In 1903 the Koch Manufacturing Co. of Montezuma, IA, was manufacturing the "Modern Power Hammer", claimed to be the first power hammer that allowed the stroke to be adjusted while the hammer was operating. Montezuma was not suited to a manufacturing business so company owner Arthur Alfred Koch looked for a more suitable community, and nearby Grinnell made a generous offer. Koch took in a couple of Grinnell businessmen as partners, Henry W. Spaulding and J. C. Goodrich, and by 1905 Grinnell Manufacturing Co. was advertising their Modern Power Hammer. Spaulding and Goodrich became involved in automobile manufacturing and in 1908 the Grinnell Manufacturing Co. ceased operations, instead licensing the hammer design to their sales organization, Modern Sales Co. of Grinnell. At first the Modern Sales' version of the Modern Hammer was pretty much unchanged from the original, but by 1912 they had relocated to Hampton, IA and was advertising new and improved Modern Hammers in four styles and three sizes (35, 50 and 75 lb). The Modern Sales Co. continued making the power hammer lineup until at least 1919.

Information Sources

• March 1903 The Hub.

  Modern Power Hammer.
  The "Modern Power Hammer," manufactured by Koch Manufacturing Co., Montezuma, Iowa, has an adjustable stroke changed instantly while the machine is running. Stroke is adjustable from 2 to 10 inches instantly. No other power hammer has this feature which enables a very hard blow to be struck very slowly or fast, as desired, and a very light blow to be struck very quickly or slowly, as desired. Combines the powerful helve hammer with the accuracty obtained only be having the hammer travel in guides the same as the cross head of a steam engine. With this hammer dies can be used required great accuracy. In changing stroke of "Modern" hammer the fulcrum pin is shifted towards, or away from the hammer by the lever shown in the engraving near the belt wheel. It is arranged so that the stroke is shortened or lengthened all from top of stroke; therefore the hammer always retains the same distance from the anvil block when hammer id down at the bottom of its stroke. This, however, may be adjusted for thick or thin iron by shortening or lengthening connecting rod by means of the turnbuckle.

  No springs to break on this hammer, causing delays. Cushion is obtained by a strong leather strap stretched across the bow shown. This has a take-up for adjusting the tension of the strap. We use a tightener for controlling speed, which is regulated by treadle conveniently located so the operator's heel may be on the floor, and the ball of the foot on the treadle. The machine has a brake which acts automatically; stopping the machine with the hammer up when pressure is released from treadle. The anvil block is cast separate from main frame; thereby avoiding breaking by crystallization. Thin strips of wood are placed between anvil block and main frame, enabling the anvil block to be lined up with hammer when dies of special construction are used. The anvil block is held securely by a strong band around it which passes through lugs on main frame and is secured by a nut.

  Each hammer is complete as shown, and are sent out with the best tool steel dies, or hammers. The shafts are best steel babbited boxes with large bearing surfaces. The eccentric and strap have extraordinary bearings which make them practically indestructible. The hammer guide has adjustable take-up for wear which will not jar loose. The dies are set at an angle of 45 degrees which enables a rod or bar of steel of any length to be worked either lengthwise or crosswise of the dies. This feature will be appreciated by many who have tried to sharpen grader blades on some hammers. This machine is well built for wear. All parts being amply strong to withstand any strain. This hammer will do any work, and more of it than can be done on any other hammer of no greater capacity.

  This machine will draw a bar of iron 1½ inches x 1½ inches x 6 inches long out to 4 feet long at one heat. Welds axles, springs, tire, bridge and structural rods. Sharpens plow lays, cultivator shovels and grader blades perfectly. Weight, 1,00o lbs. ; height, 4 feet 2 inches; floor space, 3 feet 6 inches x 2 feet 6 inches. Stroke adjustable while running. No other hammer has this feature. Fron, 2 to 10 inches. Capacity required, one-horse power will run it. Speed, blows per minute, 250 to 400. Weight of striking hammer, 40 lbs. Pulley double flanged combined with balance wheel 12-inch diameter for a 4 foot belt.

• In an article in a 1996 edition of The Anvil's Ring.

  At his Vulcan Iron Works in Mason City, Koch built a vertically configured power hammer much like the Mayer Brothers' Little Giant, but with a bow-spring linkage. In 1907 he moved again, this time to Albert Lea, Minnesota. There he established the Star Foundry Company and built another vertically configured hammer which was known as the Star (later, Starite) Power Hammer. He relocated his foundry briefly to Waterloo, Iowa (1911) and then to Austin, Minnesota (1913), but he eventually returned to Albert Lea...

  The Modern Power Hammer was Koch's most ambitious product, revealing his skill as a mechanic and patternmaker It quickly attracted the attention of both blacksmiths and enterprising businessmen in cities beyond Montezuma.

  Montezuma was predominantly an agricultural town, and Koch began to look for a larger city to support his foundry and manufacturing business. The Koch Manufacturing Company was an attractive proposition and several cities vied for its presence. In June of 1903 the businessmen of Mason City, Iowa appeared to have the upper hand; but the Commercial Exchange of nearby Grinnell bettered their offer. Several of Grinnell's leading businessmen entered into a partnership with Koch. The citizens of Grinnell furnished land and a building at a cost of $10,000 (to be rented to the company at a nominal rate), and the city council agreed to abate all city taxes on the enterprise for a period of five years.

  The partnership looked most promising. One of Koch's two partners was Henry W. Spaulding, a one-time blacksmith who was already well-established in Grinnell building carriages. As president of the Commercial Exchange, Spaulding worked tirelessly for Grinnell, and ultimately served two terms each as mayor and state senator. Koch's other partner was J. C. Goodrich, whose management skills had been honed by running the town's water works. With such an organization, the erection of the new buildings and the foundry progressed rapidly.

  (picture caption: The earliest version of Koch's Modern Power Hammer was built in Montezuma, IA, and briefly in Grinnell.)

  Koch's design appeared in advertisements in The Blacksmith and Wheelwright. The shifting lever was repositioned, pointing upward, with the detents located along the top of the pivot bracks. The base casting was also redesigned to include the lower drive-shaft bearings as one unit. In the Spring of 1908, the Grinnell Manufacturing Company discontinued its manufacturing operation. Spaulding and Goodrich chose to concentrate on the retail buggy business, while rights to the hammer were licensed to others. In 1909, the Spaulding Manufacturing Company built more than 10,000 carriages and wagons. Within a couple of years, Spaulding had embarked upon the manufacture of automobiles in Grinnell... Rights to manufacture and sell the Modern Power Hammer were licensed by the Modern Sales Company of Grinnell. Proclaiming its hammer 'the backbone of blacksmithing,' the machine was little changed from the 1905 version. By 1912, the company had relocated to Hampton, Iowa, and advertised the hammer in four styles and three sizes: 35, 50 and 75 pounds. One of these new styles, named the 'Little Iowa,' appeared in an advertisement in The Blacksmith and Wheelwright of December, 1913. Though faintly recognizable as a...