thank you! it was pretty simple to put together once i figured out how it works.

Thank you. Not sure if you mean maybe a closer view, or while the hammer is running? However If you pause it at 5 seconds into the video i show that portion of the hammer, there isn’t much going on, just a foot bar or treadle, that is hinged at the back of the machine. You can clearly see the places the linkage and return spring are attached to. Let me know if that helps.

thank you, i tried to source that valve as well but couldn't find it, so i went with the 5/2 valve and at first i thought it was too small being only 1/4 npt, but now that i see how the hammer runs i figure it works for what i need it to do, i have a larger valve but im going to save it for another hammer. all the control is in the linkage, throttle valve, and regulator, a middle position on the valve just makes the hammer not bypass air if you use the treadle to hold the ram half way in its treadle mode, other than that they pretty much run the same. i have not tried any hydraulic valves, at the time i built the hammer i was on a tighter budget and the valve i used was 1/4-1/3 the price, even the larger valve i got later on was still much cheaper then a hydraulic one and it has 1/2 npt ports on it (both were industrial surplus on eBay). i appreciate the comment, hope this helps. I'm still looking at ways to improve the design and performance.

@@SAVAGE_IRON Thanks a lot for your response! Till now i've only welded my main-frame but i made my decosion to go for a pneumatic-valve - it looks like i got a real big one for cheap & i've seen, that some of the cheaper hydraulic-ones connect "pump and tank" in their neutral position, so i would loose a lot of air ... thanks a lot for the information, that nornal 5/2 valves will do the job!

thanks! sorry to say i do not have any part numbers, as everything i bought was industrial surplus off eBay, but my cylinder on my hammer is an all steel Parker 2.5 inch bore by 15 inch stroke double acting with 3/8 ports. my control valve is a 5 way 2 position 1/4 npt (larger then 1/4 ports would be better), lower exhaust valve is 3/4 npt top exhaust valve is 3/8 npt, throttle valve is a 1/2 npt adjustable butterfly valve. i recommend a cylinder of at least 2.5 inch bore with whatever amount of travel you want so it can fit your hammer design best, you don't have to use the exact same cylinder i used, it doesn't even need to be specifically a pneumatic cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder will run on air pressure just as well and they are heavier duty, just make sure it has more travel then the stroke of the ram so it will not bottom out, this prevents damage to the cylinder, also install a rubber bump stop (i used half a hockey puck, but automotive stores sell them for cars/trucks ) for when the ram reaches its up position so it wont hit the frame. another thing i recommend is to use quality well made parts.

@@SAVAGE_IRON I very much appreciate all the information. I will take your advice on a heavier duty cylinder with the correct stroke. Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I am a new subscriber. Jerry

i do not have any sketches/plains that i used to make the hammer or linkage, its design and measurements were all in my head. the linkage is very simple. the treadle linkage arm has the valve linkage arm pivoting on the end of it, and on the end of the valve linkage arm (opposite of the adjustment slider) is a direct connection to the ram linkage arm, so as you push down on the treadle it moves the valve arm up to activate the control valve and make the ram move down, as the ram moves down its control arm pivots the valve arm to switch the direction, and make the ram go up, but because the treadle is held down and the valve arm held in the up position the hammer will automatically go down soon as it goes back up, this cycle will repeat so long as the treadle is held down. the arm with the slider controls how the hammer behaves, closer to the pivot its set at, the more it becomes a single blow or treadle hammer, further away from the pivot and the faster the hammer will cycle. this linkage is 100+ year old technology used on steam drop hammers , its easy to make, though there is a kit you can buy from kens custom iron if you just want to bolt it onto your hammer. www.kensiron.com/controlkit hope it helps. cheers.

@@SAVAGE_IRON easy for you to say haha, today is my day to translate this video on the linkage

@@stankrieger3137 I figured my linkage out just by watching videos of other hammers with similar linkages, it’s a common linkage in steam drop hammers. If you want a video where I explain it I can see about posting one.

5 way 2 position pneumatic directional valve, so long as the ports are 1/4 npt or larger (preferably larger and one that is USA made) After some research hydraulic valves are difficult to adapt for this purpose. It isn’t a complicated machine, aside from the throttle valve there are only 3 that operate on the hammer, the directional valve, and two exhaust valves. The directional valve dictates the cylinder direction and is controlled by the linkage, the exhaust valves expel the spent air in the cylinder. your ram weight and cylinder size will dictate which exhaust valves you will want. The valves and cylinder I bought off eBay, plenty of industrial surplus sellers on there.

mine is a basic pneumatic setup, from start to end its a regulator oiler at the compressor, then air goes through the throttle valve (ball valve or butterfly valve) to control the flow, then the directional valve which dictates what direction the cylinder travels, then it runs through the exhaust valves to the cylinder, and after its used in the cylinder it goes back through the exhaust valves out a separate port to a muffler. my hammer uses a linkage to cycle so there isn't a lot going on with the pneumatic part of the hammer, but you can control it different ways with different valves. there are tons of videos on how pneumatics work i will include some links here: directional valve: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mpmVYNyFtJuulYk.htmlsi=cLHfLPvMUEQTfteI exhaust valve: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jpuDialoubycp2g.htmlsi=dFHCvy-Dc3hyVCFu i currently don't have the time to make a video on it, hope this helps.

my hammer uses a pneumatic cylinder that is 2.5 bore and a 15 inch stroke, a 4 inch diameter cylinder will work, you would be using a lot of air to run it, but it would work, likely because of the larger bore you wouldn't need as much pressure, i run my hammer between 60 and 120 psi. just make sure you know what you are doing, and have some help, these machines are Very Dangerous.

@@SAVAGE_IRON exactly what my brother said! He goes: it'll rip your head off! My other brother chimes in and me being the youngest! He says: As if!!! Have you seen how hard his head is? Lol! Thanks for the reply. I'll definitely take cake care! Cheers 🙂👍👍👍

​@@SAVAGE_IRONDoesnt that cillinder destroy itself when using it this way? The constant moving and shocks at the end dont sound healthy for that cillinder to me

@@Nick-fw5uj the one in mine has been holding up without any issues during the past 3 years, it's not allowed to bottom out, its a 15 inch cylinder but can only travel 11 inches before the dies stop it, it also has a rubber bump stop for the upward stroke, the only force acting on it is the air pressure and it's rated for twice the maximum pressure i run the hammer at, it has an in line oiler to keep the seals running as long as possible, if you want an even stronger cylinder use a hydraulic one, yes you can run a hydraulic cylinder on air pressure, its fine, i still advise a bump stop for the upward stroke.

nope, I haven't had any issues with that, if i ever do i can just weld in a piece on the ram that keys it into the guides. to get the ram to rotate it would have to overcome the grip the wheels have on it, and it would have to bend the hardened 1 inch diameter cylinder shaft, which i don't see happening under normal use.

thank you! it was quite the project!

James Savage I’m preparing to build me a version of pneumatic hammer so I’m researching 😉

@@jamesball7322 let me know if you need any info about my hammer, I'm willing to help, it took me a fair bit to figure everything out.

James Savage I’d actually like to take you up on that only I’d prefer messenger if you use it 🙏 My Facebook name is James McMillan and the profile pic is close to the same as on here

James Savage Are you Scottish also ?

It’s sitting on a 100 pound wooden base, top layer is plywood, then 4x6’s bolted together and finally over an inch of rubber underneath, concrete is probably 4 inch thick, it isn’t anchored down as it’s not the permanent home for this hammer. Yes it does shake the floor a little bit, all hammers will, but the wooden and rubber base soaks up a lot of the shock. Best option would be to cut a hole in the concrete and pour a dedicated foundation for the hammer, you still put a layer of 3/4 inch or thicker plywood between the hammer and the concrete. It all depends how much ram weight the hammer has, most the time for a 100 pound or less ram weight, you can get away with just anchoring it down with the plywood layer, without a dedicated foundation.

James Savage that’s good to know. I’ve only got a 4” slab. But yeah I think that pouring it’s own isolated concrete pad would be my best route.

@@erikcourtney1834 it really all depends on how heavy the ram is, what weight you thinking of making yours?

James Savage I’m thinking around 80 - 100lb. That should be enough for anything i do. I have a 30ton press for any real heavy work.

i appreciate the kind words, however I'm sorry to say i have no plans to this hammer, i built the entire thing without drawings or plans, just off of the design and measurements in my head, its made of a lot of steel i got for free, and i was on a pretty tight budget for it at the time as well, but now that I've built it i probably wouldn't want to give plans to this hammer since if i could build it again i would do some things much differently. i do plan to build another couple hammers when i have larger shop space, and i may put some plans together for those, but that may be a while. there are many ways to make the hammer cycle, for some the steam hammer style linkage may seem hard to understand how it works or too complicated, so you can either make an electronic control or use other valves, or if you don't need it to cycle and just want to manually operate the hammer you can simply link a 5 way 2 position valve directly to the treadle with a return spring, and there are some benefits to a single blow power hammer, like a clamping function, or if you are using top tooling and you don't have a striker. a very important part is make the frame as heavy as possible, use good thick steel where it is needed, if you can use a big solid chunk for the anvil support block then do so, and if you can bolt it to the floor do that as well, my machine weighs roughly 600 pounds and it will walk around a little while its running if its not bolted down. another tip is choose a good cylinder to power it, i recommend an all steel cylinder, the one in my hammer is a Parker 2.5 inch bore, Hydraulic cylinders are also a very good option as they will run off of air just fine and are heavier built, make sure the cylinder has more travel then the ram so it can not bottom out in either direction and install a bump stop for the up stroke on the hammer (the bump stop on my hammer is a hockey puck) , this saves the cylinder from catastrophic damage. Joshua Delisle made the power hammer which inspired me to build mine and he does have plans for it, not a hard hammer to make. his newest video about it: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gqujYLGdxtHdop8.html David hammer has an entire build series on how to make his "cricket" air hammer, it would not take much to make a larger version or modify the design completely to make a larger hammer, here is the first video of his 11 part build of the cricket: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ereof6iX2bHXgIk.html another option is to build a hydraulic forging press, they are often cheaper to make then a hammer especially if you find someone selling or giving away an old log splitter, most of the work is already done, you just need to reconfigure a few things, add some bracing, electric motor, and the dies for forging instead of splitting wood. a press is also more bang for the buck, you can do a lot with just a little 12 ton forging press, it also doesn't make nearly as much noise. Big dog forge has a good video converting a log splitter into a forging press: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/grdjhdd3ncqYqoE.html hopefully this information helps once again i appreciate the kind words about my machine, thank you! cheers!

@@SAVAGE_IRON Thank you. By your answer you have given me an even greater understanding of your hammer. I didn’t even think of using a hydraulic cylinder for air. Thanks again you are a good person I can tell.

I am not josh, but you can find him here: kzfaq.info

i run it between 90-120 psi, i have a 60 gallon compressor it runs off of but it should be able to run off a smaller 30-40 gallon just fine. it doesn't take much air to run this hammer.

@@SAVAGE_IRON you can always use more air storage cylinders, which will giv you a longer between air compressor runs. the big thing it keeps the on and off times down on the AC motor.

@@stankrieger3137 Does it though? If so then by how much? Would that value be worth the extra space, time, and money to add extra air volume? I would imagine the determining factor being how much air is consumed, how efficiently, and to how much work is done in that time frame. because if that became a consistent number then there would be no difference to a regular compressor without extra storage. The way I see it is that if you double the storage you double the motor run time to refill said storage, yes you get twice the use time between refills, but how much work is getting done in that time frame, that’s the deciding factor. At that point it comes down to the person using the machine or tool that is consuming the air, and the time it takes them to finish their project, which will never become a consistent value. Not trying to be negative, or argue, just thinking out loud here about how practical or not that can be. for my situation it’s not practical, I don’t have the room for more air tanks, and my compressor keeps up with the hammer absolutely fine. It’s not a bad idea and I’ve seen others do it. I appreciate the comments, thanks.