daviddklb

thanks for the tips guys. got the hammer head taken care of, 220 grit got it very smooth. the hickory handle i bought wasn't well suited to the task dimensionally but i got it wedged in there. the handle doesn't completely fill the handle hole, but it seems to be very very tight. may have to re-do the handle, we'll see

hi, i've been reading this site for a while now, this is my first post. i love this site and it's a great service. serious question, i'm just getting started in blacksmithing on a budget. went to menards and found a 2lb cross peen hammer for $9. The octogonal face has concentric ridges in it, and the edges are a bit sharp. Likewise the cross peen has some sharpness on the edges. finally it has a fiberglass handle. I've picked up a hickory handle for it, i suppose my first question is whether to use the fiberglass handle or put it on hickory immediately? i haven't seen any blacksmiths using fiberglass handles, is it going to be detrimental? i'm assuming that i'll need to put some sanding work into both faces of the hammer, smooth/round the edges a bit? should i finely polish the face of the hammer? what's the best way to go about getting a good face on it? i have plenty of time to spend on this, just not much money, so any help anyone can offer in improving my cheap hammer will be appreciated