This hammer was the brainchild of Ray Clontz of Charlotte, NC, and was based on the original concept of the Little Giant and its counterparts. The heart and soul of this hammer is the "A" frame linkage. There was no plan or blueprint for this hammer. I simply looked at how others of this ilk worked and built the thing. I figure that if someone with so little mechanical aptitude as I've got could do this, just about anyone could.

The upright is made from 6" square pipe, and is filled with sand. The anvil is 5" round bar, weighing in at just over two hundred pounds. I did not know it at the time, but the anvil is woefully undersized. (If I make another one, it will have an anvil of 8-10" diameter, and weigh from 500-800 lbs.) I bought the pipe and the barstock for the anvil, the switch and power cord, assorted 5/8" bolts, nuts and washers, and the 3/4" steel plate the thing sits on. Everything else I scrounged or had in my shop. The 3/4 horse motor came off an old single cylinder compressor. The drive wheel on the front of the motor is a section of 3" pipe. The spare tire I found on the side of the road. Oh, I did have to buy the stock for the dies, as well, and had to replace a broken spring. All told, I have just at $175.00 in this hammer.

I was told that the only measurement that was anywhere near critical was the distance from the center of the flywheel (that's the spare tire in the pictures) to the armature at the top of the linkage. It should be about two inches in order to give the proper "throw".

The motor (and its drive wheel) is mounted on a counterbalanced plate. A long spring keeps it pulled down away from the flywheel until you step on the foot pedal. This pulls the back of the motor down, rocks the thing up so the drive wheel contacts the flywheel. I've fooled with this thing until I've got the beats per minute down to a maximum of 120 per minute.

I hope that I've shown enough pictures from enough angles for you to get the idea and build one for yourself. The headweight of this hammer is about 50 lbs. I don't claim that it works as well as an air hammer that has a headweight of 150 lbs, and costs $4000. But it is what it is... and it works! And it cost me less than $200.

Questions? Call me and I'll tell you what I can.