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Power Hammers

#1 User is online   Bill Hoffman 

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Posted 26 December 2005 - 05:21 PM

First post, hope I do it correctly.

Arthritis forces me to consider purchasing a power hammer. Eastern Connecticut seems to have never heard of Little Giant so I have to look at something else. Can anyone give me some guidance as to which hammer to consider? My wife says cost is not a serious concern! (Eat your hearts out) Air hammer would probably be a reasonable choice, but which and from whom?

Thanks, guys, for all the help you can give.

Bill Hoffman
bahoffman@earthlink.net
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#2 User is offline   Glenn Moulton 

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Posted 26 December 2005 - 05:26 PM

Blacksmith forum
Give John Larson a shout on this forum,If not mistaken I think he's up your way.
Good luck, :)
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#3 User is offline   Bearpaw 

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Posted 26 December 2005 - 05:50 PM

Try phoenixhammer.com. I have one of Tom's Bull Hammers which are no longer made with the Phoenix replacing it.
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#4 User is offline   Bob Ouellette 

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Posted 26 December 2005 - 06:26 PM

Glenn, John Larson is in Baltimore, MD. But I can tell you that his hammers are good. He has lent hammers to one of the Blacksmith guilds that I belong to for a couple of years now. They are definitely quality hammers.
Bob O

"When I raise my flashing sword, and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance upon mine enemies, and I will repay those who haze me. Oh, Lord, raise me to Thy right hand and count me among Thy saints."

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#5 User is offline   Al Massey 

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 08:32 AM

Bill Hoffman, on Dec 26 2005, 11:21 PM, said:

First post, hope I do it correctly.

Arthritis forces me to consider purchasing a power hammer.  Eastern Connecticut seems to have never heard of Little Giant so I have to look at something else.  Can anyone give me some guidance as to which hammer to consider?  My wife says cost is not a serious concern!  (Eat your hearts out)  Air hammer would probably be a reasonable choice, but which and from whom?

Thanks, guys, for all the help you can give.

Bill Hoffman
bahoffman@earthlink.net
View Post

You may want to consider a hydraulic forging press, as well. They take up relatively little shop space, are great for things like drawing out, making damascus etc., and can even be put on carts and rolled out of the way when you're not needing them as they do not need to be bolted down. If the design is good, changing dies is a snap with them and they can be very versatile. Also, they are darn near maintenance free- the only thing I've had to do in 5 years is change the filters (twice) and tighten the allen screws on the pump/motor connection. You can likely build a good one for well under 2000.

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#6 User is offline   Don Hanson 

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 08:55 AM

Bill, Little Giants can be shipped anywhere. I love my two Little Giants, (check out their website) but if I were to start over, I would probably get one of Tom Clarks 110 lb air hammers, he also delivers all over. I may get one of Tom's hammers in the future but will also keep my LGs.

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#7 User is offline   Bruce Godlesky 

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 01:59 PM

There were some boys from Parkersburg,WVa at the Cambridge show in November who had a coupla intresting hammers.
One was a 40#"benchtop" starting at $800. Interesting! The contact info is
tedbanning@ohiohills.com
304-863-5349
www.BirdogForge.com
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#8 User is offline   Ted Banning 

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 03:37 PM

Greetings...here I am, a "boy" from WV, although I'm 41. Thanks, Birdog4 for the mention. I didn't even know about this site until people started calling. I will try to post a picture...wish me luck!
"Why waste an hour learning a difficult technique when you can spend 100 hours building a machine to do it"
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#9 User is offline   Ted Banning 

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 03:41 PM

Greetings...here I am, a "boy" from WV, although I'm 41. Thanks, Birdog4 for the mention. I didn't even know about this site until people started calling. I will try to post a picture...wish me luck!
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This post has been edited by DFogg: 27 December 2005 - 04:08 PM

"Why waste an hour learning a difficult technique when you can spend 100 hours building a machine to do it"
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#10 User is offline   Alan Longmire 

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 07:59 PM

Now, That's just COOL! :blink: Sort of a Kerrihard linkage converted to air cylinder power, but keep the leaf spring? I like it! I think I'd want a bigger anvil mass, but that's a small problem in the grand scheme of things.

Ted, have you noticed much difference between running this spring thingy versus a direct-connect air cylinder? I've thought for some time that a directly hooked up air cylinder, while fast, didn't have the same "oomph" that a good mechanical linkage can impart via the spring. You may have solved the problem!

Oh, and welcome aboard! B)
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#11 User is offline   deker 

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 11:06 PM

Glenn Moulton, on Dec 26 2005, 06:26 PM, said:

Blacksmith forum
Give John Larson a shout on this forum,If not mistaken I think he's up your way.
Good luck,  :)
View Post


As Bob said, John Larson is in MD. Contact info for him can be found at his website. I've seen his hammers used at one of my guild's events earlier this year. They sure seem to hit hard...and when piloted by the guys from Iron Masters they sure do make some beautiful pieces....

-d
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#12 User is offline   beebee58 

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Posted 28 December 2005 - 07:05 AM

Ted,
Now I'm upset that I missed the Cambridge show, I would have liked to see the "bench top" wonder.
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#13 User is offline   Richard Furrer 

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Posted 28 December 2005 - 12:22 PM

deker, on Dec 27 2005, 11:06 PM, said:

As Bob said, John Larson is in MD. Contact info for him can be found at his website. I've seen his hammers used at one of my guild's events earlier this year. They sure seem to hit hard...and when piloted by the guys from Iron Masters they sure do make some beautiful pieces....

-d
View Post


Does anyone own one of these?
I would like to talk to them.

Ric
Richard Furrer
Door County Forgeworks
Sturgeon Bay, WI
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#14 User is offline   deker 

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Posted 28 December 2005 - 01:30 PM

Richard Furrer, on Dec 28 2005, 01:22 PM, said:

Does anyone own one of these?
I would like to talk to them.
View Post


Ric,

I'm sure if you emailed/called John he could provide you with customer references...

-d
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#15 User is offline   Ted Banning 

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Posted 28 December 2005 - 04:02 PM

Yeah I was inspired by the Kerrihard, as well as Jerry Allen's Junkyard hammers and Dick Sheppard's Big Lick and the Kinyon plans help with the air circuit. The in-line direct-coupled air hammers lack oomph or snap and use alotta air. By putting the cylinder close to the pivot, I was able to use a 2x4 instead of a 2x12 cylinder. That means one-third the air consumption, and it's faster too because the cylinder fills and dumps air faster. Plus, it's not eight feet tall!!
"Why waste an hour learning a difficult technique when you can spend 100 hours building a machine to do it"
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#16 User is offline   Sweany 

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Posted 29 December 2005 - 09:01 AM

I like that a lot. :35: :35: :35: Bravo ,Ted Banning

This post has been edited by Sweany: 29 December 2005 - 09:02 AM

If God told you his plans, you wouldn't believe it anyway.
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#17 User is offline   Kevin H 

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Posted 29 December 2005 - 11:40 AM

Ric - unfortunately I don't own one of John Larsons's hammers. On the other hand I have seen him demo them fairly often. He usually gets to Quad State in Troy Ohio in Spetember. Last year he also demo'ed them at PAABA's hammerin at Toucstone Crafts Center in May. I know you've gotten to Quad State in the past, so you might be able to check them out there this coming year.

Regarding Tom Clark's hammers - a friend, Jymm Hoffman who is earning his living as a blacksmith has one and is thrilled with it. Jymm specializes in historical iron work and has been doing a lot of work for Ft. Ligonier in the last couple years.
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#18 User is offline   Jesse Frank 

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Posted 29 December 2005 - 12:21 PM

Two local smiths have Sayas... They really seem to like them.
Rósta að, maðr!

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#19 User is offline   rhrocker 

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Posted 04 January 2006 - 07:21 PM

Ted, is $800 the price for this particular style? It's a nice looking air hammer.
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#20 User is offline   Kevin Davey 

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Posted 04 January 2006 - 07:37 PM

I have a Phoenix 150B.....I am very pleased with it.

http://www.phoenixhammer.com/
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