I'm putting together my helve hammer. Got it figured out, I think, other than the tool holder. I'm thinking about a hub drilled and keyed to receive the tooling. I bought one to make the wheel for my bead roller and looks like it would work. (2&1/2" dia. 2" long,1" hole, keyed with two set screws.) Then attach tooling to the 1" shaft material. My other thought was acme thread. So what do you guys think? Better ideas? I want to keep it cheap and simple, just like me!
This describes a helve hammer, for those like me who didn't know the name. http://www.fergusonsculpture.com/helve/helvearticle.html
A handy place to go to find all kinds of splined shafting is tractor supply or any ag supply store things that can be made into adapters.
If you are going to have the tool holder "bottom out" against the face of the hub, you could probably get by with just keyed shaft. (For the round dies) You might even try grinding a couple of flats on the tool shaft for the set screws and no key. As long as the force isn't pushing against the shaft inside the hub it should be fine.
Yes the bottom will bottom out. I don't think I'll need a lot of height adjustment. I'm not sure what to do on the hammer end. Would 1" or so acme threaded rod hold up for the hammer end? I've never even seen a helve hammer other than on the computer, now I own one Here's a picture of it ***embled. It will be air powered through this crank shaft to the spring. Haven't finished the drive yet. Cant wait to beat up some metal.
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