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Trip hammer: wiper cam pressing the tail of a first-order helve

How does a trip hammer work? · Hardware · basis: Xem Studio design following Brown No. 353 (1868)

Also called: trip hammer, tilt hammer, helve hammer, cam hammer, martinete de cola, Schwanzhammer

Exact dimensions. True size, with no printing tolerance added.

sizes
4 in table

Notes

  • A shaft carrying wiper cams turns above the tail of the hammer helve: each lobe presses the tail down, the head at the other end of the lever rises, and when the lobe slips off the tail the head falls on the anvil. Two lobes give two blows per turn.
  • First-order lever (fulcrum between cam and head): tail 80 mm, head 120 mm, so the head rises 1.5 × the cam's lift. Drawn with the helve at rest on the anvil and a lobe tip just touching the tail (contact only), ready to press.
  • Brown's No. 353 (tilt hammer with the helve as a first-order lever, modified from No. 72, where it is a third-order lever).
  • Parts (each has its own page): wiper-cam-2-lobe-r12-r24-b8, trip-hammer-helve-200x12, hammer-head-24x24x40, anvil-block-30x30x20, pivot-post-16x20x30-fork, linear-shafts-h6, dowel-pins-metric.
  • Brown's movement No. 353 (1868) shows it; this model is a Xem Studio design following his figure, every part at true size.

Trip hammer: wiper cam pressing the tail of a first-order helve size chart

parametervalue
helve200 mm, pivot at 80 from the tail
cam2 lobes, lift 12 mm
head lift18 mm per blow
blows per turn2

Where the files are

Other publishers' files are linked, not hosted. "verify" = check the license at the link before commercial use.

Henry T. Brown (1868, public domain)Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements — scan on archive.orgwebPublisher's page; dimensions are facts
507movements.comBrown's movement No. 353: figure, his text and an animationwebPublisher's page; dimensions are facts

Free files

★ Free files 1 parts. Xem Studio design: free to use, print and sell things from; not to be republished as files. Xem Studio Design License. index.json

trip-hammer-mechanism-assemblyAssembled mechanism, all parts placed at one pose (STEP keeps each part separate)STEP · STL
Let your AI pull this. Add https://xemstudio.com/mcp to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client (free, no account, one minute) and it can look up exact sizes, mating fits and free STEP/STL from every chat.
Set it up →

Plain text: sheet.txt · JSON: /api/geometry?object=trip-hammer-mechanism

Trip hammer: wiper cam pressing the tail of a first-order helve, isometric render of a generated part
Render of trip-hammer-mechanism-assembly from the free STEP; not to scale.

Fits with

Two-lobed wiper cam, base R12, tip R24, 10 thick, Ø8 bore, isometric render of a generated part
Two-lobed wiper cam, base R12, tip R24, 10 thick, Ø8 bore48.0×24.0×10.0 mm★ 1 file
Trip-hammer helve 200 × 12 × 8, Ø5 pivot 80 mm from the tail, isometric render of a generated part
Trip-hammer helve 200 × 12 × 8, Ø5 pivot 80 mm from the tail200.0×12.0×8.0 mm★ 1 file
Hammer head 24 × 24 × 40 with a 12 × 8 helve socket, isometric render of a generated part
Hammer head 24 × 24 × 40 with a 12 × 8 helve socket24.0×24.0×40.0 mm★ 1 file
Anvil block 30 × 30 × 20, isometric render of a generated part
Anvil block 30 × 30 × 2030.0×30.0×20.0 mm★ 1 file
Pivot post 16 × 20 × 30 with a 12.1 mm fork and Ø5 pin hole, isometric render of a generated part
Pivot post 16 × 20 × 30 with a 12.1 mm fork and Ø5 pin hole16.0×20.0×30.0 mm★ 1 file
Linear shafts Ø3 to Ø25 mm (h6), 100 to 1000 mm long, isometric render of a generated part
Linear shafts Ø3 to Ø25 mm (h6), 100 to 1000 mm long10 sizes★ 70 files
Dowel pins, 2–6 mm (ISO 2338 / DIN 6325), isometric render of a generated part
Dowel pins, 2–6 mm (ISO 2338 / DIN 6325)5 sizes★ 23 files

Questions

How does a trip hammer work?

A shaft carrying wiper cams turns above the tail of the hammer helve: each lobe presses the tail down, the head at the other end of the lever rises, and when the lobe slips off the tail the head falls on the anvil. Two lobes give two blows per turn.