Replacing Clutch Facings on the Old Style Little Giant 50# Hammer

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Notes by Pete Stanaitis

The clutch material I used is 1/4" thick leather from S.R.Sikes in Mpls.

This thickness left about 3/8" of clutch outside of the clutch cone.

The material comes in 1/64" increments. It worked out fine that way for

me, but you might try 2 or 3 64ths thinner stuff.

Dimensions: 2 1/2" by 10" per facing. You'll need two per hammer.

This leather comes pre-buffed specially for this application. The

smooth side is the clutch facing side. I bought 4 feet of it for $15

including shipping.

The original facings were attached with 10 3/16" diameter copper rivets

about 1/2" long, (then trimmed to length). I couldn't find the right

diameter so I used 3/16" X 1/2" aluminum pop rivets. They worked

wonderfully well. You'll need 5 rivets for each clutch "shoe".

Here's how I did it (after a lengthy tutoring from Ollie!).

The drive shaft must be removed from the hammer. It weighs about 200#.

I rigged an elm 2X4 Gin Pole to the hammer frame and attached a

come-along to that to get the shaft down from its bearings. Be sure to

fasten the clutch pulley to the shaft so it doesn't fall off as you

lower the shaft! After removing the assembly from the hammer slide the

clutch pulley off the shaft.

After removing the old facings and cleaning up, cut the leather to fit.

Note that the shoes are cone shaped so some edge trimming is in order.

Next, locate and punch the five 3/16" holes in each facing. (Remember,

smooth side out!).

Soak the leather in tepid water for at least 3 hours (more is better).

Note that the rivet holes in the cast clutch shoes are countersunk.

This is so the rivet heads can be pulled down below the level of the

leather during installation and be out of contact with the clutch cone

even after considerable wear.

Now that the wet leather is pliable, fit the facings to the clutch.

Poke all 5 pop rivets through the leather and into a shoe to assure

alignment. Now begin pop riveting. Draw each rivet up slowly so the

leather stretches down into the countersink. After each rivet has drawn

down well, make one final pass to "pop" the rivets off. In my case the

steel shanks broke off about 1/4" down into the rivet, so there is no

way that the steel shank could ever scratch the clutch cone.

Now slip the clutch pulley tightly over the clutch shoes to help form

the leather facings to exactly fit the cone of the clutch. Let the

leather dry completely. (2 or 3 days?) Remove clutch pulley. Grind

down ends of leather so if they were to curl up later on they could not

rub on the clutch pulley cone. This situation could cause the hammer to

run-on.

Now liberally rub Neatsfoot oil or Mink Oil into the clutch facings.

The facings must not run dry.

Finally, reassemble and adjust the hammer.

Add more Neatsfoot oil or Mink Oil lubricant if facings appear shiny.