I had a chance to play today and took a Truper brand 3# cross peen hammer and made a diagonal peen hammer out of it. It was not as easy as I thought it would be. Clamping the peen in a vise and twisting just did not work. I left it in the propane forge to cool after working it so it would be nice and soft for final filing and shaping.

Now, after it cooling over several hours, will I need (or want) to normalize it or do any additional thermal cycles before trying to harden?

For hardening, a piece of metal this size, what volume of oil should I be using as a minimum? Will 3 quarts in a 1 gallon paint can be adequate?

I figure if I find it too soft (file test) after hardening and before tempering I can normalize and then reheat and quench in water.

Since the eye was formed before I started, I plan to use a propane plumber's torch to draw my temper and check at straw with a file. If it seems too hard I can always draw the temper again to purple or further. Yes, I am sure that the plumber's torch will take a while to make colors run, but that is ok, I would rather they run slower than faster.

Thanks in advance for your help

Phil

I would check it with a file before doing anything els to it..better yet stick a handle in and use it and see how it is.....

Fair enough, I'll check with a file, I need to file to finish the shape anyways and remove hammer marks or unnecessary texture.

Turns out cooling in my forge is more than one hour and less than 2.

Phil

That was my point that fast of cooling does not usually work for me to anneal something like that.....

Well, I cleaned the scale off, and I was skeptical. Just under the scale the file cut very easily on both the peen and face. I then got out the 4 inch grinder and a 36 grit sanding disk (cloth back on plastic support) and went to town. I cleaned off all my hammer marks, made the face ball like, removed the end of the peen so it is more than 3/8 inch wide, and rounded it out nicely. I may need to redress the peen after I use it because it may be too narrow.

I then picked up the file and started to finish dress the head, and it was a bit harder than the unaltered hammer head. I have an identical head so I could compare. Apparently there was a rather good de-carb layer that formed while I was farting around with it. Now this is subjective since I am using a bastard mill file, and not any of those fancy hardness testing files I've seen people with.

I am pleased with the results so I reshaped the original handle to my liking and reinstalled it.

My wife, however, is quite unimpressed.

Rich, Thank you for the sound suggestion, it seems to have saved me a lot of effort. I would probably have been pig-headed enough to charge on through a heat treat process for no gain.

I will post pics of the two hammers tomorrow, the one that is only dressed, and the one I twisted the peen on.

Phil

Here's some pics. The 3# I have been using the face and peen are dressed, and the handle has been reshaped, the 2# is unaltered both head and handle. The diagonal peen hammer has the original handle reshaped and put into it.

Thanks for looking
Phil

wow, sweet. nice going.

Nice job, pk. Tain't easy doin what you did, I'm mighty proud of ya.

Stuff I learned today:
Diagonal peen hammers are harder to control than cross peen hammers. If you hit on the farther corner then the hammer tends to twist a little more than with a cross peen hammer.

It is easier to be more energetic on long heated areas with a diagonal peen hammer than a cross peen hammer. This may just be confidence, or it may be confidence that my knuckles are several inches from nice glowing hot steel.

My altered hammer is notably softer than my unaltered hammer, and is already showing some marks from poor hammer control. Both hammers are harder than my anvil, an unmarked chilled face cast iron poor abused thing. Might be a Vulcan since the horn is a little duck-billed.

Creating what seems to be exaggerated fullers at regular intervals, then smoothing the fullers out moves metal much faster than what I was doing before when drawing out. I want to credit someone's photo for this insight, but forget who.

Putting the propane bottle into a bucket (trashcan) of water really does prevent freezing. Makes a real cool boiling sound if the bottle is already frozen too!

Phil

We had a fellow borrow the use of a hydraulic press after a demo to make a 45 deg peen hammer from a double faced hammer took two bites with the press and he was done with the forging part.

Almost made me want one...almost.

Almost wanted which, the press or the hammer?

That press sounds better than the several heats and beating on the corners to twist it that I did.

I think it was worth the effort based on today's experience. Next time I get to play with fire I hope to finish another pair of tongs that I started from some rather heavy stock for hand forging alone. I drew the second rein out in a whole lot less time than the other end. Then again it may be confidence in my improving hammer control and understanding heat in the iron better.

Phil

The press! Only I hate the whine of Hydraulics.