firebug

Reinforces my choice to use 12v DC. Better than having 240V near really hot things and can run off a car battery if needed. What is the noise like on a blower like that?

It is VERY quiet and smooth. It was about 90.00 at Grainger.

firebug, nice looking forge need to resize pictures, it would be easier to view. Once you start using the forge you'll be able to tell if you forgot any thing.

Do you know if I can resize the existing photos without having to totally redo the post?

Amazing work and it looks like its nearly got it all.

I thought about a speed control and actually had a place for one but was told I could not use it on the 115 volt motor with a capacitor starter on it. Does anyone know if this is true or not. I would like to use a speed control if possible. If I cannot do it I have very good control with the gate valve. THANKS for the input.

To get more speed you are not only swinging your arm faster as you would anyway, you hold the hammer losely between your thumb and first two fingers and let it pivot just before it strikes the steel. This like adding another joint or pivot point and this is what really speeds the hammer head up. If you hold the hammer with a firm grip you will use your shoulder, elbow and wrist to create velocity. Doing this you do not have to swing your arm any faster than you normally do to increase velocity.

Here is a forge I am working on. I should finish it this week. I have incorporated as many features as I can think of. The side draft super sucker and chimney are stainless. I have added side extension on both sides of the fire pot for long material. The side I stand on also has an adjustment for material height as well. The blower is a 271 CFM and is connected to powere by an on-off switch located on the side of the forge. I made a friction adjustment for possitive feel on the air-gate. The cut outs on the side walls for the material being forged is level with the top of the fire pot which is a HEAVY DUTY set up from Laurel Foundry. I know someone who had one that was 15 years old and still going strong. They were also used at J.C. Campbell so you know they hold up good.

I would like to have some in-put from ya'll. What other features would you like to see or have seen in other forges. I will strongly consider anything put out there. Maybe together we can come up with a coal forge that is almost perfect. I plan on doing a detailed article on this build and have taken many photos.

It has, been proven, I think!

The attached show the design and forging of my granddaughter Sahar Hofi
in the last 2 months.
http://picasaweb.goo...inshemer/SczUP#

Hofi

Hofi, That is great, the gates are BEAUTIFUL. I hope Sahar knows how fortunate she is to have you as her grandfather and teacher, I am sure she does.

Gary

your leaving out the most important thing before each hammer leaves Hofi he gives it a Kiss!

That is true. I have seen this personally. There is something about Hofi's saliva that re-aranges the molecular stucture of the steel alloy used in the hammer and also it seems to influence the very laws of physics as well as the space time continuum. {Shrug} I don't know it just works!

Can i make two observations without offending anyone? I have read and heard that the Hofi hammer is balanced because all the weight is the middle, how can this be when most of the middle is taken up by the large rectangular hole for the handle? Secondly, I have seen a video where someone is using a Hofi sledge hammer, how does the hammer/technique principal work here as the method of using a one handed forging hammer and a two handed sledge hammer are going to be completely different?

The Hofi hammer is balanced because the weight of the hammer is distributed more equally on both sides of the eye, not because most of the weight is located in the center of the hammer head. Because of this you can tilt the hammer to the side much further than most any other hammer out there without it wanting to twist in your hand. When a hammer tries to twist in your hand you must counteract it with your wrist. This in turn puts pressure on your wrist and over years can cause problems. I have tested this with several hammers including the Sweedish hammer and there is no doubt that the Hofi hammer has much more control when it comes to rebound. Try it. Why is that important? Because if you think about it, most of the time you are not hammering straight down. You will tilt the hammer in order to lesson the amount of hammer head surface striking the material to in turn move more material.

On a side note. I have talked about what results from putting your thumb on top of the hammer handle.It causes nerve damage which runs up to your neck. I recently did a gate for a neuro-surgeon. We have become friends, he happens to live 2 minutes from me. He confirmed that placing your thumb on top of the hammer handle can in time cause this condition which would require surgery to correct and asked me if I had this problem. I explained how I hold the hammer and strike and he was impressed. I should not have that problem.

I have used many hammers over the years including a Hoffi 2.5 pound. I always thought that a hammer is a hammer is hammer.But I had used the Hoffi just like any other. Finally a friend started to teach me the Hoffi method and it has changed the way I smith. I now use a heavier in fact twice as heavy of a hammer as before at 4.6 pounds. I move a lot more metal doing work in one to two heats that use to take five to six.I last longer and don't get the joint pain in the elbow or shoulder that I use to get. So call it hype or call it placebo effect it works for me.

Jug,
I am glad you have had this result from using the Hofi hammer. There is a lot more to it than just swinging away at the metal. After you use the method for a while you will get better and better at it. You truly can move a large amount of metal in a shorter amount of time compared to most ways people forge.

The Google translation is correct. It is "iron feather".

There were about 60 smiths from nine different countries in the event. Each smith was given about two hours to make their own piece for the Gate of Pohjola (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pohjola). I made a Swan of Tuonela (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swan_of_Tuonela).

BTW, the current pictures on the Rautasulka www-pages are from last year. The same photographer was there also this year. You can find his pictures here: http://vesanopanen.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Rautasulka2010/




Do you remember who gave the demo?

Very Nice Swan.

Good luck I would eat bean sandwiches for months before I would sell mine

That is the problem. They are such good anvils it is going to be hard to find one that someone is willing to part with one. The hope is one day Hofi's new anvil will be available in the US. If you think the Hofi/Ozark Anvil is good wait till you see and use the new design. Anyway, my advise is to hang on to what you have unless you decide to get out of blacksmithing all to gether.

If anyone knows someone who has a used Hofi/Ozark Pattern anvil they want to sell please let me know.

That was very nice of them. I sure would like to have one of those anvils under my Christmas Tree this year. Maybe Santa Clause will be nice to me.

I dunno, you guys are driving me crazy. One " relucttant" master I had the honor of working with for fifteen years was a fourth generation smith, when I started with him, he alone had 55 years at the anvil. 55 years, how old was Hofi when he started? 52 ? I've seen him work it's not like I live in a cave, or I don't like the guy, I don't care either way, I'm just sayin', experience is experience. Learn everything you can from everyone you can and never stop

Let me say a few things about your post because you make some good points. You do need to learn and usually can learn something from most people or smiths. Having said that I would like to say experience alone a good smith does not make. Yes even a blind squirrel can pick up an acorn every now and then but just because something has been done a certain way for 100 years does not make it the best way or right way.

Here is an example from personal experience about years of doing something. The last 6 years I was in the fire department I was a fire investigator. I was the least experienced investigator but rapidly rose to become the best investigator they had in less than 3 years. That was according to the fire chief, deputy fire chief, the chief of the investigative division, the captain of the division and the men on the line, all told me this on numerous occassions. Now what you need to realize is I was working with invetigators that had 7 to 15 years on me. Within a 3 year period I went to Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, FBI firearms class and became an instructor as well as other things. I did all of this at my own expense too. I obtained 3 different certifications in fire investigations that no one in the division had, including the chief investigator. Within a 2 year period I was the man that was called in if off duty to investigate fire related deaths. I attended all autopsies and wrote the reports for most of the deaths as well. The point, while some of the men had 15 years on me they did not apply themselves and did things like they always did, just enough to get by. I was thirsty for knoweledge and always asked WHY. That word served me very well during an investigation, put many people in jail with it and solved alot of fire investigations with it. That is a very big word in life to me, WHY. Turns out Hofi lives the same way, doesn't matter to him if it is master showing him something, he even questions himself. Can this element be made differently?

In conversations with Hofi he conveyed to me that on several occassions him and Habberman disagreed to the point of arguing over the way things had been done for many years. Hofi changed some of the ways that Freddy was teaching him. Eventually Habberman agreed that Hofi was right and would even come to Israel to learn from him. I was attending a class in New York that Hofi was teaching when Habberman passed away. I know that Hofi had a deep respect and love for Freddy Habberman, he was very saddened with his passing. Hofi considered him his teacher, like I consider Hofi mine. There is no doubt that Hofi learned many things from other people. What makes him different is he has gathered information from many good smiths all around the world. He tested what he learned, the good he kept, the bad he improved or discarded. I do believe that there are things that he does that were not thought of before. He also has a love for teaching and passes his knowledge along to anyone that wants it.

Not going to mention any methods or ways of forging in particular here, don't want to make anyone mad. But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are ways of doing some of the basic traditional forging methods that are no where near as good as what Hofi teaches. This is not an opinion it is something that can be seen and quantified. I have watched many smiths do some basic forging and it almost hurts to watch them. It takes them literally 3,4,5 times as long to do something than it would take me or any other student that understands what Hofi teaches. I am not saying anyone on this forum is like this, but I have observed many smiths at demos, forge council meetings etc. It is not an isolated occurance.

Don't sell yourself short by thinking that you are in the presence of a great smith simply because he has been doing it for 25 years. Judge each smith according to his ability. And I am not saying that the smith you worked with wasn't good. If you do find a smith that is good and willing to teach you hang on to him but do not follow blindly. Believe it or not I don't follow Hofi blindly and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Believe me I understand. Yes you are right about the weight being equally distributed around the eye. Having said that I am sure that it is not perfectly distributed but close. The only reason I brought up the comment about the hammer standing on its face with the handle parallel to the anvil face is, I did not want someone to think if their hammer didn't do that there was a problem with it.

Let me also say that while I believe that there IS more than one way to skin a cat(catfish), there are usually only a few good ways. I believe Hofi's method is one of the good ways to do it. Is there another good way or two out there, I am sure that there are. So when I am on here I am giving my opinion as to how I think it the best way. Anyone else is welcome to join and disagree with me. We can debate it over and over until one of us throws our hands up in disgust or gives in.

I will also say that I personally know of quit a few people that converted to the Hofi method because of joint pain. I am not saying that they were swinging the hammer like any particular person on this forum before they converted.

Thanks for the compliment.

You must remember I will seldom say "always" when I address a subject like the English or London pattern anvils, their use or the use of a hammer or particular method of forging. When I am answering a question I give mostly generalized replies based on what I have observed and believe most have observed. In the Southern United Stated where I live I can say with confidence that London or English pattern anvils out number by at least 10 to 1 any other form of anvil such as the Euro anvil, German Anvil etc. That is why I only addressed the English pattern because it is the most prominent by far. I don't have the time to address them all. 99% of the time the bick or horn will be farthest from the hammer hand hence the statement about the hardie hole and possible injuries because most of the time that holds true. Example: hammer in right hand bick to the left side of the body while facing the anvil.

When you set the Hofi Hammer face down on the face of the anvil it may or may not balance with the handle parallel to the anvil. That really has nothing to do with it being balanced in the sense that Hofi speaks of.

This is going to take a while so I will answer as much as I can. Hopefully I will answer your questions without too many typos or convoluted explanations. I may not get every detail down but I will be close.

As far as the basic hammer technique is concerned. You say you have read my reply in the other thread concerning what makes the Hofi hammer so good. You should have been able to pick up most of the differences but I will go over them in a nut shell.

In the Hofi method you use a loose grip with the palm down towards the anvil. Your thumb is along side of the handle more than it wraps around the handle. You use the thumb and first 2 fingers for most of the grip. The last two fingers are more to control the handle of the hammer as it pivots in your hand. You grip the hammer 2-3 inches behind the hammer head and allow the hammer to pivot in your hand at that point. By doing this you have created 4 points of movement in the arm that swings the hammer. The shoulder, elbow, wrist and between the thumb and first two fingers. This allows greater velocity in the hammer head JUST prior to striking the iron as it pivots in you hand. This is where a lot of the energy is produced. For a given hammer weight, the higher the velocity the more work you produce. Like I said before a lighter hammer can produce more work by simply traveling at a higher velocity than a heavier hammer. I am not talking about a 1 pound hammer compared to a 5 pound hammer, rather a 2.75 compared to a 3 or even a 3.3 pound hammer. Velocity cannot overcome everything. By holding the hammer palm towards the anvil face, you are moving your wrist in a more natural and less restrictive manner and are less likely to injure that joint. In the Hofi method the hammer is tilted to forge with greater speed. An unbalanced hammer will deflect to the side. Emphasis is placed on knowing your hammer and how to use every part. The hammer and anvil are used in conjunction with each other with great effect and is taught with emphasis.

Standing at the anvil. This is going to be hard to explain but I will do my best. Watch how many smiths work and you will see that they stand directly beside the anvil. They face the anvil and their managing hand is at their crotch. This causes them to have to lean over their managing hand and work to see where they are striking. This makes it harder to work and is very hard on the body. In the Hofi system you stand to the side of the anvil but off center some to the rear. You do not directly face the anvil and your managing hand is in front of you allowing the work piece to pass in front of you. The front of your body faces more in the direction the horn is facing. Now you can see where you are striking without looking over your managing hand or work. Your back is not constantly worked from excessive leaning. I will attach a photo of me working beside the anvil. Hofi has developed two anvils. One is the Ozark Pattern Anvil. The other is the Hofi Anvil being produced overseas. The one produced outside the country has many improvements over the one produced in the states. There is not a place on the anvil that does not have a purpose, even the base is used to make different size radius bends in iron. The hardy hole is placed towards the front where there is more mass to support working and it is more natural working there. English patterns have the Hardy at the rear where there is less mass and less stability. Also, you are more likely to damage the anvil if you miss your work and injure yourself if you forget to remove the Hardy tool. There are 4 pritchel holes for punching, bending etc. The face of the anvil is only 4 inches wide. The reasons are: the face of your hammer is only so wide, maybe 2 inches, therefore you don't need a wide face which acts as a heatsink drawing the heat out of your iron. The wider the anvil face the farther you have to reach to work on the far side of the anvil, which is where most of the work is done in the Hofi system.

As far as learning it, in my opinion it is not harder to learn than any other method. If you are a beginner I think you have an advantage because you have not learned any other way of doing it. You are starting fresh. If a person has been smithing for several years then there is no doubt that they may have to overcome some habits formed early on. I have been around blacksmithing for several years have many friends who are blacksmiths and learned a little about the so called traditional way. I know enough that in my mind I believe my body will last much longer using the Hofi method as compared to what is traditionally taught. Once you learn to forge with the Hofi hammer, using his striking technique, you can adapt it to anything you are taught. In other words, making scrolls, dragon heads, leaves, drawing a point etc.

The reason the Hofi technique is so ergonomic is because the body was given number one priority over most any other aspect of blacksmithing while he was developing his style.. Remember Hofi was 52 when he started blacksmithing, he had to consider how it would effect his body. So every consideration was given to standing beside the anvil, holding the hammer and swinging it. When the hammer heads are attached to the handles a compound call Sika Flex is used. It gives some shock absorption between the hammer head and wood handle. It is little things like that when the totality of everything is considered that makes him different from many smiths out there. He uses a VERY light grip, just guiding the hammer, doesn't bend over the anvil, NEVER places the thumb on top of the hammer, allows the natural rebound to assist him in raising the hammer. Something you cannot do to a great affect with your thumb on top.

This is not magic Robert, it is not something mystical, it is straight forward common sense backed up by science. I have stood at the front of the class assisting Hofi and was able to watch the expressions of the students he was teaching. You can see it in their eyes, they were amazed, grinning from ear to ear at what he could do in a short period of time. Many of these students were very accomplished smith, not just beginners, one was a German Master. I have been around a lot of smiths at conferences and know many, I am yet to see one that could make a leaf in one heat complete with veins and stem. That doesn't sound like much but believe me to be able to do that takes very precise hammer control. I am yet to see someone that can draw out a point anywhere near the length that he can in one heat. He was doing a demonstration one year at an ABANA conference and was showing how he draws a point out. He started out hammering, hammering, hammering and he kept hammering and when the crowd thought he could hammer any more he kept hammering. Many were amazed at how long he could hammer and the iron was still hot. He drew out a point in ONE heat that was absurd in length. When he was done the crowd stood up and cheered, they had never seen such a thing. He keeps the iron hotter longer by the sequence in which he forges the iron and by the energy imparted into the iron. If you can strike hard enough and fast enough you can actually put heat into the iron keeping it hot longer. I have seen him work at the anvil from 7:30 in the morning until 8 or 9pm at over 50 years of age. Many younger students were beat down. Also know that he does this in spite of being diabetic. I am not saying he is the only smith that can do these things I just saying I have never seen one that can do it.

It is my opinion that parts of the hammer technique can be used with most other hammers, just not to as great an effect. The problem is that in the Hofi system the hammer is tilted, sometimes quit a bit. With some hammers once they are tilted very much they will rotate and deflect to the side. Some hammers have long handles making it difficult to hold the hammer near the head without the handle hitting the anvil face.

He is planning a book but I have no idea how long it will take to publish it. I have seen some DVD's and have the one you can get off Ebay. It is OK. I have been fortunate though in that I go directly to him to learn. My advise is if you can find someone that understands his method and uses it go to them.

Go to my facebook page. You must use GOOGLE and type in the search engine: facebook.com/customornamentaliron this is a little page I created. It has some of my work on there. It is nothing special. I am capable of much more, the problem is people are not buying the nice stuff where I live. I retired 2 years ago from the fire department and that has finally allowed me to start practicing my skills in the last few months. For three years I would take a class with Hofi, either in NC or New York and literally put my hammer down and not pick it back up until I took a class with him the following year. My anvil sat on the floor for 2 years before I put it on a stand, pitiful ain't it?

Any how hope this helps.

Your words

By the way youngdylan excellent work on your site. I have not got a market for that type of work where I am located. People around here want it to look expensive but not pay for it. I am fortunate that I have a company that ships custom doors all over the U.S. and that is what the grills are for. I still do security window and door jobs from time to time because I can make more than 1000.00 a day. I do what ever pays the bills. Unfortunalty it cuts into my smithing.

Your words

am not mistaken, the original question would have been in regards to a hand hammer. Not a sledge hammer. Hofi himself has long handled hammers much like yours but they are not used as hand hammers in the traditonal sense, single handed working on 1/8" 1/4" 3/8" 1/2" etc. There is no doubt that you will need a sledge to accomplish some things in your shop. Most of the time though you will be swinging a 2 - 3 pound hammer of some style. Hence the original question.

"Hofi himself has long handled hammers much like YOURS" In this context literally your hammer. "There is no doubt YOU will need a sledge to etc etc" In this context YOU can be you, me, my wife or anyone who blacksmiths. It is a broad statement. " Accomplish some things in YOUR shop" In this context again it means you, me or anyone that has a blacksmith shop, again a broad statement not meaning anyone in particular. " Most of the time though YOU will be swinging a 2 - 3 pound hammer of some style" Once again a broad statement meaning you, me or anyone who blacksmiths. The fact that you swing a 3.3 pound hammer is close enough to 3 pounds for me to fit the point I was making.

This thread was about why the Hofi hammer is better than other hammers. I merely responded with thought out answer that makes sense. Not because Hofi says so, or because we are drinking coolaid or some other 5th grade answer. While you may not agree with the hammer design that is fine but when someone asks a question that I feel I can respond to with some common sense I will. I have no problem with people who don't agree with what I believe. It seems though that many times when this subject comes up many traditional smiths get offended and start taking cheap shots like those ealier in this thread. This was a good question and deserved to be answered in detail.

Oh yeah, that right? You seem to know a lot about hammers, so much so you even know what hammer I use day in day out to earn my living with. My "main" hammer is the one second from the left. Made for ME by ME to what suits ME best not what someone tells ME suits ME best. It's about 3.3lb. The one of the right is a 1.5kg (3.3lb) Peddinghaus, I don't get on with it. The one second from the right was made by Adrian Legge for me after I burn't a hammer in a fire. It is by far the best feeling hammer I have ever picked up, BAR NONE. It was made for me about 8 years ago and as I got more adept at what I do for a living I needed to up the weight to be more productive, hence the ones I made for myself.

Since you know so much about hammers, I'm curious as to what you do, got a link to a website, got any pictures of your work?

I never said I knew which hammer you use, you did. I have been in the ornamental iron business since I was 12, I am 46 this year. I retired as a Fire Investigator 2 years ago. That has enabled me to work more with forging and explore what Hofi has taught me. Go to GOOGLE and type the following in the browser facebook.com/customornamentaliron That should pull up a small portion of what I have been up to the last several months. If you have a problem let me know. I am working on a professional site and have reserved the doamin name theartistblacksmith.com. The reason I do not have a professional one already is because I have more work than I can do most of the time. I worked more than 100 hours a week while I was still employed with the fire department. I am no longer intersted in seeing how much money I can make. As I move my work more to the hand forged stuff I will need the pro site to get my work in front of people.

Firebug,

I have to respectfully disagree with many of the things you have said. I've spend most of my working life (I'm not that old so were talking 20 years) swinging a hammer. Mostly as a carpenter. The only time I've ever been sore from that is when I had to use a hammer with too small a handle or had to use a hammer with a fiberglass or rubber-covered handle. In both instances that was from blisters.
First, there is no problem with a long handled hammer. My most used hammer has a handle that is as long as my forearm. I hold it about 2 to 3 inches from the end and it weighs about 1.5 pounds. I also frequently use a 4 pound hammer with a similar sized handle, which I've used all day for several days in a row with no pain or stiffness in any joint. And when working construction when nail guns weren't available, I've used my hammers all day 5 or 6 days a week (working in the army) without a problem. My carpenter hammers have only slightly shorter handle (but held about the same distance from the head) and weigh from 1 to 2 pounds (trim vs framing) The greater length corresponds to greater acceleration than is possible with a short handled hammer which means you hit with more force swinging a long handled hammer than a short handled hammer of the same weight. Greater force means more metal moved with each hit and fewer hits.
As to the other measure of a handle, most people use a hammer that has to small of a circumference for their hand. Ot to put it another weight, what most people think of as an oversized handle it correct for them. Most people wind up over gripping a small handle to gain control and that leads to transferring vibrations into the hand and arm.
And there are many suitable ways to hold a hammer. There is nothing wrong with setting your thumb on top of the handle. IF you don't try to press down with your thumb. I hold my hammer between my palm and middle two fingers. The index, pinkie and thumb don't have to be on the handle at all for me to swing my hammer. Others hold their hammer between their thumb and first 2 fingers. That works as well.
In my experience most people swinging a hammer don't start by moving their shoulder. I watched a long time ago, a show on ergonomics that had footage of people swinging hammers slowed down. Most of them lifted with the elbow first. Then cocked the wrist. Then moved the shoulder. This results in a swing that is out of line with the target and is harder to control.
The way I was taught to swing a hammer is based on natural movements. You should start swinging from the shoulder and that swing should be straight the same as when you walk. The elbow doesn't have to move but can some, again it should be in a straight line. There is no need to move the wrist at all. This is one reason wrist injuries occur, people try to control the hammer with their wrist. (The other main reason for injuries is gripping the handle too hare.) And so long as you are moving your arm in line with your joints you don't strain your arm or joints. I'm not trying to saw this is the only way to swing a hammer, but I am saying the Hofi method isn't the only way to work either.

As for Hofi designing his hammer, he didn't do it in a vacuum. Every element of his hammer can be found in central European history. Which is probably where the idea of a Czech hammer came from, it is in central Europe. I really have doubts that he created the hammer from scratch. He probably modified a hammer to suit what he wanted. I've done that myself. From his website, he started forging and founded his school after he met Haberman. Hofi has done a lot. And is an impressive smith. But he is better at PR.

ron

I am afraid I must respectfully disagree also. Placing your thumb on top of the hammer is a killer. There have been studies done in other coutries because of the high rate of disability associated with swinging a hammer. I will try to find out and give you a reference. I think you either misunderstood me or I failed to get my point accross. I said or should have said that the hammer swing begins with the shoulder joint. Meaning you raise your arm at the shoulder first. The elbow bends as the wrist flexs up. All of these joints add to the speed of the hammer and when you add the pivot of the hammer velocity is multiplied greatly.

I also disagree with the belief that having a hammer on a long handle can create more velocity than using the Hofi method. Hofi has taught people from all walks of life, includeing doctors, physic teachers etc. They agree that traditional hammer grips damage the body and that the velocity of the hammer is much faster when you use the 4th pivot point between the thumb and pointing finger. As for Haberman, he was a great smith and eventually came to Hofi to learn some of his techniques.

As I said earlier, you may be able to swing like you have for 20 years and be fine, but why take the chance? While I was in Israel I got to see his studio where he displays his work. I can tell you he is better as smithing than PR, trust me. I will say that not many have been able to see that but those who do are very impressed. At this point in his life he has very little to prove to anyone.

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that in the last few years 2 of his students won the World Blacksmithing Championship in Stia, Italy. This is a testiment to his teaching and forging method.

1/2mv squared is basic physics. How the energy travels through the steel is not. You'd get no where upsetting a bit of 40mm round with 3lb hammer. Turning the bar uspide down and upsetting on a big weight of steel gets you somehwere. That block of steel ain't moving very fast.

I've no beef with the idea of the Hofi style hammer, made two not a million miles away myself. Note that sometimes the longer handled on is MUCH more appropriate for some jobs. Working on large bits of steel with a lot of radiant heat is one. I certainly don't want to wear a glove on that hand.

WEIGHT matters for some jobs, not all .... but punching and upsetting it does.

NOT ALL BODIES ARE THE SAME some people have fingers missing, drastically different strenghths in different muscle groups, previous ailments that were nothing to do with smithing. Hey look at the length of the index finger of a low testosterone chinless wonder compared to a high T male (google it) ......

If I am not mistaken, the original question would have been in regards to a hand hammer. Not a sledge hammer. Hofi himself has long handled hammers much like yours but they are not used as hand hammers in the traditonal sense, single handed working on 1/8" 1/4" 3/8" 1/2" etc. There is no doubt that you will need a sledge to accomplish some things in your shop. Most of the time though you will be swinging a 2 - 3 pound hammer of some style. Hence the original question.

This is true but it's nowhere near as simple as this. Physics also means the weight of the head affects how far into the metal the energy is transferred. You simply wont be able to pentrate as deep with a light hammer. Too light a hammer is almost totatlly useless when upsetting regardles of the speed. All you'll do is peen over the top few mm.

There is no way a 25lb litle giant could work the same stock as a 5cwt massey. Even if the the LG were speeded up many times over it could NOT work the same size stock a 5cwt even if that were slowed down many times. Right hammer for the right job, this is the WEIGHT of the hammer, the length of the shaft, the way it is used and the shape of the faces. There is also the tremendous variation in individual smiths bodies to consider. There is NO one size does all hand hammer, experienced smiths often have a collection of many hammers with possibly a few being favoured more than other.

Common sense would dictate that the weight difference could not be as drastic as your example. You can though produce more work with a 2.75 pound hammer as compared to a 3 pound hammer if the 2.75 was swung at a higher velocity. One thing I forgot to mention. When I was in Israel I was using a 5 pound hand hammer without any problems to forge with. This was possible because of the hammer technique. I was able to forge with such speed it was amazing to me how fast the metal moved. In fact you would be limited on using this hammer on larger stock such as 1/2 inch and up or you would just smash it.
As far as individual smiths and their bodies are concerned we are created pretty much the same way. Same muscle groups, tendons, ligament etc. Some of us can tolerate more abuse than others but why do it to yourself if you don't have to.

As far as one hammer that does it all, maybe not. The only other hammer I own is Hofi's rounding hammer that we made while I was in Israel. I do have a 2.75 cast, 1.5 pound forged 2.75 forged and 3 pound forged hammer. My next hammer will be the 5 pound forged hand hammer. There is nothing I cannot do with the Hofi hammer when it comes to forging. No need for a straight peen just turn the hammer.

I will pay 100.00 plus shipping for anyone who does not want their Hofi hammer.

The Ozark Anvil is a good anvil because it was designed by Hofi and originally called the Hofi Anvil. The new Hofi Anvil is even better and I hope to get one someday.