rthibeau Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Well............I was making this hammer for a gentleman and all went fine. Right up to that mysterious and mythical moment in tempering, when right out of nowhere, seemingly as I looked at it, there appeared a line. Nay, it was a veritable crevice..and right in the middle of the side of the eye..running completely through and from top to bottom. After contemplating various acts of destructive reactions, I did what had to be done. I went to bed and made another hammer the next day. Pictures attached as they are now. Another tool and I also got to add to my collection of.....ummm.....Objects d'Art.....yeah that's it. :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I guess the frog wasn't doing a happy dance around the forge that day Richard, and I reckon there were a few words and phrases that couldn't be used in this family friendly forum either said or thought at the moment of discovery. If that crack was any bigger you could just about run mule tours up and down the canyons. I feel for you bloke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mite5255 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 that would near make a grown man cry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 It is a shame. Cracking in HT is just not right. The finished hammers look real nice though, even though one is only a conversation piece unless you decide to recover the steel by reforging it. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forgemaster Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Hey Rich Hows it going? We have a few of those sort of things floating around the shop here, we normally term them as ashtrays or birdbaths, as thats about all they are useful for now. Cheers Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Similar to what happens to tractors, tools .. or vehicles around here... when they cant be fixed they are referred to as "monuments".... just add flowers... I have had a few things fail at the end.. and in the case of you hammer head... if it is my fault.. it goes on my wall of shame ... to remind me of a lesson.... .. if it was out of my control... well ... then it goes anywhere else.. to inspire me to try harder.. They do look mighty nice... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Leppo Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I experienced a similar crack in a stone mason hammer I was re-dressing & re-HT’ing. However, the crack went from the eye to the center of the face. Its not a mystery to me why this happened, though. I was hardening the entire head, and quenching in cold tap water. I now selectively harden only the face and pein, in tepid water. I may try to repair this someday by arc-welding the crack. The center of the face in not used on these hammers, and carbon migration during normalizing should help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Aren't you suppost to mumble something on the order of "Double Double Boil and and Bubble" when you harden it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I know some guys who would throw down their tools and not come back for weeks, if ever, after something like that. You went back the next day and got it right! Bravo! If I would have had that happen, it would have made an excellent missile, and a window would likely need replacing!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 Thanks for the comments guys. Now it's time for everyone else to post about similar mishaps and what was done (or not) to salvage the item. Pics would be nice as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Making a basket hook I nailed the weld on one end; but the other refused to weld. After it got crusty I just cut that end off and then bent the rest of the rods up and made a hook that had 4 subsidiary hooks off it. So handy for hanging things like spoons from on the pot rack I'm even doing some more like that on purpose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 well i had one of my hammers crack after useing it a week or 2 ... i am thinking abut welding it up and useing it for a tent peg hammer ... its about 4 1/2 lbs so it will work well for that use... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share Posted December 5, 2009 I finished playing with those two pieces.. The one turned out real nice, the other......well, when I put the paperweight into the gasser to forge weld it up, it showed cracks in all four directions out from the eye. Sooo, I used the mig welder and welded that puppy up, heat treated it, and put it on a handle. Used it once, too. Now it's my junk hammer of choice for the shop, it sits in the first row. I'll use it frequently enough to remember how it came to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 did you figure out why it did that? Cold drift or something?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Goatman has it right. The head and peen are done separately. If the entire head is at a hardening heat, the eye's cheeks will harden quicker than the head or peen, having to do with mass and the quenchant acting inside and outside of the eye. The difference in hardening speed and the different rate of contraction often causes those cracks. I use the "wet rag method" in my coal forge. I heat the head at the edge of a hot fire not allowing the red heat to enter the eye cheeks. I quench vertically in water while agitating. With the scale removed from the face, I temper with a 7/8" square M.S. turned eye heated to welding and dropped onto and surrounding the face, while the head is in the vise, face up. The turned eye has a handle and tempers by heat conduction. I take the face to a dark straw temper color. Quench to hold the temper. I wrap a wet rag around the hammer head and eye and use large bolt tongs in order to heat the peen. The wet rag protects the head temper. Quench the peen in water continuing to hold with the wet rag and tongs being vertical. Into the vise, peen upwards with the rag still surrounding the head. I normally use a torch tip directed slightly downward and going around the base of the peen until I see a purple tempering color. Quench. The old timers say that when hardening medium or high carbon, plain carbon steel, to "bring it out when it quits quivering." Never mind the sexual connotation. The intent is to withdraw it from the quenchant when you can no longer hear or feel the sizzling, the "cush" sound. That helps prevent cracks. In 1976, some old timers in the heat treatment department of Bethlehem Steel told me to figure-eight the piece while it was in the quenchant. This style of agitation allows fresh, cooler liquid to hit the tool from all angles and quickly.Turley Forge and Blacksmithing School : The Granddaddy of Blacksmithing Schools Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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