Guild of Metalsmiths
Metalsmith - V 16.4 :

WELDED POWER HAMMER DIES
by Monty Bygd

I thought most smiths knew about welded dies until I discovered otherwise at the open shop I held this past summer and also from talking with other smiths at the ABANA conference in San Luis Obispo. So I agreed to write something about them. These dies are not my idea. Bob Walsh told me about them, and he got the idea from Fred Caylor. In talking to Fred about them., he said that a machinist friend suggested the idea to him. Fred has shared his ideas with many smiths but thought that it was time-, to repeat it again.

Since I am not sure how Fred goes about putting them together, I win tell you how I do them. I have made dies for my 25# and 50# Little Giant hammers with great success. I do not have any trouble keeping them tight. One thing I would suggest is that you don't use less than 3/16 flat bar for the sides of the dies. You will also have to decide what combination of solid bar stock and flat bar you need to use for your hammer.

Because of the size and shape and different degrees of the dove tails in the anvil and head of the hammers, I like to fit the dies to the head and anvil of the hammer on which they will be used. Also, once you have the right combination of material you need to fit the dovetail part of the die, you can make them up ahead. That way if you need a special die, you can make one up in an hour or so.

  1. For the bottom die of a 25# Little Giant, I ,;= out with one 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" solid square, two 3/16" x 1 1/4" flat bars, and two 3/16" round, all the same length. You sometimes have to grind the top comers on one side of the flat bars to make them fit.
  2. Put all the pieces into the anvil to make sure that you have the right combination.
  3. Take the pieces out and tack weld the flat bars to the solid square. (I tack the top comers of the flat bar with 7018 rod as this will give you a chance to bend them in and out a little without breaking it.)
  4. Put the 3/16" round into the bottom of the die.
  5. Set it into the anvil and put the key in, keeping it as loose as you can, remembering that the die will sink a little after it is welded.
  6. Pry the 3/16" round up, to push the flat bar out so that everything fits tight. Tack weld it where needed to keep it together, Also, put the top of the die in place and tack weld it on. (I weld it together with 3/32" 7018 rod. This gives me a chance to run two passes on all welds, making them stronger. ) Let it cool down slowly.
  7. The top die is basically the same, except you only need one flat bar and one round because the top die on a Little Giant has one straight side that the double tapered key goes against. (I use one 1 1/8" x 1 1/8" square, one 3/16" x I" flat bar, and one 3/16" round.
    For the top part of the dies, I use a piece,, of 1 1/4" x 2 1/2" 4140 bar because this is what I happen to have around.
  8. After the dies are ground and fitted, they need to be hardened. (I then temper them twice using the oven in my kitchen stove. The first temper is at about 300 degrees. I then check the hardness with a file. (At this point they will still be too hard.) The next time I temper them at 350 or 375 degrees.
If you have a Little Giant hammer, you probably know that the top die key is tapered two ways (length and width). I use a tapered tool to make my keys. The 25# Little Giant key has about 1/8" taper to its width. I made my tool from a one inch grader blade. I cut a 3" square out of it and tapered it 3/8" in 3 inches, round on one side and leaving the other side flat. By using,, the flat dies on my other power hammer or my treadle hammer, I draw the key out with the Founded side of the tool. I then turn the tool over, using it as a flatter. I make the key extra long so that I can cut the part out that fits the best. Guild of Metalsmlths March 1993
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