I just received my first Peddinghaus hammer in the mail today, the Nordic model. I layed it on my bed and when I sat down, another hammer barely (and when I say barely I mean hairline touch) hit my new Peddinghaus on the middle top. I noticed it kind of dented it a little bit, not much but a little. Is this normal? I mean I know hammers get worn but for a very small touch to dent it, is that bad? I couldnt tell if maybe it just dented the coating over the steel rather than the steel itself. For me being new to everything and Peddinghaus being a great brand im probably over-reacting to it eh?

its probably in the clear coat ... ive used that brand hammers in the past an they will dent and wear but not that easily ... i wouldnt worry about it ...

They make good hammers. You may decide to add some more radius to the faces to your own liking.

Can you post a pic of the indent?

If it has a clearcoat on it then that is most likely the root cause of the damage.

I can't see it being a scar in the metal if the touched as lightly as you say.

welder19

I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it. Im thinking it's the clear coat. Im pretty positive that this hammer should and will last me a long time if not until I die.

Much better to have a hammer softer than the anvils face way easier to dress a hammer.
Ken

The hammer that is the favorite one for all my students is one that went through a fire and so is quite soft. It is slowly mushrooming slightly making a lovely "dress" for it *and* they know I won't yell at them for missing and hitting the anvil with it. Against properly heated steel it works quite well.

I'll probably need to dress it back a bit in another couple of years...

Remember that all those wonderful viking pattern welded swords were hammered out using fairly soft wrought iron hammers on fairly soft wrought iron anvils.

Stop worrying and get hammering!

You shouldn´t take more than one hammer to bed!

You shouldn´t take more than one hammer to bed!

I was wondering who else caught that. :)

Like I said...not bad, just the fact that a slight touch did it--

Possibly that part of the hammer is unhardened. You only need the *faces* hardened and differential hardening or differential tempering is common on better made hammers.

May I commend machining to you if you want to exercise OCD; blacksmithing is a more rough and tumble activity!

Thanks for the reply, no problem with wear and tear. I just wanted to be safe and sure that it was normal
I've yet to actually get hammering...waiting for the weather to calm down.

Thanks for the reply, no problem with wear and tear. I just wanted to be safe and sure that it was normal
I've yet to actually get hammering...waiting for the weather to calm down.

i absolutely and fully enjoy the cold during forging....i get so much done when i work in ugly or freezing weather...the lihgting is good.. it was like 15 degrees this morning when i went out into the shop and fired up... made two little items by 0930..but i was sweatin till i was done...i wouldnt worry about that little ding...i bought a bunch of used hammers and reface them...i am on the hunt for ball piens this spring at all the little auctions that go on here , just so i can make little hammers for different do dads...just take a deep breath and jump right in...