Let's design a hammer for Larry! - The KAIJU

[Grant]

So, Larry wants to build some sort of striking hammer for very controlled single-blow operation mainly for tool work. If I wanted to build such a beast, I'd prefer a very heavy ram moving relatively slow as being more controllable than a smaller ram going fast. I mean like 300-500 pound. Real nice when you can really plant a tool with the first blow. Be nice to have some serious stroke too, like 18-24 inches. That way you can get any tool onto any work.

[Eric Sprado]

Pair of retired Sumo Wrestlers with BIG striking hammers??

[JNewman]

If it is all top tool or die work. The bottom die/table should be nice and big so things don't fall off, really no need to line up die edges like on a normal hammer if I understand his needs properly. Maybe the bottom die should be a big vice like object. A flat plate a few inches thick could be used if a flat die is needed but quick and dirty dies can also be clamped in the hammer easily as well. Something like this which I don't use very often but can be handy for holding things under the hammer.

[JNewman]

Thinking about it a little more the bottom die could have 4 or five square holes in it around the edges which could have pins dropped in them that could be used for the same thing. The clamping could either be done with cross drilled and tapped pins or wedges. Think platen table with the middle solid.

[JNewman]

monstermetal, on 14 November 2011 - 01:30 AM, said:
I just had a idea for a guide system.... use a square solid (or tube I guess) and a pair of angle iron guides that ran on two corners with some strips of brass riveted in... you could use tie bolts front and back to adjust for wear.... If you used a tube you could put the cylinder inside and have long guides, lots of support area.... Maybe not a perfect set up but would be very easy to construct with no machining.... The head would be on the diamond to the frame... make sense? anyone ever seen or done anything like it?



When I first built my hammer I used a tube inside a tube and had the attachment for the end of the cylinder down inside the tup tube. I welded a block of steel into the tube at the bottom and inside the tube using an electrodes bent to be in line with the stinger. (Stick does have some advantages) The cylinder I was using was a yoke type so i had to drill a hole through to insert the pin to couple them. I also had to cut a slot in the tube so it would not shear off the air hose coupler. The hole and slot never caused any problem. the tube did allow me lots of bearing surface while keeping the weight down. I was in a residential garage at the time and I wanted to limit shaking my neighbours. The internal tube was 5" which was tricky to work down inside.

[Larry L]

I like the idea of a slowish big heavy weight.... Especially if you could control it like with a steam hammer motion valve...

These where some other thoughts I posted on IFI


I just had a idea for a guide system.... use a square solid (or tube I guess) and a pair of angle iron guides that ran on two corners with some strips of brass riveted in... you could use tie bolts front and back to adjust for wear.... If you used a tube you could put the cylinder inside and have long guides, lots of support area.... Maybe not a perfect set up but would be very easy to construct with no machining.... The head would be on the diamond to the frame... make sense? anyone ever seen or done anything like it?

Yeah I was thinking about using something like 8" 1/2" wall tube and 4" X 5/8 angle... you would almost have a box around the whole tube but not quite because of the 3/8" or so bronze bearing strips in the angle ... the only real advantage I can see is by implementing a way to "squeeze" the angle you could effectively take up slop in the guide system... my thought is a couple of inch wide strips on both sides of the leg would work nicely, give you lots of guide area... I think I would make the guides like 12-16" long... you could even have cut away the guide on the front and have the ram park up inside... that way you would have more tool clearance but still have the guides down a bit closer to the work...

Like I said, I dont think as far as a guide system its the end all be all, just that it would be very simple to build, seems like it would be pretty solid and would require no machining

[Larry L]

John posted this....

I have seen a hammer with a similar style of guide but it was cast and machined. It was actually a self contained air hammer. There are pictures of the hammer somewhere on this site. My only concern with what you are describing would be that I think you should dowel the two halves of the guides together or maybe even bolt them tightly together with shims. So that the loose guide does not move up and down with the ram thus tightening and potentially locking things up. Why bronze rather than UHMW for the guides? I can see bronze for a press but the plastic works well for a hammer especially when things are not being machined. It is cheaper and needs less lubrication.

My thought is the two chunks of angle would be on the right/left and have mounts that went back to the frame that where fairly long and kind of act like a spring... they would be solid mounted but give a little so when you tightened up the bolts that went side to side you could squeeze the guide to aline and adjust it...

As far as UHMW the only issue I have with it is give and drag.... I think strips would work but full UHMW slabs would cause too much friction?....

[Larry L]

Well I figured out a perfect name for this project... She shall be dub'd Kaiju which is Japanese for "Strange Beast" but is often translated to English simply as "monster"

[Larry L]

The issue I have with 18-24" of stroke Grant is it seems like to have that much clear space you would have a lot of ram wobbling down below the guide? I guess if you had a 60" ram that had 24" of guide?

[JimB]

Is there any reason why the KickAss hammer design can't be scaled up to that size?

Whenever I hear of power hammer tooling I always think of the KA75. It's like the love child between a power hammer, a treadle hammer and a drop hammer.