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I Forge Iron

What new hammer to buy?


scotto

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If you were new to blacksmithing and wanted to buy a nice hammer, which one would you get for your main "go to" hammer. Which specific model of the Bailey hammer or would you go with a Brazeal type of hammer... etc?

After watching the videos on the explanation and use of the Brazeal hammer it looks like you need a real consistent swing to really benifit from all the different radii. Looks like this hammer might cause problems when you're still trying to develope a good consistant swing?

 

On a side note, is a brass hammer suitable for using on punches? One of the items will be more sacraficial, the chisel or the hammer. Whats your view?

Scott

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Were I new to blacksmithing and had today's resources available. I'd take a class and use the instructor's hammers till I found what I liked. Of course then I'd have a list of hammers and uses to fill.

Depending on how strong a guy is I usually don't recommend more than a 2lb. hammer to start with. It's heavy enough to be productive but won't make mistakes permanent as fast as heavier. Most importantly it's less likely to do permanent damage to the student while I teach him/er how to use one without putting undue stress on joints.

One by name? 32oz. Drilling hammer. Good weight, small face so psi on impact is a fair match to heavier and they have shorter handles which makes control easier.

Once you've developed good hammer control you can use heavier hammers and strike harder to good affect without hurting yourself.

Frosty The Lucky.

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This is sort of like asking should you get a Ferrari or a Maserati to learn how to drive in?   The general answer is get an old beater car and work your way up to where the fancy expensive ones actually will make a difference to your driving.   All the fancy tools I have tend to be ones sold for pennies on the dollar by folks who were hugely excited to get started smithing and sunk tons of money in fancy tools only to find out that the tools don't do good work---the smith does!  Then they sell out and move on to their next enthusiasm.

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