Bob JS Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 I did try a couple of searches, but searching blacksmith sites with hammer as a keyword... I was wondering about re working old lump hammers - which are plentiful at my local boot sales. A cross pein to start with. My first main question is: Lump hammers have a softer face, is this due to the type of steel used, or just the heat treating? Thanks, Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Try a key word search "rework hammers". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Ameling Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 It all depends upon what you mean by "lump" hammers. If you are talking about hammers used to strike chisels, they do tend to have a softer heat-treat. They are something of a compromise. Either the hammer face needs to be softer and dent or mushroom out, or the top of the chisel needs to be softer and mushroom out. If both are heat-treated HARD, you end up with cracks and "shrapnel" flying off one or the other. A stone mason I know specifically had chisels and a hammer heat-treated hard - to extend their use before having to recondition them. He ended up getting a 1/4 inch piece of shrapnel from one chisel in his forearm - entered near the wrist and stopped up near the elbow! Stonemasons hammers designed to hammer stone directly tend to be harder - but not as hard as a blacksmithing hammer. More trade-offs on wear and chipping. But those also tend to be taller and thinner than a normal smithing hammer. I have reworked several for some specialty punches and fullers. If you are talking about those generic hardware store cross peen hammers, those ARE what so many people use for blacksmithing. The mushroomed and chipped edges can be ground/sanded and cleaned up for use. If necessary, the hammer head itself can be re-heat-treated. Most blacksmithing books have instructions on doing this. Even a classic carpenter's claw hammer will work. The only real problems with them is the crosshatch checkering on the hammer face, and the lighter weight. The claws can be reshaped, or even clipped. Ballpeen, or machinist hammers, come in many sizes. And lots of people use them for smithing. The ball peen can be reshaped to a classic straight or cross peen. Hope this helps. Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob JS Posted May 28, 2009 Author Share Posted May 28, 2009 Aha! Amazing the difference a space between 're' can make. Just returned from a good 2hr read, had to make a sandwich half way through. For anyone else interested, re worked hammer, re made, and modified hammer are good searches - and simply typing in the sort of hammer you want to make brings up a lot of self made hammers. Cheers Glenn, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob JS Posted May 28, 2009 Author Share Posted May 28, 2009 (edited) Thanks Mike, I expect that the sort of lump/club hammers I would find around here would have been bought at diy stores by builders to use with bolsters etc, used to generally smash stuff up by people who buy a new one instead of replacing a handle etc. I was hoping I could turn an old 2-3lb hammer into a cross pein to use for smithing. I have a good selection of ball peins and smaller cross peins, but nothing like the sort of hammer I am seeing a lot of on blackmsithing sites and Im begging to feel I could use one. The biggest cross pein I have found locally is my little french pattern. I would prefer to find second hand, or make my own over purchasing a new one. I would like to have a try at forging and then heat treating a hammer head - modifying rather than from scratch. Going to have to do some thinking. thanks again. ps, just to clarify, the 'lump' hammers I am talking about may be what you would call hand sledges, they have a face at both ends. Edited May 28, 2009 by Bob JS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Bob, at the bottom of the forum page, right side, click on archive. It will bring up an outline of the forum. Click on a section, then a sub-section, and notice the 2,3,4 at the top indicating additional pages. You are by default on page one. Scroll down and select a topic and everything on that thread from the first question to the last comment is right there in one place. We do suggest you pack a lunch and a cold drink before you go to the archive. (grin). With the search engines (there are 3 on the site, one for the home page, one for the forum, and one for the gallery) the better you choose your key words, the better your results will be. If you wish you can use the advanced search feature of the search engine and refine your search in several different ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Ameling Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Punching the eye on a hammer head is always the ... rough ... part of making them for most people. That is why so many people prefer to re-work existing hammers. Those classic double-faced "bashing" hammers can be re-shaped. Forging the one end into a straight or cross peen takes a lot of muscle. Plus it also messes with the geometry of the hammer - by stretching out that side for the peen. A minor detail, but it could be a problem. The other option is to grind away the excess metal till you have the peen shape you want. That's a lot of hard grinding. But if you do it kind of slowly, and cool the hammer head often, you can end up not losing the original heat-treat in that hammer and not have to redo that. I had one like that years ago. It went from a 3 pound "machinists" double faced hammer down to a straight peen weighing slightly more than 2 pounds. But the guy who did the grinding had it too narrow on the peen - almost to a concave cutting edge. Some other guy absolutely loved it and talked me out of it years ago. More random thoughts to share. Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cool Hand Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Page 222 of Practical blacksmithing (books.google.com) has some interesting points on facing hammers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Thompson Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 A few years ago, at the closing down sale of a very old ironmonger's, I saw a box of hammer heads. They were all the same (about 3lb) and the faces were left 'as sheared'. I got the impression that they were sold to smiths to reshape as they wanted. Was this common? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Ameling Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 A few years ago, at the closing down sale of a very old ironmonger's, I saw a box of hammer heads. They were all the same (about 3lb) and the faces were left 'as sheared'. I got the impression that they were sold to smiths to reshape as they wanted. Was this common? Yes, that had to have been a very old ironmonger. I would have loved to have gotten that box of hammer heads. Yes, they most likely were for smiths, machinists, even carpenters - to shape to their own final needs. The "hard" part of punching the eye and getting the basic shape was already done. So only that final shaping and heat-treat would have been needed. When an "old" shop closes down, you can often find some pretty interesting items that were buried in the back-rooms and shelves. Mikey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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