Hitting Hot Steel with the 3B | Power Hammers and Presses | Forum

Looks Good Dave. So you want to sell the 1b now? 🙂

Looking good Dave though I have to admit I've only gotten to spend maybe almost one minute on a 3B. Bob Bergman's shop 3B as a matter of fact in 05. I was doing the same thing seeing just how much finness I could apply till Bob said "OH just give it a smack!" So I gave a 1 .25" sq bare one full power blow and made it look like a cartoon thumb mashed to about 14ga. sheet metal thickness.

I'd just LOVE a working 3B but would love even more to be able afford one up here in the far north west of Alaska. Not that I'm in NW Alaska that is.
Frosty the Lucky.

K. Bryan Morgan;2297 wrote: Oh I would really like to have one of those. Of course any power hammer would be nice. As it is I have to drive 5 1/2 hrs to Frosties to play with one. Which is fine with me. Frosty rocks. :bounce:

I rock because my balance is still a little messed up.

Heck Bryan we can build you a power hammer for not much with a little scrounging. It's not like they're complicated things like a sewing machine.

Frosty the Lucky.

which ever of the many routes to making a hammer (air, tyre, axle etc etc) my advice would be to put most of your time/ budget into finding a good lump of steel to use as a anvil. It's the single most effective and simplest way of improving the "forging effectiveness" of a power hammer.

I've got a 25kg kinyon. I first used a piece of 130mm diameter by 750mm shafting .... it was ok but nothing to write home about. I then upped it to a piece of 230mm dia ..... made a MASSIVE difference.

If the budget is there it may be worth thinking of buying a length of new shafting, rather than spending days trawling through scrap yards and then only to find an odd and marginally suitable "lump". Buy yourself say around 3 ft of 8 to 10" diameter. I don't know what steel prices are like in your neck of the woods but I would imagine it would costs around £250-400 (pound UK). This investment will repay you MANY MANY times over a few years use.

Hell, look at the ludicrous amounts of money people will spend on a Hofi hammer at the drop of a hat. To me, my "ergonomic" way of hammering is to do as little heavy duty hand hammering as possible, use your power hammer (preferably powerhammerS) to do the bulk of moving the metal (it soon becomes a drudge by hand when moving lots of metal) and do the skillfull, enjoyable, rewarding final finishing by hand. Saves your body FAR more than any Fancy Dan hand hammer will. (I taught myself using a 3lb club hammer, not the best but it DID). Money on a suitable lump of steel is money WELL spent. In the unlikely event that you decide to sell your hammer, you'll probably get your money back. I say unlikely because after aquiring the first power hammer, the usual journey is to want ANOTHER.

David is right about the anvil, the heavier the better.

Do you have an in at the RR? If you can get an axle it'll be exactly what you need. A flat or gondola car axle is typically about 9 7/8" dia medium C steel, maybe 4140.

I'd planned on welding a three section pattern to build a 100lb+ self contained type hammer but China has virtually all the scrap around here under single buyer contracts so we don't even get to look anymore.:mad:

do you have Google Sketchup loaded? We can swap drawings so you can scrounge more effectively.

Frosty

I'd get a smallish MIG myself, it's relatively easy to teach yourself to weld with it, down side is you need gas to use it. I kinda think a welder of somesort is more more less essential for someone working with metal at any level. They can be got relatively cheaply and are the sort of tool that will repay your investment many time over. Pretty soon after getting one you'll be wondering how you managed without. Much as I LOVE powerhmmers, I kinda think a welder is a higher priority tool to get

I guess I'm not really qualified as to say what particulary model is most suitable but I don't think you'll regret buying one. Kinda like wanting another power hammer as soon as you can get one, you'll sooner or later want a more powerful one. If the elec supply is there that is. I guess we are quite lucky over here. 415V 3 pase is quite common in industrial units over here.

Rail road axle sounds ideal for a PH anvil.

nuge;2551 wrote: K. Bryan -

Do you have an oxy/acetylene set-up? Works well as a welder and you get some great heating potential. Definitely not the easiest method, but if you wanted easy you wouldn't want to smith.And if you can gas weld all the electrical processes are easily learned. You could then skip the noxious mig and get right to tig and the sweet smell of argon.

No I don't have an Oxy/acetylene set up as yet. One of the gonna get items. I've seen a few good sets at the ubiquitous big box stores. One even had a couple of small bottles with it. Kind of a just to get you started set. I thought about that one. I know the bottles of gas are not cheap at all.

I think I'll take a course or two before I go and spend a bunch of money on welding gear. But I will get something as soon as I can.

Hey Frosty, Not a problem. Yes, UAF is close enough. And the welding course is at an anex class complex closer to me than the university is too. So even better.

I'm looking for an anvil to start with. While I didn't find anything suitable yet. I did find a big honkin chunck of bulldozer blade. The part that unbolts and is on the bottom of the blade. I don't know what kind of steel it is...but its 6' long 5" wide and about 1" thick. Might weigh 40 pounds or so. I spark tested it and its .. maybe.. just guessin here... medium carbon. I need to get a chunk off of it and heat it up and quench it. See if it shatters when I hit it with a big heavy thing. I havn't had a chance to go to the rail yard yet. But I plan on doing that soon.

Excellent on the welder. I sure would like to do something. I have some plate here I'll bring it with me. Various sizes. Maybe we can make a chop fuller or something out it. That would be a cool little project for the get together. Anyway just a thought.

There is Hectors welding here. I see in the woods next to their property that they have a bunch of old material that is all grown over. I may go back in there and take a look at what they have fogotten is there. See if I can get something out of there for a deal. Lots of options.

We will figure something out. Hope you and Deb are doin great. :bounce: