ago... I even offered you visitation rights ! =) /ducks

 

[Wulf]

knew I shoulda kept my mouth shut!

 

[Mace]

Looks awsome Matt!:thumbup:
Mace