You are right, it would be very foolhardy to operate the hammer without a barrier between you and the spring. I took the picture with the shield off to show the rework that was needed to get the hammer running again. Essentially, I had to replace the pitman link and the toggle arms and links. The pitman pin on the flywheel needed to be modified (broke my heart). I refurbished the ram by boring out the pin holes in the lugs and welding in bushings. One of the lugs was in such bad condition that I cut it off and welded on a new one. The motor and motor mount was replaced and a start switch was added. Then once the hammer was running I realized that the hammer dies were so badly worn that it was impossible to time the hammer, so I machined new dies from 4140 and "heat treated" them. Beyond that, I added a strap brake around the fly wheel for fine control and I added an extension to the treadle so that I don't have to balance on one foot while trying to control the hammer & a hot piece of steel
The new hammer dies were a interesting project and I want to make some more of them. Should you be in need of those I am happy to share any info I have.
Thanks for the offer, the gent that gave me the hammer I have, had a couple new draw dies, a spare spring, and a couple other spare parts already with it. I rounded up a 2HP motor to use, and have others if that proves too small.
I like that two piece die design! A good way to deal with a die socket that has been wallowed out!
If you (or anyone else) didn't know, a Jardine Hammer was built in Winnipeg under license from Little Giant. Same, but the name.
I was at a CanIron some (lots) years ago, at North Battleford SK, and there was a lot of talk at that time of a professional smith who had some pretty serious injuries from taking a piece of 3 inch stock in the face, with a mistimed shot with a bigger power hammer. Lots of reconstruction of his upper and lower jaws, loss of teeth and the like. It's a thing.
I remember seeing a safety poster, a picture of a Beaver, squashed under a fallen tree, that said "Just because you have been doing it your whole life, does not mean you cannot still be hurt!"