Tire hammer....time!!!!

Wayne Coe said:
I have my 155 Big Blu Max on a 4" slab, have been running it there for 5 years and I have no cracks. Rather than putting rubber under the hammer use a good adhesive silicone caulk under it and then you have a BIG hammer. The whole floor becomes part of the mass. I did have a problem of the 500 pound anvil walking around due to the vibration so I cut through the concrete with a masonry saw to isolate the hammer then filled the saw kurf with silicone caulk. BTW don't do this if you want to move the hammer around.
Click to expand...


That is a great tip Wayne, I never got around to doing that to my Treadle hammer, because I was constantly moving it, and knew I was going to be changing from one side of my shop to the other. Now that I'm getting a Tire Hammer, I plan on putting the treadle hammer up for sale. So if you now anyone that might be interested in it, let me know. Thanks Bud, Rex
 
I did take some or should I say my son took some with my phone, I have to load them on my computer, I'll see if I can find the cord I need to get a couple of them up tomorrow, Thanks for asking, Rex
 
Diamond G Knives said:
We need pictures of that new hammer!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Diamond G and everyone,
Please accept my appologies, I have been busier than a cat covering up..., err let's just say I've worked my butt off this entire Memorial day weekend, especially on Monday. Bro-in-law ("THE ELECTRICIAN EXTRORDINARE") will be ready to hook up my wiring either today or tomorrow and I've had to install light fixtures, plug boxes, run wires, etc, etc, etc...I hope I have it ready for him to walk in, make a few connections (ok a lot of connections) and be done, and not have to pull wires, climb over the top of the shop and all of that.

I got my new Plasma Cutter in last week, tried to wire a new plug on it, and got a couple of surprises, first of all, I'm no electrician, I know enough about it to be dangerous, BUT, I do understand black, white, red, green wires. This "simple" plug wired for 220, had a yellow wire with a green stripe on it, which was easy enough to figure out, BUT when the other 2 are BLUE and BROWN!?!?!?! It kinda threw more off, a lot! Chinesse manufacturing at its finest! I called him up and he does know about them, but he wanted to see it so there wouldn't be anything missed, so I had to put that off for him as well. So far I've added 6-4'
flourescent, double light fixtures, and still have 4 more to put up. Which I don't have hung yet.

I have to appologize because I said, I would see if I could post the video we took and have not gotten it done. The Tire Hammer should be finished pretty soon, unless he has ran into some problems. And I still have to figure out a way to unload the thing!!!! I think I'm going to get a 12' steel 2 X 6, I have 2- 6 X 6 posts that were once used for walls and horse stalls. they are pretty tall, I need to even them up some and figure out a way to secure the 2 X 6 to the top of the posts, which I can weld up some sort of brackets to mount on to it to keep it secured and bolted in position. Then weld a hook onto the 2 X 6 and get a 'block and tackle' that will make picking anything up MUCH EASIER. That's the best idea I've had so far, and once I put it up, I plan on leaving it right there for future use. Basically pull the truck through the shop, hoist it off and set it down gently! Maybe set it on either a set of dollies, or steel pipe and roll it to where it needs to go, get it in place and lock her done!!! Then it will be BANGIN TIME!!!! I'll just add that to the other 2000 things I need to do before Bro'n-Law gets here this afternoon, while I'm at work!!!

I'll give John Wayne a call and see how progress is coming along, I'll get back to y'all as soon as I found out when it will be ready. He has built so many of these, I think he could build them in his sleep! He has an artististic flair about him, an Artistic Blacksmith! I think I have heard of Blacksmith Artisians, maybe that's the same thing, he has done some seriously, beautiful work. I'll get back to y'all when I find out how things are going, and provided I can remember my cell plug, I'll see if I can spare a minute (or get the wife to do it) and put up the video on my FaceBook page. Thanks Guys, I appreciate the interest in my new Tire Hammer, and hopefully I can catch a breath long enough to share it with you all! Thanks Dawgs, Rex
 
Rex,

Just thought I'd mention that I used engine hoists to move both my mill and surface grinders. Approx 8 to 900 pounds each.

To unload the SG I rented a hoist from the local rental yard. $20 for the day. This sucker was no Harbor Freight cheapie it was a giant beast of a lift. It was super convenient also because the thing has trailer wheels mounted to the back of the "feet" and a trailer hitch mounted to the top of the "tower". The boom gets lowered, chained down and tightened then flipped onto the wheels and hooks to the reese hitch like any other trailer.

No drop off or pick up fees either. Picked up the surface grinder and stopped at the rental place on the way back into town and towed the lift home, unloaded, and returned the lift the next morning. Best $20 I think I ever spent.

-Josh
 
Josh Dabney said:
Rex,

Just thought I'd mention that I used engine hoists to move both my mill and surface grinders. Approx 8 to 900 pounds each.

To unload the SG I rented a hoist from the local rental yard. $20 for the day. This sucker was no Harbor Freight cheapie it was a giant beast of a lift. It was super convenient also because the thing has trailer wheels mounted to the back of the "feet" and a trailer hitch mounted to the top of the "tower". The boom gets lowered, chained down and tightened then flipped onto the wheels and hooks to the reese hitch like any other trailer.

No drop off or pick up fees either. Picked up the surface grinder and stopped at the rental place on the way back into town and towed the lift home, unloaded, and returned the lift the next morning. Best $20 I think I ever spent.

-Josh
Click to expand...

Josh,
If you can believe it, I was actually thinking about buying a HF engine hoist for that very reason, BUT, when I thought about having to store it, I knew it would be in the way, even if it was one of the collapsable ones. Then I considered renting something that would do the job, much like what you got, but haven't checked into it since I came up with this idea. The steel 2 X 6 (at least a 1/4" thick walls) standing up on the 2"edge should have plenty of strength and be rigid enough to pick up just about anything I need to unload, that is unless I'm missing something and it isn't as rigid as I think it is. The biggest benefit from doing it this way is that the 20 to 50(ish ) dollars I spend will still be there after I get it unloaded. John Wayne said the Tire Hammer is going to weight around 900 pounds, so I'm thinking the steel 2 x 6 would be enough to pick it up and move the truck and then set it down on some pipe to be able to roll it in place.

Y'all are going to be shoot me when I tell you this, I passed up on a Cross Milling machine... for 900.00 bucks!!:(~ I had to after buying all I just bought, I literally was thinking about calling them up and asking if they would take payments. Then I realized I was desperatly feeding a tool/equipment addiction! So I passed! I may still be able to get in touch with the guy if anyone is interested, it is in Alabama so it may be too far, for a lot of y'all.
Besides, not only did I buy the Tire Hammer, I also bought a Plasma Cutter, AND have been spending A LOT ON THE SHOP. I swear there is over 500 feet of 12/3 wire ran through ONE 12 X 24 side of the shop!!! That was over $300.00, PLUS all the little boxes, plugs, switches, on, and on, and on!!!! BUT, I will say, I have been buying the little odds and end pieces for almost a year, picking up a few pieces everytime I went to Lowes, so I didn't have to buy everything all at once. One of my better ideas I'd say! Josh, I do appreciate the advice, that is a great tip, and if the 2 X 6 doesn't work, then I'll be headed to the rental store to see what I can get.

I also thought about having the rental company meet me at home when I brought it home, they meet me there, unload the forlift, then I'll unload the Hammer and put it in place, then they'll load it back up and take it with them, I though that was a good idea and a lot less stressful on my back! Thanks again, Buddy, I appreciate the tip, Rex
 
Rex,

I'm no engineer but I wouldn't think twice about a 2x6x1/4 steel tube having the strength, LOL.

If it were me though I'd steer clear of ANY framework cobbled together. It would PROBABLY work out fine.... but could have disaterous results for you, your truck, your hammer etc. if not.

I'd put the 12' steel on top of the trusses and use a chain and come-a-long to lift the machine up then pull the truck out if possisble. If not, renting a hoist seems to be cheap insurance to protect your investment for unloading.

I had also considered buying a hoist but have ZERO room for storing something like that and a friend turned me onto the rental.

Good luck with it ! Can't wait to see some pics of it !

-Josh
 
The 2x6 seems like a good idea.

For that matter, don't overlook the possibility of using I-beam if it's readily available to you.

Years ago when I worked on a farm, we had an I-beam stretched across the ceiling of the barn. A trolley hoist was slid along the beam.
Admittedly, this was a very heavy duty setup used for tractor-trailer repair and maintenance (that huge hoist itself probably ran in the thousands), but I mention simply to show the concept of another option.

If you have access to some I-beam without it costing an arm and a leg compared to the other options, it would allow the trolley hoist option later down the road. The small size of hoist you would need for your purposes could probably be picked up fairly reasonable (comparatively speaking, of course).
The side-to-side movement afforded by such a setup is an absolute Godsend compared to only up-and-down.

Yeah, Rex, ya know the heavy equipment won't stop at the hammer! Soon you'll be talking surface grinders, mills, and all sorts of other heavy stuff!:what!:

Take care,
Rob
 
rob45 said:
The 2x6 seems like a good idea.

For that matter, don't overlook the possibility of using I-beam if it's readily available to you.

Years ago when I worked on a farm, we had an I-beam stretched across the ceiling of the barn. A trolley hoist was slid along the beam.
Admittedly, this was a very heavy duty setup used for tractor-trailer repair and maintenance (that huge hoist itself probably ran in the thousands), but I mention simply to show the concept of another option.

If you have access to some I-beam without it costing an arm and a leg compared to the other options, it would allow the trolley hoist option later down the road. The small size of hoist you would need for your purposes could probably be picked up fairly reasonable (comparatively speaking, of course).
The side-to-side movement afforded by such a setup is an absolute Godsend compared to only up-and-down.

Yeah, Rex, ya know the heavy equipment won't stop at the hammer! Soon you'll be talking surface grinders, mills, and all sorts of other heavy stuff!:what!:

Take care,
Rob
Click to expand...



Rob,
Thanks for reminding me of that, I did think about it and did look for one while I was at the scrap yard, while looking for the angle iron I needed.

I haven't heard form John Wayne yet, but I found out today my check has cleared the bank!! So it should be getting close to being ready for pick up!!!

I think my best option right now is the industial engine hoist, the rental companies are open on Saturday, when it's ready, I may be able to pick it on Saturday, unload the hammer and take the hoist right back. That would be the best case scenario.

As far as the surface grinder, I already want one, but those babies are priced OUTRAGEOUSLY!!!! I already have a mini mill, which is pretty nice. Now that I have my plasma cutter, I'm going to see if it is possible to use it cut guard slots, it might work it might not, being that it cuts at such high temps, it may make the material so hard after cutting, any filing needed might be impossible, then again it does cut a very fine line, so it may be possible.

I've got a 3 day weekend, with a ton of stuff to do, we finished almost all of the wiring last night.

I still have a lot to do, mostly asthetic stuff, but I do want my shop to look good, and I want it bright, we painted the walls white, the work bench tops were painted with the same semi gloss white, the steel frames of the work benches were painted a royal blue. I have I think about 3 more work benches to build and +1 to paint, then get everything moved over to my new improved side of the shop. I'll be taking a break before I get started on the other side, my wifes side, which will be the wood working side of the shop. Where she will be doing her thing, which will give me a lot of tools for my handle work.;)
It won't be as involved as my side has been, the power is already done over there, I'll be doing a lot of cleaning, painting, and probably replacing some of the work benches, in my spare time, when I'm not working on knives!

Thanks Rob, BTW are you going to be able to make the BLADE show? If so I'd like to meet up with you, you can PM if you want to get together, THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE SUGGESTIONS, believe me it all helps, I'll take pics when I pick up my hammer, Rex
 
Ok Dawgs,
Here's what you've all been waiting for, John Wayne called me Friday, told me that he got tied up with some other stuff and had gotten behind on building mine and wanted to see if I wanted to buy his personal Tire Hammer instead, of course I said yes, we went yesterday morning and picked it up, here are a few pics of the yesterdays events.



000_0089.jpg

Here it is, in all her glory, I know it's silly calling an inanimate object, a tool, a "her", but I couldn't resist, silly as it might be, I'll call her "Elizabeth", or "Liz", after the lady that works with Troy,on Swamp People, so I can say, "Poundit Lizabet, Poundit!!!" BTW, that was Tina's idea, I wanted to call it...err, her, Charlene, no idea why, just did.
000_0090.jpg
Had to lay her down, gently ...gently...kinda nervous here...

000_0092.jpg
K, we're good, BTW that's ''THE PUP'' and John Wayne Taylor in the picture there.
100_2801.jpg
More nervous time here, to make things a little less stressful, John Wayne is a master at loading these, he made it look easy!
100_2805.jpg
That big Lumox is ME!! An extremely happy man, standing by my new Tire Hammer!!!! After successfully loading it in the truck.

I will have some pics of Liz in the shop later tonight, I hired a guy with a tractor to put it in the shop, for a 100 bucks, it was well worth it, I was grossly UNDERestimating my ability to move this monster around.
A steel 2 X 6 would not have worked or lets just say I wasn't willing to take the chance, it was better for all involved to hire this guy with a tractor with a front end loader to pick it up and stick it in the shop where I wanted it, now all I have to do it drill some holes in the concrete, bolt it down in the concrete and it the it's
HAMMERTIME!!!!

BTW, I didn't get any pics when we were putting it in the shop, the guy I hired to do it wasn't the un-loading MASTER that John Wayne is, I was more concerned with my hammer than I was thinking about taking pics, the GREAT news is that it is in the shop safely, NO ONE hurt, no damage!

A quick trip to Lowe's to pick up, the bolts to secure it to the floor, a masonry bit, and some mild steel to make a couple of forging tools. I plan on getting it secured to the floor tonight, then back to work on getting shelves put in, building work benches and finishing the move. Work Work Work!! But it's all fun.....,when it's done!
 

Attachments

  • 100_2795.jpg
    100_2795.jpg
    98 KB · Views: 30
  • 100_2798.jpg
    100_2798.jpg
    99.8 KB · Views: 30
Last edited:
That hammer looks fun. Try to post a video of it working if you can Rex..
 
Thanks Dan,
I hope to finish getting the holes drilled into the concrete today, after almost 2 weeks, of working almost non stop, today it caught up with me, we worked till 12:30 last night as we have been for over 2 weeks, and still going to my regular job. So today will had a late start, not to mention it is hot as Hades out there!! We 'piddled' mostly this morning, the heat dictated a slow pace, and the drilling hasn't gone well, slow as slow can be. We came in to cool off and take a little break, drink some water, a quick post and back to work. I may have to go buy an electric drill as my cordless drill doesn't seem to be cutting the mustard or the concrete! The masonry bits are NOT CHEAP!! So I've been trying to be careful not to damage the one lone bit I have, the concrete I had poured has fiber in it, I hope that's not what's causing it to be so hard to drill, a little more of a break and back to work!
Thanks everyone for sharing in my excitement, having you guys to share this with, and my progression as a knife maker is priceless to me. Maybe one day, I'll decide if I'm going to shoot for my ABS Journeyman stamp....maybe....
Rex
 
Rex I'm glad to hear you are getting your shop up and going so nice. I only wish I had half the tools you have :)

Ideally, You need a hammer drill for that concrete, and also, the fiber is not what is causing the drill to dull. Concrete is some tough stuff, and it just really is hard to drill with a regular drill. if you take some water, like a capfull, and pour in the hole to keep the drill cool it will go faster and the drill will stay in better shape.

I just went through this with a friend of mine who was trying to bolt down a safe. I have taken a regular HSS drill and sharpened it to cut concrete.
 
THANKS JOHN!!! Where were you when I was killing myself with a little 18volt trying to get a hole in it!? I'm kidding, I finaly did an internet search and found out a hammer drill was the ticket, had the wife pick one up last Monday on her way home, as I was off that day (got to love those State holidays!), anyway after chucking up the masonry bit I bought, it took about 5 minutes to drill 4 holes. It was like changing from a hand saw to a chain saw! Got my anchor bolts in and it's ready for some hot steel!

I did pick up a needle valve and a new gas line at BLADE, although the gas line didn't have the connection for the gas tank on it, hopefully that won't be a problem to find, once I get that I should be ready to fire it up. I'm still recovering from the show, I'm planning on working on benches tonight when I get home, still have several thing to do to get the shop finished, just aint got the gusto I used to have.

John, you won't recognize the shop when you see it, I switched sides from the dark side I was on, added too many lights and too many plug outlets, which I will say is the recommended amount of both, with the walls painted white, and most of the tables painted white, it is bright as day in there. I had enough forthought to put in light switches so I could turn the lights out on the forging side, for when I needed it a little darker. Once I get it all done it will be extremely nice for a poor country boy! And don't fret the tools, the longer you stick with it, the more you will accumulate, besides, you can use anything of mine you need to, and remember, tools don't make the maker! They are a necessity in some cases, depending on what you want to make, the best tool of all is the makers MIND,.....which is why I have some many tools!

I've been wanting us to get together and work on a collaboration, build some knives together, I'm sure there is a lot I can learn from you. Heck, you might even pick up something from me....IT COULD HAPPEN!!!! I kid around too much, but I am being serious about working together, our styles are quite different, the combination of the two could produce something very unique, I think. Think about it, we can get togther, hammer out a plan, then work on individual parts seperatley, then get back together when we needed to, for fitting and such. I know your real short on time, that's why I figured we could do it that way instead of spending an entire day in my shop or yours. Tell me what you think, Rex
 
I'd like to do some of that Rex. I got my shop fixed a couple days after that tree fell on it; still waiting on a guy to come cut the rest of it down. I just about have all of my tools and stuff moved in there, and I've been kicking around a little. I am going to make a knife for MDA. You know how the firefighters hold the boot for money..I am going to make another slipjoint that will be raffled off and the proceeds will go to MDA. I'm going to start a WIP in a few days on it, so keep an eye out for it.
 
John,
Will do, little Brother, I should be back making knives this weekend, depending on how well tonight and tomorrow night go, I "think" I have everything to finish my new forge now, I will have to steal a couple of things off my old forge that I forgot about getting while in Atlanta, not a big deal, until I get ready to either start the knife making club, or a hammer in. Then I want to have as many hands on stations as possible. While moving my grinder over to the new spot I noticed the paint on it looking a little rough, so I cleaned it up and repainted it, I should have it back together tonight, I have to make places for my drill press, mini mill, and a few odds and ends kinda stuff, and then I'll be set to start hammering!

The MDA knife sounds like a great idea, that is one of the things I want our club to do as well, not necessarily for MDA, but any worthy organization that's primary goal is to help people. I want to do our best to keep the funds local on some things, national on others, mainly for the exposure locally first, so people around here can see that making knives is more than a sweaty fat dude, bangin' on hot steel! And to try to change PEOPLES perception, that knives aren't weapons first or only, that they are tools. Got a couple ideas for that too. I've got a lot of great ideas, just not enough time to devote to them, my knives will come first for while, then once I get back into the groove and get some made, and hopefully a couple sold, then I'll be able to get busy on some of this stuff, not to mention we should be breaking ground on our house in around 2 weeks, so I'll be pretty busy for a while, but not to busy for you to come over and make a knife or 10! So anytime you want to come over give me a call and make sure I'll be home and come on!!! You can bring Kim and the baby too, I'm sure Tina would love to see the baby, the boys just want you to bring the Vette back!!!!
Looking forward to hearing from you, Rex
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top