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My Bell's steam hammer
October 31, 2010
8:59 am
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David Mirabile
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I really haven't been able to find out anything about this hammer. Other than it is a Bell's. It has been sitting for at least 20 years in it's last location. A good friend had this hammer on the side of his shop, and well, he finally saw fit to pass it on to me to become it's caretaker.
After I got it moved, I was surprised to find that both levers have full range of motion. Overall , it looks to be in good condiion, considering how long it has been out of service.
And what's the story with that arm connected to the top die block? Never seen anything like that on a hammer before.
I believe that after this hammer left the mine, somebody rigged a foot pedal to control the lever with air. This looks to have been plumbed through the hammer, so I believe that it may have been run with air after it left the mine. I have all of the hoses and the foot control and cylinder that operated it.

Any thoughts???

It took me most of the evening to figure out how to get pictures to the hosting site, so I'll try to post some picture here.... I've never posted a picture before... so I can't promise you a picture. but I'm tryin'

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October 31, 2010
5:47 pm
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Grant
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Any Idea of the size? Hard to get the scale of it. It's what's known in the UK as a "Rigby type" with the only guiding being on the rod. Not very common in this country. The arm connected to the ram serves the same purpose as the "sword" on a more typical steam hammer. Pretty cool, hope you get it running.

Quite a bit different from the Bell that I used to have: My "little" steam hammer

Thanks for sharing that David.

“There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot,
but then there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence,
transform a yellow spot into the sun.” ~ Pablo Picasso ~

October 31, 2010
10:18 pm
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Tom Ferry
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David,
Good to see you here. Grant is the right guy to ask any questions. Mike V. had told me you got this hammer and asked if you could run it on air, Grant would know that too.

Good luck with it.

Tom

October 31, 2010
10:55 pm
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David Mirabile
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Grant, I believe that this is a 275 pound hammer. Some of the dimensions are...
The base is 46 3/4" X 32", The base to the top of the cylinder is 8' 6", The rod is 4 1/2", the dies are 10"X 6" with the bottom die 8 1/2" thickness. Under the anvil or perhaps part of is a 4" thickness of steel about 2 foot square.
When I work the handle on the left side of the hammer when I move the control through it's full range of motion, it feel nice and smooth in there with no hang-ups or feeling anything gummy or jammed.

Tom, good to hear from you. This looks like a great place. If anybody has answers about this, Grant will.

October 31, 2010
11:03 pm
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Grant
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Answers? I didn't hear the question!

“There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot,
but then there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence,
transform a yellow spot into the sun.” ~ Pablo Picasso ~

October 31, 2010
11:24 pm
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David Mirabile
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Well, having never dealt with a steam hammer before I was just wondering the course of action that I should take. My thoughts are that I should unbolt the top of the cylinder and see what it looks like in there. Perhaps some Mystery Oil and then close it back up for the winter.... Since both levers move freely, I don't think that I should mess with them.
Does this sound like the way to go?

September 6, 2017
12:01 pm
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cad68m_m
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I see this is a seven year old post, but here is a 1916 Catalog for Bell Steam Hammers.

http://www.vintagemachinery.or.....x?id=16768

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