Morris L Hallowell IV - Architectural Ironwork

Photos of the Studio

Overview, from office.   Dimensions 30' x 60' with 18' ceiling.  Five-Ton bridge crane, engineered integrally with building reaches any position. 15-foot high roll-up door allows movement of large projects. Concrete walls to shoulder height to resist fire hazard. 8"concrete slab floor with rebar on 1-foot centers, plus wire mesh, to support machinery.

Steel storage. Upright racks allow ease of sorting through stock to find the right piece. Cut to length with either a horizontal bandsaw or an electro-hydraulic "Ironworker".

Propane furnaces: Forgemaster 20000 and Swan "Mother".  Propane is fed under the floor so forges can be centrally located. Anvils, post vises, swage blocks and power hammers can be arranged radially around the furnaces to maximize the number of different workstations in close proximity to the heat source.

Hand forging area: Anvil, post vise, swage blocks, cone mandrel and slack tub. Swage block stands are designed to allow the various concave working surfaces on any of the six sides to be brought to bear.

MLH at the Striker, self-contained, two-piece, 330-pound-falling-weight, power forging hammer. The anvil alone weighs 4200 pounds. It is powered by 25-hp, 3-phase electric motor driving a reduction gear, a crankshaft and a primary air piston---normally at a constant speed. The blacksmith modulates a treadle-operated valve to shunt air pressure to a secondary air piston which drives the upper hammer die in controlled oscillation. Additionally, speed is infinitely variable from zero to 180 blows-per-minute with a 50-hp Yaskawa electronic Variable Frequency Drive (which has the side-benefit of providing 3-phase current to our rural location for other equipment). The hammer is mounted with 48-inch-long J-bolts cast into a solid, poured, reinforced concrete foundation base, measuring six feet by ten feet by seven feet deep, level with but isolated from the eight-inch-thick concrete slab floor.

  MLH beveling the edge of a backplate.

100-Pound "Big Blu" air hammer.                        Morris & Ann Hallowell with Striker 330-lb power hammer; photo by Steve Fontanini.

Greenerd 60-Ton, C-Frame, Electro-Hydraulic Press; ex-US Navy.                                               25-Ton, column-mounted, electro-hydraulic press built by Art Anderson

Welding, plasma-cutting and grinding workbench with 1000-watts of overhead light for visibility through welding masks.

50-Ton Piranha electro-hydraulic Ironworker bends, shears, notches and punches. It shears a 1-inch by 4-inch section of steel, cold.

Steel layout tables, this one 5 foot x 8 foot with 1 1/2 inch thick top. Electric service feeds to tables under floor. Mesh shelving underneath so detritus can fall through to floor for cleanup.

Toolmaking area: vintage Bridgeport milling machine and new Nardini 14-40 lathe.

Tumbler, for removing scale from and polishing small parts. Made from an old Propane tank Vacuum removes particulate.

Sanding, grinding, buffing, finishing & polishing area.

And, the center, a Uri Hofi - pattern, 275-pound anvil of S7 tool steel and 2 pound, 9oz hammer both made by Tom Clark

View from the studio.

Morris L. Hallowell IV - Architectural Ironwork

Hardware        Furniture         Gates               Candlesticks

Handrails         Door Knockers          Fireplace Tools      Lighting

PO Box 1445, Livingston, MT 59047

Tel: 406 222-4770         Email: morris@hallowellco.com

Please see also our other site: Hallowell & Co. Fine Sporting Guns