Power hammers

kuraki

kuraki

Fimbulvetr Knifeworks
Joined
Jun 17, 2016
Messages
4,679
Now that I've got a forging press, and plans for a surface grinder and milling machine, my next big equipment purchase/project will likely be a power hammer.

Would I find a 25lb Little Giant useful compared to my 20 ton press? There's a fellow in my area who collects and rebuilds hammers, and he's telling me $2500ish for a working 25lber, less for one in disrepair, more for a complete restored one.

My other option is to build one, which I'd started planning to do this winter. If I built one, I could build it is big as I want. I could do pneumatic or mechanical or VFD control. I guess I'm trying to figure out if a 25lb hammer is even worth considering, because to buy a 100lb hammer would mean something far outside what I'm willing to spend, or something I would have to rebuild. And I would much, much, rather build something from scratch than try to rebuild something.
 
One of the brethren on here who has a couple of bigger hammers and has owned more told me that the Anyang 33 will beat a 25 LG and challenge a 50 pounder. He said the a 25 LG is a toy and having had a badly functioning one in my shop for a little while, i would be inclined to agreed. The 50 LG seems to be the USDA minimum daily requirement for mechanical hammers from what I have heard and read.
 
I have a 25lb Little Giant, and a 100 lb Little giant. The 25 lb is good for finish work where you don't need to move much steel. I would pick a 50lb Little Giant over a 25lb one. I think a 50lb would do anything the 25lb could do and a whole lot more.
 
My only real limitation on building one is going to be the required anvil weight. I read somewhere that 10:1 anvil:hammer weight is ideal. So a 100lb hammer and 1000lb anvil. I can do that no problem, I think I can even do that in a way that I can assemble it at home in 1000lb chunks (to keep it within the lift capacity of my neighbors skid loader).
 
We have 25# LG, & 75# Berkley hammers.
Knife size work, LG is great. Of course thats starting out with right size stock.
Its also cheaper to run.
Berkley can flatten 1/2" bar to a paper thin nothing in one strike if you touch its pedal a bit too hard.
Berkley is also an orphan machine.
Any parts or repairs are fabricated myself.
Similar with LG, I make & do all its repairs too, but at least there is parts & service if I choose to just buy it.
Out back is derelict big Massey Screwpress. Someday, I may refurbish that thing...
 
Last edited:
I would rather (and do) have bigger hammers but I would rather have a 25LG than no hammer at all. Your press can do the heavy lifting but becomes really slow moving metal when it gets thin, and that is where a hammer, even a small one shines.
 
With your skills you could build yourself a very nice Kinyon and save some serious bucks
 
Don, I found that a 25 was good for beveling and other "blade work" as someone else said. For damascus? Pretty useless. No improvement over the press. I have played around with the 25, a Big Blu 110 and Cliff's Say Mak. Say Mak wins by a a fair margin in my book.
 
Another vote for the "get at least a 50" camp. 25'er won't do a whole lot that can't be done by hand or press. A 50 with mild drawing dies is a pretty versatile machine and will do a lot of drawing and shaping for you.
I think if you want to do much work with flat dies, which are nice, then a 100 lb. hammer is about minimum for the power needed. The advice to go as big as possible is what I'd echo, I've outgrown my LG 50 for the speed and power I want and am doing the foundation work for my 300 lb. Beaudry this week.
 
Hot dang, 300# Beaudry. That's awesome.
I had a 500# LG for 15 years and made 10,000 bars of damascus on it, loved it. I cracked the main frame, then sold it to a guy who needed it to complete his line up of all the hammers LG made. It went to a good home but I wish I still had it.

Hoss
 
Last edited:
The 25 is good when a damascus billet gets too thin for the press. Also good forging blades. But No good at all for the whole process when doing damascus! Thus a 25 LG and a press is a great combo.

I stared with a 25 and it was many, many times better than hammer and anvil. Then got a press and my damascus work took off! Then got a 100 lb little giant, a huge step, much so I rarely use the press anymore.

When I was selling so much W2, people would ask how they could draw out 2"+ round stock on a 25 LG. I did a series of photos showing how, they are on my website. I have easily forged 10" plus bowies on the 25 with very little hand work & fairly quick.

At the price and ease of moving and setting up, a 25 LG is very hard to beat and highly recommended if you have no power hammer at all. But you will want a larger hammer at some pointy if very serious about forging larger stuff.
 
jdm61 said:
Don, I found that a 25 was good for beveling and other "blade work" as someone else said. For damascus? Pretty useless. No improvement over the press. I have played around with the 25, a Big Blu 110 and Cliff's Say Mak. Say Mak wins by a a fair margin in my book.
Click to expand...
Joe, your 25 LG is not up to speed! :) The Say Mak is very nice and just about perfect for a bladesmith. Too bad they are no longer available. Tom did a great job with them.
 
I thought that Say Mak had another US dealer now. The critical thing with those hammers were the improvements/system upgrades that a Tom suggested to those Turkish boys. Everything I have heard and read says that they were a significant improvement on the Sahinlers and the old Say Yas (sp?) and pretty close if not just as good as the German hammers that they were based on.
Don Hanson III said:
Joe, your 25 LG is not up to speed! :) The Say Mak is very nice and just about perfect for a bladesmith. Too bad they are no longer available. Tom did a great job with them.
Click to expand...
 
jdm61 said:
I thought that Say Mak had another US dealer now. The critical thing with those hammers were the improvements/system upgrades that a Tom suggested to those Turkish boys. Everything I have heard and read says that they were a significant improvement on the Sahinlers and the old Say Yas (sp?) and pretty close if not just as good as the German hammers that they were based on.
Click to expand...
Joe, if the Say Mak is available I can't find it.

Jerry Fisk was looking to buy a couple and he couldn't find them either.
 
DevinT said:
Hot dang, 300# Beaudry. That's awesome.
I had a 500# LG for 15 years and made 10,000 bars of damascus on it, loved it. I cracked the main frame, then sold it to a guy who needed it to complete his line up of all the hammers LG made. It went to a good home but I wish I still had it.

Hoss
Click to expand...
Hoss, what you do has little to do with the average smith. You are in a different league! :)

I used to love seeing the 500 LG run!
 
Home of Say-Mak power hammers in the US
Don, these guys may not be selling anymore, but the website is still up. They are showing the hammers with a sexy new paint job. Their Youtube demo video is from July of 2016. The website says that they plan to have a 75kg/165 lb model by 2019.
 
On a related note, I heard a rumor that John the Massey guy in the UK and/or James Johnson, the dude who looks like Timothy Olyphant, may have had similar discussions with Anyang like what Tom had with Say Mak. The reputation of those hammers appear to have improved in the last few years.
 
jdm61 said:
Home of Say-Mak power hammers in the US
Don, these guys may not be selling anymore, but the website is still up. They are showing the hammers with a sexy new paint job. Their Youtube demo video is from July of 2016. The website says that they plan to have a 75kg/165 lb model by 2019.
Click to expand...
Wow, that never popped up in any search I did. I will forward this to Fisk.
I might have been searching the old name Saya, or whatever it was?
Price is way up there now compared to what Tom charged!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top