What is a spring hammer?
A spring hammer is a mechanical forging hammer that transfers the power of an electric motor to the workpiece via a spring. You operate the machine with a foot pedal, so both hands stay free to guide the glowing steel under the hammer.
The spring hammer dates back to the era before compressed air, and in many smithies it has been succeeded by the air hammer. Even so, plenty of spring hammers are still running, especially at ornamental smiths and restoration workshops that keep an existing machine in service.
For exactly those machines, we supply the tooling that goes with them. A spring hammer is only usable with the die that suits your work.
How a spring hammer works
A spring hammer runs on an electric motor that drives an eccentric. That eccentric is a disc that is not centred on the shaft. As a result, the rotating motion is converted into an up-and-down motion.
Via a connecting rod, that motion reaches the spring, and the spring passes the energy on to the hammer arm. That is where it differs from an air hammer, which gets its striking power from an air cylinder.
Beneath the hammer head sits a heavy base block that absorbs the blow. The more massive that block, the less striking energy disappears into the floor. The same principle applies to hand work, where heavy anvils return your blow better than light ones.
What kind of blow does a spring hammer deliver?
The blow of a spring hammer depends on the type of spring: flat springs or curved springs. Each transfers the force to your workpiece in a different way.
With flat leaf springs, the hammer lags slightly behind the connecting rod as it rises. This keeps the head resting on the steel for a moment. That clinging blow works well for drawing out heavier material.
Curved springs give a shorter, looser blow. It is less heavy, but faster and easier to control. That works nicely with thinner material and detail work.
Buying a spring hammer
Buying a spring hammer starts with the tooling that makes the machine work. We supply the dies and saddles for the Meitinger spring hammer, along with advice: we are your guide in the forging trade, even if you are keeping an older machine running.
If you are looking for a new machine with comparable striking power, a pneumatic air hammer is the common alternative. If your work is more about shaping under pressure than about striking, then take a look at a forging press.
Not sure which die fits your spring hammer? Send us the brand, type and year of manufacture, and we will take a look with you before you order.
