Important.... If you want to contact me, please send an email to david.hammer2@gmail.com
Hi.... I'm Dave Hammer, a hobby blacksmith.
Welcome to Hammer Fire Forge. A place to sit back, relax, learn and enjoy the adventures of our blacksmith community.
This website was primarily created to provide a place to hold information about the Cricket (my first air hammer design), a small utility air hammer I designed in the spring of 2017. It has since grown to include a little information about newer designs.
The website also includes links to numerous YouTube videos I've made before and after the development of the Cricket.
All information provided on this website is copyright protected.
The following paragraphs describe the links that are found at the top of this display....
When you hover the cursor over one of the links on the Home page (Top Menu Line), it will display (in a pull-down menu) the sub-pages for that topic. You should first click on the main menu link to see information associated with the primary link.
Home.... This is the home page for the website. When you are on other pages, you can return to the home page by clicking on this link.
About.... This provides a short bio about me.
Power Hammers... The menu pulled down when you hover over this link will provide links to power hammers I have designed and built.
Cricket... This link will take you to documentation for the first air hammer I designed. It's called The Cricket. It has an unconventional design with the core of it being similar to a hammer that was first sold commercially during the 1990s (the air cylinder driving the ram is mounted below the ram). I added physical and functional features that make it unique among homebuilt hammers made today. Most of the information on this website is dedicated to that hammer (it's the reason the website was created). I decided to freely share the design with others and wrote extensive documentation (on this website) for it. I also produced 13 videos which show how it was built and is operated. All those videos are on YouTube and accessible through this website as you read through the Cricket information. To learn about the Cricket, click on "Cricket" for introduction information, or hover your mouse over the link "Cricket" above and then click on entries in the index as you wish.... If you read all the way through, you will understand it throughly. Links to the demonstration and build videos are imbedded in the text.
Thumper.... This link will take you to the documentation for the second air hammer I've designed. It is a fully original design, called the Thumper. It's a more conventional design, with the cylinder being mounted above the ram. The air circuit is mostly identical to the the Cricket. Almost all of the information I've posted about the Thumper has gone onto its Facebook group page "Thumper Air Hammer", which I launched in early November, 2018. Although more is coming, I have posted enough information about it (no build videos for that one, at least not yet) for hobby blacksmiths to build it. Future posts will contain some more detail build information (measurements and such). The Thumper page contains information about the air circuit. Hover your mouse over "Thumper" above, then click on the link that comes up below it. All the other information that I have posted on Facebook (and more) will be migrated in a more organized fashion to this website
Mini-Cricket... This the smallest Cricket I have made... Just a fun project.
Jimminy... This is a Cricket half the size of the original. I built it so I could more easily take a power hammer to a meeting or conference. The hammer weighs only 160 pounds and I can easily put it in the back seat of my pickup.
Bulldog... This is my latest design... There is a description of the Bulldog 30 (33# ram) here with a list of capabilities. A build document for it is available on Etsy in my store, Hammers Hammer Design, for $35. There will be more information later on this website about future Bulldog build documents for other ram weights.
Forges.... These pages have discussions about all the types of forges I have built and links to associated YouTube videos...
Videos.... I have produced over 40 videos for YouTube.... Some are in support of the air hammers, but the majority are instructional videos, teaching blacksmiths how to make small projects. Click on Videos to see a list.... Then click on the video you wish to watch. When it's finished running, close the video window by clicking on the rightmost "X" on the line at the top of the display.
The air hammer build videos are not included in this list... Links to them are found on the Cricket and future Thumper pages.
Forum.... The Forum page has been removed from the Home banner.....When I first built this website, I was hoping that a lot of the discussion about the hammers would be concentrated on the forums I set up here. As it turned out, most of the discussion is on the Facebook group pages... The forums remain here for future use, as the community desires.
Gallery.... The description below was written a while back. There has been a software upgrade during which most of my gallery photos were lost. Currently, there are just a few photos of my work in the gallery. I hope to restore it sometime in the future....
The Gallery contains pictures of my past work. It has 7 pages of pictures. Each of the pages has unique pictures. Click on one of the numbers (1-7) and 20 (or less) thumbnails will be displayed. If you want to see full photos of all the pictures on that page, click on the first thumbnail. There is a navigation symbol ">" that will bring up the next picture when you click on it. After you have viewed all the pictures in that set, click on the "X" in the upper right corner. You will see representation of the 7 pages again... Click on "Next".... or the page you want to see next.... Thumbnail pictures will appear again for the new set....
These pictures illustrate some of the work I have done since 2003.
Shop Tour.... The shop tour is currently not available.
Are you wondering what type of equipment I have in my shop? Clicking on a picture will provide a closer look.
Contact.... I disabled this because I was not seeing messages quickly.
If you would like to send me a message, please use my normal email... david.hammer2@gmail.com