This air hammer
is based on the plans
by Ron Kinyon with some modifications. The original plans to build a
air hammer are available from ABANA.
I wanted to build a smaller air hammer than the one shown in the plans,
something that would run well with a smaller air compressor. Most
of the air hammers that I have seen require a 5 h.p. two stage
compressor or larger to run. I wanted a hammer that would run
with a 110 volt compressor because I do not have 220 volts in my
shop. The main frame on my hammer is 6 x 6.5 I-beam instead of
the 10 x 10 in the plans. For the ram I used 3"square stock 10"
long, the total weight of the ram including the die is around 35
pounds. Even with the small size of the ram I was still able to
have dies that
are 2" x 3" x 1.5" when the dies are set at a 45 degree angle and the
corners of the dies are rounded up. For the anvil I used 5" round
stock instead of the 6.5" in the plans this is one of the few pieces of
steel that I bought new to build this hammer, it set me back $118.00
for the piece cut and delivered. I used .75" plate for the
main base plate and the cylinder mount plate. The slide on the
ram is 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 9" this allows you to use 1 1/2" x 1/2" bar for
the bearing caps and 1 1/2" x 1/8" brass for the bearings. I
decided to use a foot treadle like the ones on mechanical hammers
instead of the foot control in the plans. I feel this would
be much easier to use than trying to find the foot switch while holding
a hot piece of metal. I am using a mechanically
operated 3 way valve mounted on the side of the frame. I feel that
the 3 way valve gives the hammer a wider range of control than the ball
valve used in the plans. The total weight of the hammer is a
little over 400 pounds.
Update:
A lot of people have been contacting me asking for
more information on the air cylinder. The air cylinder that I
used was made by TRD Manufacturing Inc, sub of Bimba. 7407 Edward Drive
Loves Park, IL 61111 phone: (815) 654-7775 fax: 708 235-2014. You
can contact them for information about a local distributor for
you. The part number (s/n) is 98-52361, if you give the TRD
distributor this number they can order this cylinder for you.
Update:
01/21/05 Robert Bordeaux recently sent me
the following e-mail.
Larry if you have not tried UHMW for your
guides in your air hammer you may want to try it out as this stuff is
great.I think it allows the hammer to run even faster than the brass
and it is less
expensive. I have been using it now for a few years in my small
hammers, and would never use brass again.
Below are links to some web
sites of
people that have built air hammers using my modifaction plans.
Robert Bordeaux http://www.hotanvil-forge.com/id8.html
View
pdf
file of Air Hammer Modifications
Download Air
Hammer Document File
Larry Zoeller
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