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what makes a Hofi Hammer so great


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It's like owning a Harley......you paid much more for it so in your mind it is better. BTW I have owned a Harley and now I ride a 1600 Kawasaki.........and I do own a Hoffi hammer.I use it less than the hammer I pais $24.00 for .

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I haven't tried other hammers like brett baileys and other expensive ones, I have used tons of cheaper ones. I find the hofi hammer is so much better balanced for me. With less effort, I can use the hammer for many more uses than just a flat face. I am able to easily angle the hammer face to use it as a fuller. Some people may not find it works well for them though. All that matters is you find a hammer that doesn't tire you out while you fight to balance it and control it. The problem is that most store hammers are unbalanced and don't have the same rebound. The rebound however is a testament of the quality of steel used rather than the hammer design itself. Before you jump out and buy one, I would find local blacksmiths that have different hammers for you to try before you decide which works best for you. I was luck enough to get to try it before I bought it so I knew what I was getting into.

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HYPE
I have a lot of hammers
Hofi included with some of the better known hammer makers out there.
NONE of them get the kind of press that Hofi gets
Does that make a Hofi hammer any better than the rest ( I dont think so )
It makes it maybe better known of and people like to buy whats popular.
Its kinda like when you start playing pool
Pretty soon you get your own take down cue-stick and its supposed to automaticaly
solve all of your problems that you have been blaming on those cheap house cues
Practice

Mike

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Practice is what makes a Hofi hammer better. If you get one, you may practice, forge a little bit every day. That's what makes you a good smith. Of course you can forge every day with a $5 flea market hammer and become a master too, but spending $100 makes you want to not have wasted your money. The Hofi hammer also has an ergonomic theory attached to it and that may be what you are really asking- why is it a famous style of hammer? Because he is the first one to develop a hammer AND theory in conjunction AND MARKET THE HECK out of it. This is a good thing for blacksmithing wether you like his technique or not as it has both gotten more folks interested in the body mechanics of hammering and made some of the other folks who have a hammer "theory" sit up and take notice.

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Balance??? Its a hunk of metal on the end of a stick. If you have the coin get one so you can support the HOFI, keep him traveling the world, teaching and spreading the good word. The man and his story are an inspiration. But balance??

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It is not who made the hammer but Hofi made it known. The hammers of that style are just part of the method of hammering taught by Hofi. The design is important to the method as is the method to the design. If you don't know the method the hammer is not too much better than other good hammers. The design with the short distance from the face to the center line of the handle sends less shock to your forearm and elbow. The shape of the handle allows you to relax your grip and still maintain control. There are other hammers with similar designs that will give similar results. I have 2 of Hofis several made by Tom Clark in different weights, and 3 I made myself all work equally well the only difference I can see is the degree of finish. In my opinion it is the hammer combined with the method that is better.

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Exactly. the hammer without the technique is just another high dollar hammer. I have 2 Tom Clark hammers, 2lb and 2.4lb and would not take for either. The 2lb one has special meaning to me as I was fortunate to have helped Tom with the tempering of 12 hammers one evening yrs ago while taking one of his classes. Both he and Tsur kissed my new hammer before I got to use it. I took the class strickly to learn the technique behind the hammer. And BTW, it is balanced, if you use one all the time as I do you can feel the differnce. BUT, that's not to say it is the only hammer. Do your homework, try one, try every style you can before you put out the big bucks for a Tom Clark or Hofi hammer. But if you do purchase one of Hofi's hammers do youself a service and learn how to use it correctly...your body will thank you for it.

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Hofi hammers are very well made, high quality tools ... BUT ...

The Hofi hammer design is just HALF of the whole hammering technique Hofi created.
The hammer and technique combined are supposed to be a more efficient way of using your strength and energy while hammering.

The thing is that if you shell out the dough to buy the hammer - you don't automatically get the technique with it (no pamphlet, DVD, website or anything) - you have to find out what the technique is on your own (... at least that's been my experience).

Personally I don't have the disposable income to go to Israel to learn from Hofi himself, and I can't right it off as a business expense or investment (blacksmithing is just a hobby for me, not a carreer) ... and living in Canada, I don't really get much opportunity to go see him when he is in the US teaching.

So without training in the technique, the Hofi hammer amounts to just another hammer design. Some people may be able to adapt to it instinctively, others don't. I don't.

What it comes down to is that you are going to hear reference to a lot of different hammer designs and hammer makers - Hofi, Tom Clark, Brian Brazeal, Nathan Robertson, german pattern, swedish pattern, japanese pattern, ball peen, straight peen, cross peen, diagonal peen, etc. Find a hammer you are comfortable with and learn to use it well, regardless of the price, pattern or whose name is on it. As your skills improve and you want to expand your experiences, and you fave the finances (supported by your skills hopefully wink.gif) to experiment with different tools, then you can indulge yourself.

Remember the skill should be in the hand holding the hammer ... not in the hammer itself or the name on the hammer.

Cheers.

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Short answer; No But there are a lot of folks out there that can make that style of hammer, Brian Brazeal and Peacock to name 2 of them and they are members here on IFI. Tsur Sadan and Joe Davis make their own hammers of that style, (they worked for Tom over the years). But you can no longer buy NEW Tom Clark hammers. Any of you out there that don't like your Tom Clark hammer I will be glad to take it off your hands. ;)

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for me, i'll get a hofi hammer just to have one, eventually, and i might like and use it, but i like my hammers. i ran out of stock a while ago and a guy bought mine. i missed it. its a what you know, have, and are liking thing.
...and, new smiths like religion, if you get them young enough and show them your way, they will follow it and make it their way. if you only ever had hofi hammers, its all you will probably want, and you will pass it on to students that you cycle.

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If you are a smith you should have made your own hammer, tongs, chisels, punches, everything but your anvil.
When you have a well made hammer in your hand that came from your forge you will not desire one from someone else. As far as hammering, get pointers from a pro, but you have to be there any body can tell you don't lift your shoulder but that's not the only fix, many stand to far from the anvil ect, ect, ect . I started on my own but when I finally worked with my first live master everything came together, four masters and almost forty years later, I think May be getting the hang of it,

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Please correct me if i am wrong..... but i recall someone telling me that bettween the handle and the hammer he would put silocone..... another method that i did 2 dys go is putting a bicycle inner tube in the head and then fit the handle on a hammer that i bought in france (french pattern!) that had a fiberglass handle..... i tried it and it works wonders...... the person i learnt it from said that not a great amount of the greatness of the hofi hammer is the shape / balance.......

alec...

sorry if this offended anyone.... i was just quoting.....

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For me I like to have a hammer with a long handle. I have used a hofi hammer and did not care for it. Was like I was choking up on the handle all the time. I guess it is what you get use to. When I first started information was liminited to the books I could find. So what was important was body position and anvil height and practice.

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Hofi made hammers are great tools in a specific style. There is a DVD out there on the Hofi ergonomic system - I bought mine from Glen. Hammering styles vary so much. The Hofi approach is geared toward two things: limiting the impact if hammering on the body and maximizing the effectiveness of the hammer stroke. Mostly it involves increasing the velocity of the hammer by using the joints in your shoulder, elbow and wrist to create acceleration. The grip that he uses is more with his fingers than his hand. The handle is more rectangular in cross section, though some of the hard angles are removed. His fingers, loosely holding the sides of the handle near the head, guide the orientation of the hammer to the anvil. The basic stance has the hammer handle parallel with the anvil. The handle is short because a longer handle would hit the anvil in this orientation, especially if you are holding it closer to the head.

Someone mentioned using the edge of the hammer to fuller the material and that's what Hofi does. His fingers control the angle of tilt of the hammer and once it's heading in the right direction it becomes almost a throw - the shoulder starts it, then the elbow adds more acceleration, then the wrist. Lastly, he uses his fingers to the hammer pivot forward in his hand to get even more acceleration. At the moment of impact the grip is loose. A tight grip would put impact on the body and would also stop the rebound of the hammer. Because of the loose grip the hammer head is balanced. What they really mean by that is that the center of gravity is near the eye. Many hammers are weight forward on the main face. That means if you are using a loose grip the face would not stay in the orientation that you want. For other grips that's not a problem because you control orientation more firmly with the hand.

Hofi explains the rebound as being important to the start of the return stroke. He uses the rebound of the hammer to start the up stroke saving a lot of energy over having to lift the hammer from a dead stop.

That's kind of it in a nutshell. Not sure how well I explained it but there it is for what it's worth. That's said there are lots of smiths who produce amazing work with many styles of hammering and hammers. Personally I think that this system has merit. I am learning that there is more out there, though.

That said, here's a great thread you should read by Brian Brazeal. This was very enlightening for me and influenced my next hammer purchase (Brent Bailey). I'm not positive, but I believe that Brian's hammers are also balanced, again meaning that the weight is equally distributed on either side of the eye. Watching his videos you can understand why. He uses both faces equally and with good effect tilting the hammer to control which "die" he uses (read the thread!). Notice too that he prefers rectangular handles because he tilts the hammer to some degree for much of his work.

Both Hofi and Brian worked with Alfred Habermann who no doubt influenced them both. Maybe Brian can add to this.

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Please correct me if i am wrong..... but i recall someone telling me that bettween the handle and the hammer he would put silocone.....


There is another thread around somewhere - he uses a construction adhesive http://www.sika.com.au/cmc/Datasheets/tds/Sikaflex11FC_tds.pdf

This is to secure the head and to absorb some of the impact so it doesn't travel up the handle.
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This is a quote from ofafeather:
"Hofi made hammers are great tools in a specific style. There is a DVD out there on the Hofi ergonomic system - I bought mine from Glen. Hammering styles vary so much. The Hofi approach is geared toward two things: limiting the impact if hammering on the body and maximizing the effectiveness of the hammer stroke. Mostly it involves increasing the velocity of the hammer by using the joints in your shoulder, elbow and wrist to create acceleration. The grip that he uses is more with his fingers than his hand. The handle is more rectangular in cross section, though some of the hard angles are removed. His fingers, loosely holding the sides of the handle near the head, guide the orientation of the hammer to the anvil. The basic stance has the hammer handle parallel with the anvil. The handle is short because a longer handle would hit the anvil in this orientation, especially if you are holding it closer to the head.

Someone mentioned using the edge of the hammer to fuller the material and that's what Hofi does. His fingers control the angle of tilt of the hammer and once it's heading in the right direction it becomes almost a throw - the shoulder starts it, then the elbow adds more acceleration, then the wrist. Lastly, he uses his fingers to the hammer pivot forward in his hand to get even more acceleration. At the moment of impact the grip is loose. A tight grip would put impact on the body and would also stop the rebound of the hammer. Because of the loose grip the hammer head is balanced. What they really mean by that is that the center of gravity is near the eye. Many hammers are weight forward on the main face. That means if you are using a loose grip the face would not stay in the orientation that you want. For other grips that's not a problem because you control orientation more firmly with the hand.

Hofi explains the rebound as being important to the start of the return stroke. He uses the rebound of the hammer to start the up stroke saving a lot of energy over having to lift the hammer from a dead stop.

That's kind of it in a nutshell. Not sure how well I explained it but there it is for what it's worth. That's said there are lots of smiths who produce amazing work with many styles of hammering and hammers. Personally I think that this system has merit. I am learning that there is more out there, though."



I think you covered it very well, ofafeather.

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Think of it like swords. In every country, in every form that the sword took thru the ages, a school or style grew up around it. And there is always a master. You learn to maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of the tool.

:lol: And go on to spread the Word of True Path Hammering.

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If your going to spend the money for the hammer and don't buy the vidio you will probably be disapointed. I got mine
not for bragging rights. At 65+ yrs ya start thinking about how long ya can swing it and how much it's going to hurt. Get the vidio watch and pratice. At his age and with his health I think he could out hammer 1 2 or 3 of us put together.
Ken

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Yeah ... I found out about the DVD at the end of a YouTube video where Hofi talks about his hammers (the video gave absolutely no useful information about how the hammering system works though).

So now ... after shelling out OVER $150.00 (after shipping) for this new hammer, I have to shell out more money for the "instruction manual"? blink.gif

That's 2 hits to my wallet ... I got a problem with that. huh.gif I don't appreciate those kinds of marketing tactics.

I realize Hofi hammers are hand made high quality tools, but I think that it should at least come with a pamphlet or instruction booklet explaining how to use the hammer properly. People could still choose to buy the DVD afterwards if they need a more visual tutorial.

As much as I respect all that Hofi has done to revitalize the blacksmithing trade and pass on his skill, I have to say that this experience has not left a great impression on me, especially when I think about what other tools I could have bought with that money instead. Instead I just ended up with a high-priced hammer in my tool box which I still don't use as often as my other hammers. I do use it, and I'll probably, gradually, use it more often (since I did pay a lot of money for it), but I don't think I'll ever buy another Hofi hammer.

For my future hammers, I'll probably look to Nathan Robertson or maybe even Brian Brazeal - I like the look of these hammers and I'm interested to find out how they feel. But I probably won't buy another Hofi.

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I do not have a Hofi hammer. I do have a hammer of very similar design that I reworked from an old head bought at a tailgate sale. I like mine a lot! I have seen Nathan Robertson's hammers up close and they are also very similar in design to the Hofi hammers. The balance of the Hofi style hammers is different than that of the styles made by Brian Brazeal and Brent Bailey. The Hofi style is deliberately designed with the faces close to the handle and a sort of thick blocky shape overall. This design helps to keep the center of mass directly above the point of impact even when the hammer is tilted fore or aft or twisted to one side or the other. This feature allows the Hofi style hammer to be used in a manner that employs any of the corners as fullers without causing twisty torque in your grip. Therein lies the main advantage of the Hofi style hammer and it is pretty useful. With the style of hammer that is made by Brian Brazeal and Brent Bailey (pretty much a style developed by the Habermann family) you won't want to twist the hammer and strike with the edges as much as you might with the Hofi style. These style hammers have their own advantages though... they give a bit more space between the handle and the hammer faces... which allows a better reach when forging complex shapes. I notice that Brian has MANY hammers ready to go near his anvil and note that in this way he doesn't need to work one hammer for so many uses as Hofi does with his. Brian has a hammer/fuller for each type of forging purpose. Hofi has only a few variations in size of the same hammer which he uses for nearly all types of forging. For most smiths, who do lots of kinds of projects, a combination of these two approaches might be ideal. That's how I do it anyway. I must say, though, that I use my Hofi-style hammer for a very high percentage of my general work... around 90 percent. To make full advantage of the Hofi style hammers it is important to have the corners of the face dressed as fullers and not a bad idea to have some variance in radii on the dressing of these corners. I am not advocating any particular style of hammer here as I admire and want them ALL... but I am sharing my analysis of the differences and advantages as I understand them as I think that a few of these were misunderstood or not noticed by previous posters in this thread. Hopefully I will not offend anyone and some readers will get a clearer understanding of their hammer design.

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