[Gojeep]

Originally Posted by cliffrod

Man, Marcus- that's really fantastic. I really appreciate your investment in sharing to guide the rest of us, even though the likelihood of actually doing a project that involved from start to finish is questionable....

As far as your hand nailer experiment, I wondered about doing the same when I saw one for sale at the store recently. Some here like the comparable pneumatic Palm hammers with the larger striking face. Both are somewhat similar to my normal pneumatic hammers I use in stone work.

When we dress the butts of those machine chisels for stone work, we spin them to square the end and then put a very low crown on the end. Either a square/flat end or a more tapered end like you showed seem to mushroom much faster than a crowned end. Some believe it makes tools hit harder in general and makes certain tools spin faster.

I would use more appropriate material for the tool butt and shank as well as the striking face, even if the hammer face is attached by brazing/welding or taper.
Obviously soft material will mushroom faster than properly heat treated material, but try a low crown end instead on future tooling. It may help.

A figure eight- an "8" or rectangular piece of inner tube or similar material with hole in each end- one for tool shank and one for connection to hammer- will keep your tool held in place to free up a hand when you lift. I don't use them but some like them.

using a pair of valves in line, especially different styles, can help fine tune your air flow of your hammer is sensitive enough to benefit.

We figure it takes a minimum of 3 months of full time operation to break in a pneumatic hammer. The feel and performance can change dramatically. No reason to start the whole air motor/rivet gun vs pneumatic whatever hammer debate again. The point is having some blow by soften the hits, which has as many benefits in certain applications as a harsh sharp hit has in other situations.

Not much to offer in comparison to this whole thread, but just a little something to say thank for all you've done.

I will keep those hints on the hammer in mind for when I use it next time. Thinking using head bolts, grade 8, for the shaft will help over the stainless as well.
Thanks for the input.