A complete informational book by Doug Freund on power forging hammers. Full of awesome graphics and details. Freund describes the development and manufacture of crank-actuated open-die power forging hammers. To take some of the hard work out of smithing, steam hammers were first used back in the early 1800's. Then trip hammers came into use, but were gradually replaced by crank-actuated hammers. These hammers were used for repetitive tasks such as drawing out tines of a pitch fork, preparing file blanks or forging cutlery. There are chapters on atmospheric hammers, crank-actuated helve hammers, vertically configured guided ram hammers, non vertically configured guided ram hammers, and more. The reader is given a well illustrated detailed history of these early production machines that are now used by artists in metal.
Item #: BK175
