Thread: Rons new toys.....

I'm glad Ron is doing well enough to want to sink his teeth into such a project. I can't imagine him tackling something & not doing well at it.

I Know nothing about forging etc,But are those machines also known as trip hammers??
DOH, just saw one says trip hammer on it, sorry
why are they called trip hammers??

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

I Know nothing about forging etc,But are those machines also known as trip hammers??
DOH, just saw one says trip hammer on it, sorry
why are they called trip hammers??

I guess that was because they hang on a sear and the foot bar trips them to drop for a stroke. They are powered to lift the ram but have almost a pure gravity strike. Any one trusting that sear at all times would usually get the nickname lefty.
Just my take on the subject.
~Richard

Keep the one with the hole in the frame!! I had one just like it & they can hit far harder that the newer versions. I sure wish I had NOT sold my hammer back in the day. I wonder what the serial number of that hammer is? Mine was built in 1901 I think. It was the first hammer built after Little Giant foundry burned & they started over. Ron I can give you tips on that hammer!
Those are 50Lb. hammers meaning the ram weight was around 50 Lbs. & were sold all over the world. Many including the one I owned were used for drawing out plow shares & planter runners They usually had the top die smaller & fairly well rounded for that type of work. For knife & razor making flat dies of the same size work better as it is easier to use tooling . Also a brake makes the hammer more useful so you can hit a good single blow. Many other makes of power hammers had a brake built into them.
Little Giant made 25, 50,100,250 & 500 Lb hammers but sold more 50 & 25Lb. Hammers. I am thinking of getting a 100 Lb. hammer when I start my shop again.
If you can get the Clifton Ralph videos on Power hammer get them & learn & watch them again to learn more. Cliff was a blacksmith in the steel mills in Gary Indiana using huge steam hammers down to 25Lb. little Giant hammers. He taught me a lot about forging hammers of all types & is a great guy to boot.


Slawman

Thinking about it I would keep both hammers if you can. Having rounded drawing dies one one hammer & flat dies for tooling & general forging on the other one would be a great thing.
Using a power hammer will really save the arm joints & muscles I got carpel tunnel & cubital tunnel problems from swing a hammer to much. Also from playing drums in loud bands was to blame LOL!!
Having a good power hammer or two is money in the bank! The prices just go up like good anvils. I could kick myself for selling the three vintage anvils I had.
My plan is to mainly make pattern weld steel to sell to other makers But I plan also on making razors & knives. I made some knives back when I was running my shop before.
It is so much fun taking a hunk of steel or wrought iron & making a thing of beauty from it. I mainly used scrap to make most of what I did back in the late 90's. The older steel you can find usually means more pure iron ore is in it & less scrap & impurities.

Dave Huffman

Originally Posted by Geezer

I guess that was because they hang on a sear and the foot bar trips them to drop for a stroke. They are powered to lift the ram but have almost a pure gravity strike. Any one trusting that sear at all times would usually get the nickname lefty.
Just my take on the subject.
~Richard

Geezer,
Little Giant hammers do not have a sear system that would be a drop hammer. Little Giant hammers have a clutch that allows you to feather the speed & power the hammer hits with. It has power both on the up & down stroke. Drop hammers are used mainly for closed die forging.

Ah, the disease of steel in full bloom. It's a terrible thing to see such a strong clean laboratory intellect being drawn into the dirty world of slag burns and hearing decay.

You have a good start on "the largish strange pieces of big iron that don't move very far or get much work done (yet)" symptom. Now maybe followed by power hammer rebuilding disorder...perhaps. You need to become good friends with John Adams, if not already. Have someone who really knows LG hammers visit and give you a cold opinion about what needs to be done.

Of the two, the bolted gibs is the newer model variation. Little Giant was known to change design features frequently. If you can find the serial number somewhere, or other features: Indentifying your hammer

Also: Little Giant-Mayer Bros. Power Hammer Identification Guide

Originally Posted by Mike Blue

Ah, the disease of steel in full bloom. It's a terrible thing to see such a strong clean laboratory intellect being drawn into the dirty world of slag burns and hearing decay.

You have a good start on "the largish strange pieces of big iron that don't move very far or get much work done (yet)" symptom. Now maybe followed by power hammer rebuilding disorder...perhaps. You need to become good friends with John Adams, if not already. Have someone who really knows LG hammers visit and give you a cold opinion about what needs to be done.

Of the two, the bolted gibs is the newer model variation. Little Giant was known to change design features frequently. If you can find the serial number somewhere, or other features: Indentifying your hammer

Also: Little Giant-Mayer Bros. Power Hammer Identification Guide

Yes the newest hammers have 2 bolted gibs but that hammer is a very old version of a Little Giant that have one adjustable gib & one cast in the frame> Also they had the crank pin in gibs & the stroke could be adjusted this way. The modern hammers did not have that & the crank pin was pressed in the wheel. Also many of the had forged toggle arms & links. I am not sure how many of these hammers were built before they changed to the front & back ways & later the two adjustable gibs. Also the old hammers had the hole cast thru the hammer frame & no later ones did. Sorry if I come across wrong but I rebuilt several Little Giants & pored babbit bearings in a couple. I have been out of smithing for around 10 years & in the end I spent more time working on hammers with an old friend than I did using them. They are very simple machines but having everything working the way it should with plenty of lubrication will make them sing. Like a old Harley if it "ain't leaking oil its out of oil.
Dave H.

I always appreciate knowing more stuff. Thanks for the additional feedback Dave. I've only rebuilt one 100lb hammer. That was work.

Great addition to any smithy that's for sure!
I have been drooling over these hammers for years, looks like they are in good shape.

Thats some egg before the chicken shop set up, hahaa Power hammers SSSS (two!!) before the forge and tongs love it! Go big or go home hahaaa

There is definitely NO end to setting up a nice shop. there is always something that can help and that hammer will be a huge time/arm saver.