Sam Salvati 80 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 (edited) Credit for these photos goes to Rob Whitehurst of the gulf coast blacksmiths. This is a japanese "spring" hammer, mostly similar to most mechanicals. Edited October 3, 2009 by Sam Salvati Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to post Share on other sites
john marcus 2 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 very similar to my japanese knife makers hammer........i will post pics. infinite edge cutlery Link to post Share on other sites
Sam Salvati 80 Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Thanks John! Where did you get yours? I know of one for sale in the US right now, but have ever ever seen one before. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to post Share on other sites
john marcus 2 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Thanks John! Where did you get yours? I know of one for sale in the US right now, but have ever ever seen one before. arnon at http://www.kandkforgeworks.com/about.html he spent alot of time in asia forging japanese knives. he has the same hammer. i bought mine in a old wooden box and restored it. making the missing pieces. murray carter uses the same http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFxq5hzkTig&feature=channel_page infinite edge cutlery Link to post Share on other sites
boilermaker 0 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 the anvils on the jap power hammers seem to be quite small for the size of the ram, does anyone know what ratio they are? Link to post Share on other sites
john marcus 2 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 (edited) the anvils on the japanese power hammers seem to be quite small for the size of the ram, does anyone know what ratio they are? mine is about 10:1 Edited October 3, 2009 by john marcus infinite edge cutlery Link to post Share on other sites
Matt Bower 5 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Really interesting. Those hammers look much more lightly built than the typical Western version. And what are they mounted on? Link to post Share on other sites
john marcus 2 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 in japan they are often floor mounted and worked from a pit. mine is on a stand. they are lighter than many blacksmith hammers as they were optimized for knife making. infinite edge cutlery Link to post Share on other sites
dragoncutlery 88 Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 i love that hammer it looks like architecture i want one Brandon Sawisch bladesmith eagles may soar but weasels don't get sucked in to jet engines Link to post Share on other sites
B. Norris 13 Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 These look like a possibility as a DIY for bladesmiths to me. The hammer Sam posted pictures of has only four welds, that I can make out at least. Granted the ram guides are cast and so are the pulley, the eccentric, and the flywheel. The knuckles that hold the arms connected to the spring ends might be welded or possibly machined. This hammer looks like it could be sold as a kit and then assembled by the purchaser. Aside from cutting the steel for the ram and the anvil, most modestly equipped home shops could put something like this together. Especially if the pulley, flywheel, eccentric, spring knuckles, etc. could be purchased off the shelf. Having to pay to get welding done on some parts could drive the cost up but, there still are a lot fewer welds then other homebuilt power hammers I've seen. Looks like these hammers are intended to be mounted permanently in place. A bit of a different philosophy then here in the US where even large industrial tools are made as portable as possible. The frame is quite adequate when you consider that it is bolted to the floor. As long as the floor is adequate that is! Seems like the anvil and frame are attached to a massive block of concrete. John's hammer has a cast guide for the spring assembly plus another guide for the ram. The guide for the ram does not match the other parts of the hammer and looks like it was added on later. Also, John's hammer is lacking a flywheel. I wonder if the flywheel acts as a counterweight for the eccentric? If so, it could explain the two guides on John's hammer vs. the one guide on the other hammer. I cannot quite make out the clutch system from any of the pictures but, I assume that the lever at bottom right of the front of these hammers pushes an idler wheel that takes slack off of the belt on the pulley. These are quite interesting mechanical hammers. Thanks for posting the pictures Sam and John. ~Bruce~ “All work is empty save when there is love, for work is love made visible.” Kahlil Gibran "It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them." - Alfred Adler Link to post Share on other sites
Dick Sexstone 30 Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 John, what is that material between the springs that is holding your ram? it looks like some belting of some sort.... the hammer looks like a nice size for refined work... Dick Link to post Share on other sites
john marcus 2 Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 John, what is that material between the springs that is holding your ram? it looks like some belting of some sort.... the hammer looks like a nice size for refined work... Dick cut from a conveyor belt 4 ply infinite edge cutlery Link to post Share on other sites
john marcus 2 Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 (edited) These look like a possibility as a DIY for bladesmiths to me. John's hammer has a cast guide for the spring assembly plus another guide for the ram. The guide for the ram does not match the other parts of the hammer and looks like it was added on later. Also, John's hammer is lacking a flywheel. I wonder if the flywheel acts as a counterweight for the eccentric? If so, it could explain the two guides on John's hammer vs. the one guide on the other hammer. I cannot quite make out the clutch system from any of the pictures but, I assume that the lever at bottom right of the front of these hammers pushes an idler wheel that takes slack off of the belt on the pulley. These are quite interesting mechanical hammers. Thanks for posting the pictures Sam and John. ~Bruce~ what you are calling a flywheel is a brake drum,,,,,, some have them some dont the clutch is a cone...the pedal brings the two (male/female) together one piece is always turning pretty simple stup up. i fabricated and or replaced quite a few parts including the ram and its guide....original was cast. Edited October 4, 2009 by john marcus infinite edge cutlery Link to post Share on other sites
john marcus 2 Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 (edited) bruce. here is a brake picture it releases as the clutch engages Edited October 4, 2009 by john marcus infinite edge cutlery Link to post Share on other sites
john marcus 2 Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 here are pics of murray carter's hammer infinite edge cutlery Link to post Share on other sites
John Longmile 0 Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 One bad hydraulic cylinder, few I beams and old tire tube. I think that this hammer can be made at home. Link to post Share on other sites
john marcus 2 Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 One bad hydraulic cylinder, few I beams and old tire tube. I think that this hammer can be made at home. would be nice to find a clutch assembly ready made infinite edge cutlery Link to post Share on other sites
Sam Salvati 80 Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 You could go with a friction drive similar to the tire hammer, and it would work very well IMHO. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to post Share on other sites
blacklionforge 0 Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 those are really sweet looking hammers--- my scranton shares ALOT of the same stuff--- spring style- linkage- braking-- the only real differance between my hammer and these are the fact i have a larger cast frame and much much heavier front guides...... are any of these for sale in the usa ? All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart,and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart... Link to post Share on other sites
Dan O'Connor 30 Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 (edited) Hi Ya'll As I begin to build my forge again I watched a video of a Japanese smith using the same type hammer as John's and Murray's. I can't explain it but it just felt right. I will build this type with maybe a nod towards the tire type hammer. When I found this thread with the great pictures I was ecstatic. So I am going to resurrect this thread and ask some questions. John, you said that the connection material is simply conveyor belt material. How did you secure it? Also,it looks like the ram is simply lashed to the conveyor belt material with a lift strap webbing-true? I will need a high arch spring set. Any ideas where to get it? For some reason I like this better than a Dupont setup like on a Little Giant (sold my 50 pounder years ago). Anybody have any thoughts on this? I plan on buying an Oilite sleeve bearing and boring out some steel tubing to accept it for the ram guide, then turning and polishing the ram to fit. Anybody see any issues with this idea. Since my setup will lean towards a traditional Kagi-ba this hammer will fit right in. I suppose I should concentrate on building the forge first but my imagination ran away with me when I saw this type of hammer. Edited June 22, 2010 by Danocon Dan O'Connor https://nuclayer.com https://www.facebook.com/NuClayerSystems/ https://www.instagram.com/daniel.oconnor.twinoaks/ Link to post Share on other sites
Sam Salvati 80 Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 Dano, hello! Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to post Share on other sites
Dan O'Connor 30 Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Dano, hello! Hi Sam, How Ya' Doin'? Thanks for starting this thread and the great pictures Dan O'Connor https://nuclayer.com https://www.facebook.com/NuClayerSystems/ https://www.instagram.com/daniel.oconnor.twinoaks/ Link to post Share on other sites
LeviC 0 Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 You know, that first one looks exactly like the one in Yoshindo Yoshihara's shop in the book "The Craft of the Japanese Sword" "Applause waits on success." -Benjamin Franklin............... No one is a blacksmith when they are born. -Finnish Proverb Link to post Share on other sites
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