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  #1  
Old 01-02-2017, 08:59 AM
efranzen efranzen is offline
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Default Stump Formed Cone

I was playing around trying to make a top for a rocket pack. This is what I started with and then ended up with.

I used a ball peen, a couple body hammers and a wood stump. It took about 2 hours to make and about 2 months for the tennis elbow to heal.

Now I can see the benefits of power hammers.

IMG_1710.jpg


Ernie
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  #2  
Old 01-02-2017, 11:01 AM
Marc Bourget Marc Bourget is offline
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I wonder if a lot of "tennis elbow" could be avoided by letting the mass of the hammer do the work.

If you continue to input energy after the hammer strikes the material, "forcing it" the shock travels back through the arm to the tendons, ligaments and muscle insertions.

The loads are quite high, much higher than needed to accelerate the hammer in the first place.
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Old 01-02-2017, 09:12 PM
cliffrod cliffrod is offline
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I agree as well. A bigger hammer actually has the mass to produce a result effectively where a small hammer cannot. When it strikes, it will sink more than it will bounce.

Attending my first shaping event last year, I saw numerous people using hammers that were bouncing and slapping whatever they were hitting. Honestly, all I had to do was listen to how they sounded. To me as a professional who earns his living with hammers, that means their hammers were too small. In my studio, I can hit a big stone with an inadequate hammer. It will bounce and bounce and bounce. Using a large enough hammer, it may bounce initially but soon it will sink as it drives the energy into the stone. It feels very similar to how metal gives under a large hammer but resists under a small hammer.

Even if you do not have a "formal" fairly deep reach +/-3lb blocking hammer, any hammer with equitable mass would perform much differently than a small <1lb bodywork hammer. Baseball bat-type and poly mallets may have great reach and look "big" but they still don't offer much mass to move metal. Without the mass, you have limited mechanical advantage and must punish your body trying to achieve a comparable result.

I've also come to generally dislike fiberglass handles on hard-striking hammers, especially as hammer weight grows. The difference in how harshly energy is transferred into my hands and forearms- tennis elbow-type strain and broken blood vessels in my fingers- is noticeable over much more comfortable and apparently flexible wooden handles. Maybe just me.
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  #4  
Old 01-03-2017, 04:06 AM
leoitch leoitch is offline
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dear efranzen,
interesting work.

could you please let me know how you got your hammer to hit near the tip of the welded hole: i.e. say 3 or 4 inches near the narrowest part....i cannot see how you can hit that area to dome the metal into the stump.

thanks.
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Last edited by leoitch; 01-03-2017 at 04:08 AM. Reason: spelling
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Old 01-03-2017, 11:09 PM
efranzen efranzen is offline
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Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I did notice the lack of metal movement that smaller hammers made and found myself using more effort when using them. I did switch to a bigger ball peen that seemed to help.

As for reaching in, I used the ball peen and also a steel bar mounted in a vise, soft of like a dolly. I also cut off an inch off the end to help the metal fold in. Which it turns out was too much, so now I have to weld in a patch to close it up.

Ernie
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Old 01-04-2017, 03:31 AM
leoitch leoitch is offline
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"As for reaching in, I used the ball peen and also a steel bar mounted in a vise, soft of like a dolly. I also cut off an inch off the end to help the metal fold in. Which it turns out was too much, so now I have to weld in a patch to close it up."

thanks, Ernie. i think i understand...it's a mix of doming into the stump for the outer edges and raising against a steel dolly for the narrow sections.
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Old 01-05-2017, 11:58 PM
sparklemotion sparklemotion is offline
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I can't wait to see the finished piece!

I am wondering though why you started with the cone shape. My instinct would have been to raise from a flat circle. You can see an example of what I mean in David Huang's work here.
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