Do you use your forging hammer to hit a tool (punch ,drift etc.)????

[Big Lake Forge]

um....was I supposed to use a different hammer? :huh:

[thingmaker3]

I don't enjoy dressing the struck ends of top tools, so I use a steel mallet.

[Larry H]

I've used the same hammer for thirty years,....for everything

[ThomasPowers]

BLF if you have a soft hammer and hard tool ends you can mar your hammer face which then needs to be dressed all the time. If you have a hard hammer and soft tool ends this is not a problem

[Steve Sells]

I have a separate hammer, to protect my working hammers faces.

[Mr Smith]

I keep the face of my forging hammer rounded, to prevent hammer marks, and my tooling hammer much flatter. For this reason, I don't strike chisels, etc with my forging hammer, otherwise it'd likely slip off and bust up a finger or something.

[Frank Turley]

I have an arsenal of hammers, but changing hammers for me has to do more with weight than anything else. I use my 2½ pound cross peen Channellock hammer for forging and for striking top tools. I may have sanded and Scotch-brited the face a couple times in the last 20 years, but the face is quite hard and stays in good condition. Top tool striking heads should be annealed or normalized.

[Jason @ MacTalis Ironworks]

If your tooling is scarring the face of your hammer, either you are hardening the struck end of your tools, or your hammer isn't heat treated right. S7 and it's kin are a waste of good steel for hand tools, keep it for use with the big hammers.

[JerryLWatson]

I have a cross pein, probably about 2 1/2 lb., that I use for most forging that I have been using since day one. It has a haft that I shaped to fit my right hand so it just naturally falls into a comfortable grip position. I also have one small and one larger ball pein which I use a lot. Typically, I use the ball peins for tooling and save the cross pein for forge work. I also just bought a good size square face hammer that I am going to shape for larger forgings. I do have one forge hammer I made with one rounded face and one flat face that I almost never use because the dimensions are all wrong for effective use but it was fun to make.

[brianbrazealblacksmith]

I have worn out a few hammers in the 30 years I have been forging, and it is from driving punches. The striking end of those punches were not hardened, and they all start out domed, but, of coarse, they will mushroom and work harden. I do rework the struck ends before they mushroom too far and start splitting, and I will normalize them again. You can and will wear out a properly hardened hammer by striking cold steel repetively, like when you are punching holes. You can wear on an anvil the same way if you did cold work over and over in the same spot. Hammers and anvils should not be too hard. They are made for hammering.
I still do use my forging hammers to drive punches most of the time because I am involved in the moment and don't want to disrupt my pace by switching to another hammer. I will use my worn Tom Clark hammer when I am doing a job that involves mostly punching holes.
Tools will wear if they are used enough, so learning how to make, use, and maintain tools is to your advantage as a blacksmith.
The only tool that I can think of that can last indefinitely with use is a hot cut, top or bottom. Hot cuts do not have to be hardened either, and cold steel should never be hit into them.

[Big Lake Forge]

BLF if you have a soft hammer and hard tool ends you can mar your hammer face which then needs to be dressed all the time. If you have a hard hammer and soft tool ends this is not a problem

thanks

[Elemental Metal Creations]

I trrging hammers.y to use a different hammer but sometimes forget. I have a multitude of hammers but only 2 good forging hammers.