Peining Hammer

Smitty

Smitty

Well-known member
Anyone know the actual width of a KR Wilson peining hammer for the Model A?
I have a really nice hammer but seems too wide (3.250 inches) for the WIlson Peining Clamp (3.0 inches).

Steve
 
I will measure mine tomorrow if I can remember but IMO that thing is difficult at best to use. I fabricated a round blunt end out of bar stock on the lathe and then welded it to an old air hammer chisel to use with a cheapie air hammer. This works much better and is more controllable for me.
 
That's what I was kind of wondering I did try with an air hammer and blunt end of hammer tool but found that it drove too deep into babbitt and did not clean up during line bore
 
Smitty said:
That's what I was kind of wondering I did try with an air hammer and blunt end of hammer tool but found that it drove too deep into babbitt and did not clean up during line bore
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Too much air pressure and/or too small of end on your tool. The material was compacted too much if it did not clean-up.
 
I was using almost no pressure with a rounded over end on the tool. I could see that it went too deep. I have a hammer fashioned out of round stock with no groves, made by a previous owner, been using that.
Have you had any experience with the Hempy Cooper pouring fixture? Thinking that pouring each then peining immediately might work nicely?
Steve
 
I would figure that it would need at least a rounded end of near .25" diameter or .125" radius for a .401 peening driver sort of like driving a ball bearing into it. It may even need to be more blunt than that. The air pressure depends on the size of the air hammer. A 5X hammer is going to hit a lot harder than a 3X will due to a longer stroke.

Ford used the large radius type similar to KR Wilson but it likely had a .401 or similar chuck for an air hammer or purpose built electric reciprocating device, They always look like a 1.25" or 1.5" inch threaded bolt welded to a hammering rod. Peening should be done pretty quickly after the pour but I don't know what the window of opportunity is. I also don't know what the difference in babbitt thickness would be between different flask devices.

The learning curve is steep without an experienced adviser.
 
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Mine is 3 inches
They made several different hammers for different years with different dimensions.
 

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Smitty said:
Have you had any experience with the Hempy Cooper pouring fixture? Thinking that pouring each then peining immediately might work nicely?
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Steve, I cannot comment on the Hempy Cooper fixture but we pour individually with three different fixtures which allows us to pein exactly for the reason you are mentioning. Additionally, should we have one journal that does not pour satisfactorily, we do not need to re-index the entire mandrel.


One other point, most KR Wilson mandrels do not allow the casting to be thick enough for crankshafts that have been ground undersized in larger dimensions. You might space your pouring fixture up off the pan rails by 0.015" or so to compensate for not having enough cast material to clean up with.
 
Brent, I have 2 pouring bars, one is turned .040 under-size in the journal areas. Seems to work. I can see that individual molds for each of the bearing surfaces could be an advantage.
Steve
 
Your hammer does not look like any of the ones in the KRW catalog.
Did other company's make hammers for other brands of cars?
 

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You can see that the radii of the different tools changes with the size of the bearing. As long as they are not the same size or larger than the poured babbitt, I can't see how it would really matter all that much. The operator needs to be able to tilt it back enough to get a good peen throughout the trough shape of the bearing bore.

A person needs to get the job done quickly so I can see why some don't recommend manual hammering of the tool. When Ford employees did it, it wouldn't have taken very long and the technique would likely have been start at the bottom and then start tilting it to a fro to get an even peen from bottom to top on both sides of the bearing. The tool likely wouldn't work all that well on the thrust faces of the rear main so something else would be needed to do that.

Your going to have to develop your technique as you go. That's not necessarily the easy way to go but I do hope it works out OK.
 
Seems as though all Wilson peining hammers are 3.250 inches long.. That extends beyond the with of peining clamp. confusing as I believe the clamp holds thrust surfaces in place..
 
Smitty said:
Seems as though all Wilson peining hammers are 3.250 inches long.. That extends beyond the with of peining clamp. confusing as I believe the clamp holds thrust surfaces in place..
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My hammer is 3 inches long and fits good in the clamp.
I have used it to peen Babbitt with the clamp.
See post #8 above


I am guessing that your hammer is not made by KRW and is for a Chevrolet Dodge or some other make of car, just guessing.


You might be able to put it in a lathe and cut it down to make it work.
 
1930 coupe said:
My hammer is 3 inches long and fits good in the clamp.
I have used it to peen Babbitt with the clamp.
See post #8 above


I am guessing that your hammer is not made by KRW and is for a Chevrolet Dodge or some other make of car, just guessing.


You might be able to put it in a lathe and cut it down to make it work.
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Other makes of cars, used inserts, and did not need peening, as most, not all, were Tinned.

The peening hammer was Wilsons, alone.

The hammers shown, are all different, because the engines are different, they will not enter change. The lengths, and diameters are all different.

The style of the way hammers looked, changed over the years.

Herm.
 
Herm,
My pouring bar has been machined .040 to accommodate for thicker Babbitt when using ground crankshafts. Figuring that would prevent standard size hammer from fitting into saddle. I did try using my air hammer and a blunt bit but seemed to drive the bit too deep into the Babbitt as it did not clean up the marks when I machined the bores. Used almost no air pressure to the hammer.
 
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