Dan P.

You can make the socket in other ways, drawing down a piece of pipe and welding the to the bit, for instance, or I have made a socket by just ramming a cone shape punch down into the material, but that is probably not the easiest way. Just remember that the diameter of the socket hole you require will equate to approximately 3 times that measurement in width of the fishtail you pein out. Also the edges of your fishtail need to be straight.

Frank, those plow share tongs are incredible! The mechanical intelligence/spatial awareness (or whatever you call it) you would have to have to come up with those is amazing!

cool. I like the book/handles.

I've always wondered why the ball pein was the default hammer (for blacksmiths inter alia) in the UK, or indeed what they were originally designed to do. In continental Europe I believe they are considered quite exotic.

Well , they look like they work fine anyway. Generally speaking, if my tongs work at all they are judged good to go.

Who still uses an arc-welder these days anyway? Mig all the way!

Very nice. But... Instead of the "pincer" bit, how about something like a square-bit? Or chisel a little "V" into the pincer bit? It might make a "bit" of difference?

I'm not trying to aggravate anyone, but as I said, if you make a claim that you have the best hammer known to mankind, it would almost be rude not to poke a little fun. I mean, really, rounding hammers and using the edge of your hammer as a pein is news where you live? Using the edge of the anvil is news? You have a good thing going on here, Brian, a lot of teaching skills and people who look up to you. Why jeopardize your integrity it by claiming that yours is the best, or that you invented the wheel? Anyway, I am going to duck out of this now as it seems some of us are getting a little over enthused. Brian has done a lot for the advancement of smithing skills for many people. You seem to be the one getting upset and stirring the pot . Please behave more like a gentilemen

I answered your question, Brian. Now, will you answer mine and tell me the point of you question? Let's get to the punchline here, Brian, before I lose the thread of this goose-chase!

I recently submitted a costing for some 30 odd yards of railings, conservation specified wrought iron. Cost for the wrought iron material? Around £12,000. Yes, "WOW!" is right.

What's wrong with his hammer?

Borntoolate, I think the advice you got about fire welding was good. The fire welding shown in this video is a bit more "old school" English style forge welding. It is what it is, and in this instance we can see that it got the job done quite nicely.

No, Dave, a die is a thing that you put in or on something else. It is not hammer or part of a hammer. I'm sorry but that's a simple fact. Anyway, my purpose here is not to argue the toss with anyone, but to very simply to point out what looks like yet another magic hammer being touted to the gullible, and to have bit of fun with it. If you are going to make claims of having the best hammer in the world, expect people to make a little fun at your expense. If your skin is very thin, why talk the big talk?

To answer your question again, Brian, I would use the weight and type of hammer appropriate to the job at hand. The surface I use is the obvious one, that being the face of the hammer. As it happens, I almost always use a hot set, rather than a hardy. The way I use the hammer remains the same. Now, will you tell us why you are asking?

Well, be it fancy or plain, if you want to say hammer, say hammer. No need to say "die", that is something else. So, to answer your questions; when I cut a piece of steel on a hot cut hardy I use a hammer When I put a set in a piece of iron using the edge of the anvil I also use a hammer. Why? What do you use? Let me guess! A die?

What do you mean by "top die", Brian? What's a "half hammer faced blow"? If you are talking about blacksmithing techniques, you can just use the regular terms. No need to take something plain and make it fancy on my account.

Okay, okay, stop this craziness! I'll tell you; It's rounding hammer. A French one. From the olden days.

I'm still trying to get to grips with how I survive as a professional blacksmith without owning the last magic hammer that had people in a froth! Should I get this "rounding hammer", or wait for the next one? I'm worried that I might be missing out! Please help!

Woah!

I'm disappointed people are not as excited by my fun guessing game as I am. Come on, have a guess!

A nicely done upset corner is always a pleasure to see.

Very nice tongs. You might find your scroll tongs work better if the bits were flat.

C'mon, man, I said if you already know, keep it to yourself!

I'm with ThoPo on this one, a big clod of steel like that has many better uses than made into (yet another) sledge, especially if it's some monster that everyone likes to remark upon but no one wants to use.

This is meant to be a fun guessing game, so if you know what this is, please keep it to yourself rather than ruin it for the other children (i.e. me!). That said, can you guess what this unusual hammer is for? It is the strangest hammer in my collection. I don't know if I would ever have been able to figure it out myself, and I certainly can't figure out how it was made (I'm guessing drop forged, but it's such an awkward shape);