The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-04-24
Correspondence The St. Paul Globe.

HARTFORD, Conn, April IA
giant hammer that strikes 5000 pound
blow, falling from a height of six feet
four inches to do it, has just been con-
structed in Hartford. 1t is the largest
drop hammer in the world, but is con-
structed with mechanism Of such de-
licacy and so ingeniously devised, that
1t can be made to crack nut with it's
ponderous blow and leave the kernel
intact.
One man can control the mechanism,
delivering by simple movement Of
the hand and arm that necessitates
very little eXertion. blow that $50 men
could not equal with separate ham,
mers welded in the ordinary black
smith fashion. Neither could the black
smith gauge the force of his blow with
the unerring accuracy with which this
monster can be made to work. The
man who could WELD a heavy hammer
SO delicately as to hit gentle blow
as we'll as a heavy one, would be a very
dexterous artist. This the great 5000
pound drop hammer can accomplish at
the Will of the operator, pounding into
shape huge mass of metal that would
be impossible of manipulation with a
small hammer, or gently and lightly
beating it When the work in hand re-
Qdii 60 OOilCdtt IdIulliS.
On account of it's great size. there
being no drop hammer in use anywhere
that equals it, and by reason of it's
beautifully regulated mechanism, the
| construction of the new drop hammer
marks an innovation in the metal in
dustries.
The dimensions of the giant hammer
are as follows:
Weight of hammer 8 600 mounds
weight CT DaSe 60 900 DOundS
Total weight of base. 80 900 pounds
Size . Of base at bottom. ;45xs0 inches
between ways uprights. .......1S inches
Height from floor to top of
Total Sseh required above aoor 70 inches
operate machine ACKNOWLEDGEMENT % feet
Diameter of pulleys ...............4S inches
race OIL puiieys ....;...-...........10 inches
Distance between pulleys ..........4S inches
revolutions per minute ........... Eighty
Extreme fall ...... ..........6 feet inches
Shortest automatic fall IA inches
Bottom of casting to top of
pulley ........ 81 feet inches
In considering the enormous power in
a drop hammer of this size and weight
1t is necessary, in connection with the
head, to study the weight of the base.
1t Will be noticed that the total weight
of the base of the hammer is $4,000
pounds, so that the metal to be struck
by the hammer is caught and smashed
ny hammer mead weighing 5000
pounds dropping from a height of six
feet four inches on to an anvil that
weighs 10000 pounds
To provide a foundation for this
enormous weight of metal that would
be sufficiently strong 20 prevent the
blow of the great hammer from causing
the giant to sag, called for careful me-
chanical work. At the works where
the big hammer has been set up. the
ground was eXcavated on the site chos-
en- for the hammer until the solid rock
had been reached. Upon this was
built concrete bed three feet deep,
one foot having been composed of sand.
one of cement and one of broken stone.
On this concrete foundation bed were
placed layers of metal, bolted solidly to-
gether, to a depth of fifteen inches To
allow room for the pounding the base
of the hammer would receive and pro-
vide yielding foundation that would
give evenly without sagging sideways,
sheet of lead one-quarter of an inch
thick was placed between the concrete
and the metal Of the foundation
Experiments made with the new drop
hammer proved it to be under perfect
control and to be capable of doing
more and better work than two of the
hammers of ordinary SIZE