pedalhammer
Pedal Hammer

The person-powered hammer has historically been an ingenious and valuable assist to the blacksmith. Today there are several foot-powered (treadle) hammers on the market which are well designed and a nearly essential component of the well functioning artist blacksmith studio. The conventional treadle hammers are large machines which can deliver powerful blows for heavy work and are used while standing. They essentially serve when a striker is not available.

The pedal hammer is not designed to do the work of these competent treadle machines. It is designed to be used primarily for the more delicate application of force especially in chasing and repousse metal work.

Click here to see a demo video: ttp://persimmonforge.com/pages/pedalhammervd.html

Pieh Tool has a demo model in house so you can try it out.

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Pedal Hammer (for Chasing and Repousse)
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The hammer includes a 1" x 5" x 5" mild steel anvil, a lead anvil and a mount for a seat.

The operator is comfortably seated and one or both feet are used to apply varying amounts of striking force with minimal effort. The flywheel design places most of the mass near the floor, lowering the center of gravity for stability, and it reduces the mass needed in the hammer head for striking power. The fast return of the hammer head speeds work. The accurate strikes per minute is approximately twice that of the treadle hammer in chasing work.

Most work is done on a variety of flat anvils, mild steel, lead, and wood. A tilting mild steel anvil option allows tools to be worked at an angle to undercut and push up an edge raising an image on the surface of thick material such as 3/8" thick mild steel (bookends) or 1/4" bronze (coasters).

  • The pedal hammer is designed not only for precision work with comfort but also for safety. Holding a chasing tool under a normal treadle hammer is not recommended since a mis-strike could kick the tool out from under the hammer head and allow the hammer to injure the tool-holding hand. The pedal hammer is designed with redundant safety stops to prevent the hammer from descending to a point more than one-half inch below where the tool is normally struck which is also higher than the span of the tool-holding hand. No safety design can be one hundred percent perfect and all powerful tools should be used with care. The final responsibility for safe performance relies on the vigilance of the operator.
  • The hammer rides very nicely fully assembled and upright in a pickup bed. The footprint is small enough that the hammer can be placed on its side and ride below the level of the pickup bed sides. It can be disassembled into upper and lower parts for space-conserving positioning. This makes it easy to take it to a blacksmith demo or job site.
     
  • The advantages of the pedal hammer for chasing/repousse work are its redundant safety design, speed of operation, portability in and out of the studio, low cost, and comfortable ergonomics. The usefulness of the tool is not limited to just metal artists but could be used for some types of wood and leather working.

Made in USA.

Weight: 300 lbs 

Item #: PFPH2005