Does anyone have any homemade power hammer plans or pictures. Would it be more practical to buy a factory hammer? If so what brand and or model (50-100#). Are there any power hammers using single phase?

Should be fairly easy to raise a hammer using a cam and drop it when it reaches the top. You could gear it to match any sized hammer with almost any size motor, It would just change the time between strikes.
Paul

by simply entering power hammer in your search engine you should get a good bit of info. Two sites that I found most helpful are; angelfire.com and ABA ( appalachian blacksmiths association). You will see many homebuilt machines generally called JYHs (junk yard hammers) built from whatevers handy. Hope this helps.

paulC, I believe what you are referring to is a "helve-hammer". Not really powered by anything but gravity on the downstroke.

www.bryneselosmide.se

paulC, I believe what you are referring to is a "helve-hammer". Not really powered by anything but gravity on the downstroke.

True enough, but if the hammer is heavy enough does that matter. e=mc2 raise the speed or the mass, same result, and it is proberbly much easier to increase the mass. Or is this for sheetmetal work where speed is importent.
Paul

You could use springs pulling down to accelerate the hammer or a pneumatic cylinder connected to a air tank reservoir. The piston end could be connected to the hammer. Dave

What kind of work are you trying to do?

Forging or sheetmetal shaping?

I have a couple of forging hammers (a 100lb littlegiant and 300lb Nazel self contianed airhammer), and have read and looked up on alot of the homebuilt ones and know people with some.

So depending on what you want to do I can help push in the right directions.

How about a good source of hammer dies, both for planishing hammers and for a helve?
I have seen the pneumatic hammers that employ a air cylinder, how are you able to switch the air from one side of the cylinder to the other, back and forth, quickly enough to be of any use? I have a plethora of cylinders and spool valves, the idea of using some of this surplus I have gathered is appealing.
EDIT: this is for sheetmetal only, no forging work.

Hi synd00d,

You need to go to Daniel Gentiles home page and down load the 18 page Krusty spring helve hammer plans for free!

http://www.ferrum.cc/en/plans-drawings/mechanical-power-hammer-plans-17.html

It looks pretty good, and is a complete plan by the way.

iforgeiron.com has a two page hand draw design also, lillhmrplan

There are several websites with gobs of different designs. The most interesting design I've seen of late is a fellow from Pennsylvania that has made a spring helve guilded way hammer that is actuated with a squat under slung air cylinder. Great idea for those of us with low ceilings.

Most of these are considered 'forging' hammers. metalmeet and allshops have the rapper type helve hammer forums used for body shaping.

Spent to much time looking for a means to get around purchasing a new compressor to get good hammer control for sheetmetal forming. Best to use air if you want control, plus the mechanical components add up to bucks too.

Alan

I recently attended a workshop to construct a power hammer held by the blacksmith association of which I am a member. The group constructed 19 hammers basically in three weekends. Each attendee got a hammer for the cost of materials. A Mr. Clay Spencer sells the plans and also gives workshops.
The last I heard he was relocating to Alabama so I don't have his address.
Google Clay Spencer Power Hammer and you may find him.
The unit weighs about 700 pounds, is driven by a 1 HP motor through a friction drive. It can deliver from up to almost 300 strokes a minute depending upon how far the foot control pedel is depressed.
I hope this helps you find something.

Metal Shapers (http://allshops.org/) has information on building a light Helve hammer for sheet metal work.

Why not build your own c frame and mount an air hammer to the top? Just get the type that has a quick coupler instead of the spring and you should be off to the races. You could also adjust the speed via a regulator, or a needle valve. It doesn't have the flair of most of the other ideas, but it should work.

That would be a planishing hammer, which does a decent job of shaping, but is really meant for smoothing panels.
I shape with my planishing hammer, but you really need something with more power if you want to shape sheetmetal faster.

Here are some small examples of shaping with the planishing hammer.

patch panel for a wheel well
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q101/massajamesb/IM001691.jpg

and this

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q101/massajamesb/IM001735.jpg

made this door edge

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q101/massajamesb/IM001738.jpg

True enough, but if the hammer is heavy enough does that matter. e=mc2 raise the speed or the mass, same result, and it is proberbly much easier to increase the mass. Or is this for sheetmetal work where speed is importent.
Paul

You can't increase the speed of a free falling mass by increasing the mass. One of Newtons laws. That feather and apple thing. Or was that William Tell?

The potential energy is increased linearly with the height the mass is lifted, but the speed of light doesn't figure in...at least in my shop.

You can't increase the speed of a free falling mass by increasing the mass. One of Newtons laws. That feather and apple thing. Or was that William Tell?

The potential energy is increased linearly with the height the mass is lifted, but the speed of light doesn't figure in...at least in my shop.

Point taken. But if the mass has not reached its terminal velocity, increasing the stroke should result in more speed and so have more energy.

Paul