Books & Publications on Pnuematic Hammer Work

Books For Hammer Owners & Users

For this section I will attempt to locate books, training manuals, and sources of training for air hammer operators in ornamental iron shops. Currently there are no formal schools that I know of for air hammer operators. I will add appropriate books and any other sources to this section as I find them. Below are three books describing forging hammer work with two being written almost exclusively for steam hammer work.

Under construction. Latest update September 17, 2019.

Bituminous Bits Volume 5, No. 6, reprint from the Journal of the Alabama Forge Council. This booklet is actually a reprint of Alabama Forge Council's July 1994 newsletter in which Clifton Ralph discusses tooling for large mechanical and air hammers. This booklet is small but it offers some of the very best advice and examples of tooling for use with forging hammers. Some examples include fullers, flatters, punches, cutters, swages, tapers, tong forging, bending, and bottom die tool clamps. Book does not have ISBN number. Find this one at your favorite blacksmith book seller.

Blacksmith's Manual Illustrated by J.W. Lillico. Most of the information and drawings in this book apply to air/steam hammer tooling and work. My top pick for this subject. Illustrated with simple drawings- no photos. This book is available for free download from The Countryside Agency at this address: http://www.countryside.gov.uk/NewEnterprise/Economies/craftpublications.asp . If this link becomes broken then go to the Countryside Agency home page and type in the name of the book in the search window: http://www.countryside.gov.uk/ .

About The Countryside Agency publications. Many people will recognize a very good publisher from the late 20th century named CoSIRA. The Council for Small Industries In Rural Areas was folded into the Rural Development Council (RDC) in the late 1980s and then the RDC was folded into The Countryside Agency in the late 1990s. The books are still brought back into print from time to time, but many are out of print for years between each printing. Get them now because these books could suddenly go out of print for years.

Plain and Ornamental Forging by Ernst Schwarzkopf. Available at Centaur Forge, Pieh Tool Company, and other blacksmith book and tool vendors. Only about 6 or 7 pages devoted to air/steam hammer tooling. This book is a reprint available from a variety of sources. Book does not have ISBN number. Find this one at your favorite book seller.

Choosing an air hammer

A letter from Bill Pieh, lately of Centaur Forge. It is a PDF file so it should print well. This excellent letter includes helpful information for both comparing different air hammers and power hammers as well as choosing a hammer size based on the intended work that the buyer intends to use the hammer. In early 1991 I was able to visit one of the factories in Augsburg Germany that makes the Kuhn air hammers. The small shop that I visited assembled the newer style hammers (K-12/42 and K-24/53). Along with the literature that they gave me, this letter was included from Bill Pieh at Centaur Forge ltd -their north American distributor.

Great reference material no matter what brand of hammer a smith chooses!

This is a large PDF file. 1.8 megabytes.

Page last updated on September 17, 2019.

There are more hammers and manufacturers and distributors to add to this page but I do not have time to find them all.

Page created April 16, 2006.