I got to thinking the other day when I was watching a video of a smith making something that required tooling ( slitter, drift) I dont remeber who it was , they wa smaking a hammer though. And they used the same hammer for forging as they used for slitting and drifting the eye. I got to thinking if a hammer is hard enough an dthe top of the tool is soft what would this hurt? And I personally have been using a seprate hammer for those sorta operiations instead of my main forging hammer. And I thought this would be a good poll to start. Do you use your forging hammer for punch work or do you use a diff. hammer?

I use another hammer to drive drifts, punches, etc. Its my own hang up that I have, amongst many others.

I always use a dedicated hammer for hitting tooling, this way I don't get any marks on my forging hammers, punches, chisels, etc. are hard and tend to nick, dent, ding and in general leave marks in your hammer, or they can any way, not worth the risk.

welder19

I use the same hammer, my top tools are not hardened on the striking end.

Frosty

I have a no name hammer I picked up at a discount store that is super soft, Could be cast Iron for all I know, unless the tool I'm hitting is A 36 of which I have a bunch that I use as drifts.

I use the same hammers, soft tool tops and hard hammer heads.

I just made up a bunch of slitters and drifts today...Slitters and Drifts are S-7 and H-13. A set of 5. Been wanting to do it for a while... So after I finished, I decided to make a pair of tongs using the new tooling. I usually use a "beater hammer" for tooling work. Today I used my Brent Bailey hammer(Atlantic 33). Lots of dents and blemishes, not Real bad but definitely there. I think I'll use the hammer for a bit and see what happens to the dents and blemishes before I sand them off. So I guess my vote would be NO, I don't use my smithing hammer as a regular tooling hammer. Today IS the exception:)

I always use a different junk hammer.

Finnr

i have two hammers i mostly use for tools a 800grams and a 1,2kg never other hammers for tooling and if others are using my shop with me there is a penalty fee (beer) for using one of my good hammer for hitting tools

DC

I use a 2.2 kg hammer for driving punches and drifts. I made my own hammer and its a touch soft for my tooling. Why take chances with a hammer I like?

Hmmm Let me think, $100+ hammer or $15 hammer. Which shall I chance. I'll use the $15 one till I can afford a cheaper one.

I use junk hammers for striking set tooling. After a time the tooling mars (dents) the finish on the good forging hammers and the marks end up being transfered to the finished piece. I don't intentionally harden the driven end of any of my set tooling but even still, the tooling will occasionally mar the hammer faces, thus the use of the "junk" hammer saves the faces of my favorite forging hammers. I believe this is covered under the rule of " work smarter not harder".

I make my hammer faces hard and tooling ends are softer so I use whatever hammer is handy at the moment.

I use what ever comes easiest to my hands, but I make sure that my tool faces are soft.

I don't hit tooling w/ my forging hammer, but i DO sometimes forge w/ my tooling hammer (such as to strainghten a hot-cut part a little, on the same heat)

You need a couple more options/choices in your poll. I have to say "it depends". When I started making tooling out of H13, I noticed it dented my hammer so I started using the somewhat unweildy 3lb. straight pein. Then... I got to liking that hammer more than my "regular" hammer, so it's now my regular forging hammer. What I did do was "temper" the crap out of the struck ends of both my H13 and now S7 tooling. I am able to get the struck ends just a tad softer'n my hammer face by taking them to a very dull red and tossing them in vermiculite several times. Still I say it depends though as I still have a ton of tooling made from sucker rod, 4140, 4340 and ms and I don't worry about any of them.
ML

I usually use a ball pien for striking tools. At one of our meets, the demonstrator, Tom Latane, says he uses a mild steel hammer for striking his chisels and chasing tools. The hammer eventually dishes and that helped him center the blows.

I have an eclectic array of tools, self made, found, borrowed, purchased new, so I use a 2lb. drill hammer and keep one face dressed, so after slitting, punching, etc. with the flat tool striking face, I can flip it over and clean up any distortion the procedure may have caused.
Keith

I use ball peens found in flea markets for banging on stuff that would possibly damage my better hammers.

i use whatever i pick up but instinct tells me if i had more valuable hammers i may not do this....;)

I use an old Heller 4# sledge with tooling that is shaping( spring fullers, punches, etc.) I use a brass hammer on any cutoff hardies, because I have seen these ruin some hammers, and if I miss, less resharpening :p

I have an eclectic array of tools, self made, found, borrowed, purchased new, so I use a 2lb. drill hammer and keep one face dressed, so after slitting, punching, etc. with the flat tool striking face, I can flip it over and clean up any distortion the procedure may have caused.
Keith

I use a cheap 3lb sledge or a ball peen to hit tools. I'm planning to do like Keith said here. My plan was to paint a red ring for hot work on the smooth end and a blue ring for the cold tools on the other.

Kendrick

I only have but two hammers (so far ) , so i dont use a different hammer for tooling.

I use a drilling hammer to work tools with..Good forging hammers are to hard for me to find, Im not gonna scag the face up if I can help it ;)

I have a hammer I made myself out of a 2" piece of copper pipe filled with lead. the extra weight makes it easy to swing and no damage that can't be fixed with a little heat.

Edited September 18, 200916 yr by olcarguy