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Blacksmithing Tips: What Kind Of Electric Hammer Is Right For Your Shop?

Blacksmith’s Force Hammers or Travel Hammers

If you have ever worked with an electric hammer, you will see the world of blacksmithing with different eyes. Mechanical hammers really fall into 3 basic categories: hydraulic presses, mechanical hammers, and pneumatic hammers. All are designed to increase the amount of force you can apply to the steel. This means that you can get more work done in a given amount of time, and you can work with a larger bar. Suddenly this opens up a whole new creative reality with steel.

Hydraulic presses

I don’t use one in my shop, but have used it years ago in another blacksmith shop. The hydraulic system has tons of power (literally) and can force metal into many different shapes very effectively. They are useful for extreme controlled force applications such as forcing steel into preformed dies or cutting to specific lengths or angles, etc.

This is not an impact machine like jackhammers or jackhammers, and it is not fast. It can be used to extract steel, but this is tedious. Although it would save time from hand drawing and allow you to work a larger bar, it would drive me crazy with the slow process.

Basically the machine is a frame mounted hydraulic ram with an electric pump. Use a foot control to crush the metal. Step with the foot applies more force. Release your foot, the dies go back and then you can move the bar and apply the force again in a different place.

There are a couple of positives to a hydraulic press. They are small in size and do not require a special base. Prices are manageable for this type of tool. Around $ 2000.00 in my area. There is no impact noise or vibration with this type of machine. The screeching of the hydraulic pump can be loud, but it doesn’t have the same nuisance factor for neighbors as the impact of a hammer. The presses are classified according to the number of tons of pressure that the ram can produce. 20 tons, 40 tons, and 60 tons are common sizes.

Mechanical hammers

All mechanical hammers work on a variation of the same principle. A rotating crank shaft lifts the weighted hammer head that is counterbalanced and then pushes it down for the next half of the revolution. The attachment on another hammer head has to be a spring construction of some kind so that the impact is absorbed by the spring and not the crankshaft. The counterweight relieves some of the stress on the motor.

There have been many different configurations of mechanical hammers over the years. Little Giant comes to mind, but this is just one style. Others include Helve Hammers, etc. Mechanical hammers are classified according to the index of the hammer head. So a 25-pound Little Giant has a hammerhead weight of 25 pounds. The heavier the weight of the head, the bigger the steel you can work with underneath, but the bigger the motor you need to run.

Something to think about. If your shop is outdoors but does not have electricity, you can run a mechanical hammer with a small gasoline engine. A little pricey, but compared to the amount of work you could do this way, it could be well worth it.

I’ve only worked with mechanical hammers a little bit, but a 1 hp motor will run up to around 50 pounds of hammer head weight.

The beauty of a mechanical hammer is that it is relatively simple to build or repair. The concepts of movement are very simple and easy to follow in slow motion. Mechanical hammers were relatively common in industrial settings in the late 1800s and early 1900s, so you may be able to find one at a good price in your area. The downside is that parts can be impossible to find and you may need to make your own.

You can also build your own mechanical hammer. It will take some tinkering, but a good working hammer can be made quite inexpensively. They do not take up much space. Maybe 2 feet by 3 feet for a small one. They are a bit noisy for running and have an impact sound. They need a good foundation, although a small one can work with a small foundation. They are somewhat limited by the tasks you can do with them. If you are creative with your tools, you can still do a lot of work and save your arm.

Air hammers

My personal favorite. The pneumatic hammer was originally conceived as a steam hammer for large industrial applications. Like mechanical hammers, they are rated based on the mass of the hammer head and typically range from 50lbs to 1200lbs or more. The upper end of the scale are massive machines that require gigantic foundations to function properly. These are poetry in motion to watch a skilled blacksmith use.

The principle behind the jackhammer is quite simple. Air pressure lifts a weighted hammer head, then something changes the air pressure and the hammer head is dropped under the force of air pressure and then lifted again. The air at the bottom of the air cylinder acts like the cushion that replaces the springs in a mechanical hammer. This process creates a cyclical hammering of the steel. The weight of the hammer head and air pressure contribute to the force applied to the steel.

Most smaller smithies use a 50 to 150 pound size. There are two subclasses of jackhammers that you should know about. The autonomous version and with air compressor. The autonomous uses two air cylinders. One is the compressor cylinder and it is driven by a motor. This cylinder provides air to the hammer head cylinder. Therefore, each up stroke of the drive cylinder forces the hammer head cylinder down and each down stroke forces the hammer head cylinder up. The valve causes air to escape or be sent in varying amounts to the hammer head cylinder. This provides control of the stroke and force applied to the steel. This cyclical timing is governed by the speed of the electric motor.

The air compressor dependent jackhammer is powered by constant line pressure and has a feedback loop built into the design. The hammer head goes up and flips a switch that tells it to go back down. Once you reach a certain travel point, another switch tells you to go back up. The amount of exhaust dictates both the speed and the force applied to the steel.

Although jackhammers appear to be a bit more complicated than a mechanical hammer, there are actually fewer moving parts and less wear and tear. I find them more versatile. You can adjust your stroke and force just by moderating your pedaling. With a mechanical hammer, you must perform a mechanical adjustment to change the height of your blow. Your strength is controlled by the speed of the impact or the speed of rotation.

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