Treadle hammer closer to being done!

Here is what I got done today!

The first thing I did was weld on the top die.



I got the second spring! This is a 14-inch snow-plow spring.

The spring attaches to an eyebolt up on the spring plate. It attaches to the treadle by a spring bracket. This is the spring bracket.

This bracket got welded to the treadle. Then I attached the spring to the eyebolt and the above spring bracket, only to find that the spring bracket was too long. So it had to be cut off and rewelded.

I also had to cut a square pipe spacer for the eyebolt, to get things adjusted right.

Here is the spring in position, and trust me folks, it was a WHOLE lot harder than it sounded.

Then I had to cut and weld up the arm that connects the treadle to the hammer head. The treadle bracket came off first, and was welded to the two foot long, 1/2-inch round bar arm.

Next, the turnbuckle had to be welded to the bracket on the spring and to the above arm.

This made the hammer operational. Once the hammer was operational, that opened up a TON of different "tweaking" things that needed doing. Several pieces had to be ground down to make the hammer move more smoothly. (On this hammer, a smooth operation is KEY!) I also decided that I needed to cut two arcs, in the plates that I welded on the hammer head and backbone. These cut-outs allow easier access to the oil holes in the springs.

The hammer is so smooth that I can operate the hammer with my pinky. Mission accomplished!
I still have to weld on the bottom die plate and cut/weld the bottom die. Then the entire hammer will be painted, and moved into position!

VERY EXCITING! I am VERY pleased with the way the hammer has turned out thus far.

Stay tuned!