Thread: Air hammer?

I'll grease it too.

Maybe I should ask... I used 1/2" bolts through the ram to hold on a thin plate that serves as a guide for the ram, so it's not completely inside of a guide like some bigger hammers... First, I guess this could be dangerous but it's what I have. In theory, if the bolts broke, the guide could slam down and could miss the anvil... I'll look into that. But if there is no worry about the die retainer sticking out from the ram, would my sketch above be a bad idea?

Maybe I could drill and tap two holes into the ram 's striking face (to the side of the rectangular die) either alone or in addition to what's on my sketch.

Also, I'll crown the dies slightly so they don't leave marks.

Do you have any of that heavy bar stock you made the anvil with? If you do I would fill that square tubing under the anvil with it. That square tubing will just crush down I believe . If you are doing pattern weld steel you have to have enough air to complete the weld. If you keep losing your heat in the middle of work you will be unhappy soon.
Also I firmly believe you should have good hand forging skills before even trying to use a power hammer. Get a good anvil Hammers & tongs & really know how to use them. What kind of forge will you use? Gas is much cleaner but for many things I like coal better. I am sorry, I don't know what you forging background is. Just don't put the cart before the horse.
Best to you & your project.


Dave"Slawman" Huffman
No mayo in my slaw!

Originally Posted by Atchbo

Does anyone have the pneumatic schematic for the 'balanced' Kinyon air hammer?

Either I signed in wrong or something is wrong with IforgeIron, as I'm getting a 'banned' message, but that's the place I believe housed the best schematic I've found.

Sigh.

IFI is having serious software problems. They run custom built forum software that is extremely buggy, and the owner is determined to make it work despite getting no support from the vendor. It's been like that for months. I had started a series of articles on straight razors, but started getting those messages when I wanted to post. And not in all threads but in some, and sometimes even when logging in. It's a piece of poo.

And rather than dancing a jig to try and post things via very cumbersome ways, I decided to just say 'meh' and walk away until such time as their forum software doesn't suck anymore. Today is still not that day it seems. Too bad because it is a really nice site.

Never even thought about crushing that tube! I may fill it with cement, but I'll see if there's any more of that steel. Don't think so. I'll sort something out.

And I'm already on Craigslist looking for a compressor. All in due time. Thanks for the help.

Yeah, shame about that forum. I have emailed them three times, and nothing.

I have been thinking of building a power hammer. Don't know if I will go air or mechanical. One thing I have learned is to work from the ground up. The base& mounting to the floor should be as heavy as possible. The part you don't see below the hammer can be VERY large. for a reason. There is a closed die forge shop in Champaign IL with large steam hammers & when they use the big one you can feel it a half mile away. They make a lot of big gears & other parts for Cat. over in Peoria. But even on the very small scale of the hammers we use the foundation needs to be pretty big Look up the specs. on some of the smaller commercial air hammers & see what foundation they require. Mass is our friend!

Slawman, in retrospect, I think a mechanical hammer would suffice, whether a trip, helve or whatever you can build.

I got a step closer on mine today. Some of the welds didn't look pretty, but it's ok, I painted over them! [emoji23]





Not the actual die.




I don't think I showed this bottom part of the anvil before. Two bars run down to the floor just in case, and for more weight.

It's a bit tight at the top of the travel. I may bend the slider a bit to compensate.

I like mechanical hammers. I had a real nice 50Lb. Little Giant hammer that I really liked. If I had not of got out of blacksmithing I would have kept it & put a brake on it which makes a big difference on that type of hammer.