Raymond 65C Hammer: Specifications and Information

It’s evident that Vulcan had some difficulty in getting the right combination of economy, operating pressure and configuration with its 65C and 65CA hammers. Did Raymond, which made many of its own designs of Vulcan style hammers, do any better?

Based on its experience with the Vulcan differential hammers, Raymond designed several differential-acting hammers, including its own 80C, the 150C, and this hammer. A general frontal view is shown at the right; a photo of one in Vulcan’s yard is above. Raymond made several interesting changes in the hammer design:

Different sheave had design.
Raymond configured the hammer for 120 psi operating pressure, which was one of Vulcan’s original proposals (the Raymond probably antedates the Vulcan 65C.)
Coil springs (later rubber springs) at the top for the hammer extension, or sled, which Raymond always used with its leaders.
Male jaws to mate the hammer with the extension (Vulcan later used male jaws for its offshore hammers.)
Cables from head to base. Raymond used a tapered bottom fitting; machining the mating tapered holes in the base was tricky and expensive, as Vulcan found out the hard way when it machined a base for the single-acting Raymond 1-S.
Draw bar for the slide bar instead of the hammered keys.
Baffle in the cylinder for the exhaust; the ports for exhaust were probably higher than for any other Raymond or Vulcan hammer.
Steam chest bushing, which Vulcan adapted and improved upon as a removable liner.
Lighter, dished-out pistons for the piston rod. (Why weight reduction was necessary for a striking part component isn’t quite clear…)

Vulcan acquired a great deal of Raymond engineering and inventory when Raymond finally fell apart in the early 1990’s, and was in the process of incorporating many of Raymond’s changes in its own product line when the company was merged in 1996.