Old beat down hand hammer gives nice finish

[Naz]

I found this old hand made hammer in a yard sale for $1.00.I'm no specialist but the guy definitely did something wrong somewhere. Anyway, with only a buck to lose I was wondering what the results would look like after beating hot iron with it for a while. Turns out I really like it for some of my projects.

[ThomasPowers]

A "texturing hammer" indeed.

Please take care to wear PPE as may of these old abused hammers like to continue to shed pieces off the face in use and while it's merely annoying to fish chunks of steel out of your flesh it's VERY ANNOYING and EXPENSIVE to have them removed from your *eyes*!

Now do you have a suitable abused anvil or steel block to use with it to do both sides at once?

[jmeineke]

That's pretty cool looking - I like it!

[thecelticforge]

Looks like he left it on his dashboard too long in the sun ;~)

[Naz]

A "texturing hammer" indeed.

Please take care to wear PPE as may of these old abused hammers like to continue to shed pieces off the face in use and while it's merely annoying to fish chunks of steel out of your flesh it's VERY ANNOYING and EXPENSIVE to have them removed from your *eyes*!

Now do you have a suitable abused anvil or steel block to use with it to do both sides at once?

Thanks for the advice, I do wear eye protection all the time but I'm curious to know what PPE means.Good idea on the rugged steel block to do both sides at once.
Thanks again !

[Jreed]

PPE= Personal Protective Equipment. ;)

[ThomasPowers]

A good use for a trashed anvil face...

PPE always thought it should be PPP Personal Pain Preventers

[Bentiron1946]

I, too, have some wonderful abused hammers for putting texture on some of my silver and copper pieces. Protect them eyes! :blink:

[Bad Creek Blacksmith]

Like the result of the texture, excellent find.

[infinityblacksmithing]

Makes a different looking finish. I saw a straight peen in similar condition that I wanted to get at a flea market but they wouldn't budge on the $15 tag, so I left it. Sucks cause it was the first straight peen I've seen in 2 years. Oh well.

[ThomasPowers]

Forging on a fire safe stone will also give lots of texture. IIRC there was a nice frame forged on granite around here several years back...

[Frosty]

Glad you use your PPE! For a historical tidbit, in times past there were two most common reasons for a smith to retire: First being losing the second eye, both Hephaestus and Odin lost an eye at the anvil. The second much less common but far more permanent was opening a femoral artery with a chip.

The CRACK! sound steel makes when a chip is knocked off is the chip breaking the sound barrier. Sure it doesn't stay going over 700mph very long or far but the smith isn't long or far from the anvil and the anvil's general good working height puts it awfully much the same as your Jewels which are flanked by your femoral arteries. There's a two word solution to the heavy bleeding thing, Leather Apron.

Think of it as a Darwin award thing to wear the old PPE.

Frosty the Lucky.

[Mainely,Bob]

Having had punctures to 2 arteries(one in my hand and one in my arm)I can tell you it`s a scary thing and nothing to fool with.I can`t imagine hitting a femoral artery and knowing there`s no way I`m making it to the hospital before I bleed out.

The apron may be uncomfortable sometimes but at the end of the day you can take it off and hang it up.Not so with a slab of wood and 6 feet of dirt. :(

[ThomasPowers]

CAUTERIZE! now doesn't wearing an apron would like it would be LOTS more fun?

[Naz]

As I mentionned, my eyes are always protected and I always wear steel toe boots.But I admit I sometimes "juggle" between safety and comfort when it comes to the rest.
Of course the priority is safety but I wonder if working covered from head to toe plus a leather apron at 100 degrees is safer than taking the chance at getting burnt or cut.
Come to think of it, the leather apron does sound safer. At least you can see(feel) the heat becoming too heavy to endure as opposed to the chip(there's no way you can see it coming at 700MPH.)
Why am I even complaining, I'm from Montreal and the weather up here is cooler than for most of you. Which reminds me, I have problems with my propane tank freezing in the winter, but that's another story !! (Just kidding, my wife got me a 100 pound tank for father's day, That should do it !)
Thank's for the comments and advice everyone !
Naz.

[Frosty]

Naz:
Balancing safety gear against some other salient factors can be a trick. Comfort is important for a few reasons. In a commercial shop discomfort can cause people to NOT use PPE with discom as an excuse. This nonsense is one big reason you see some pretty harsh rules in shops.

The main reason that effects me the most is mobility. I find that uncomfortable PPE tends to get in the way in a bad way whether it snags stuff off the bench or trips me up. I REALLY hate it when my ear plugs trip me!

Less immediate for me anyway is overheating. Some PPE shields me from excessive IR from the forge or iron which is good. Other cases it just makes me HOT and sweaty. In fact, I only came in from the forge about an hour ago where I made four stakes to hold down wire fencing so the new puppy can't dig under the gate. It wasn't a large, tricky or even interesting project, just four stakes about 8" long with a curved hook at one end. How it fits in is it's in the low 70's here today and even with the roll up door and the man door at the other end of the shop open I was just rolling sweat. Even drinking a pint and a half or better, say 1,000ml of water I was drained and wobbly when I was finished. That's just me right now though, I'm still prone to drained and wobbly since the accident but pouring sweat didn't help at all.

I rarely wear my leather apron because it's not only more than warm but I have to alter the way I move to keep it from being a trip hazard. How I compensate safety wise is to NOT forge on the close edges of an anvil. I use either the far side or I stand at the heal or horn so any chips will be traveling at a 90* from where I am. I do this a lot more since the accident, I miss more than I have in decades. Some processes call out for it's protection though like welding and running a wire wheel in an angle grinder or any process that's likely to shed high speed or molten debris.

It's always a balancing act, as our skills grow we become more able to recognize potential dangers and operate in a way to avoid being in the line of fire. Also our skills grow we're less likely to do something that causes flying metal or worse. At some point, less PPE may be more safe but it takes informed judgement. Even then things can get away from you so fast you may never remember what happened. Seriously, I have zero memory of cutting the tree that got me and I'm more experienced than a lot of pro cutters.

Frosty the Lucky.

[Bentiron1946]

PPE's are something I never used to think about except for eyes and ears. After loosing a good bit of my hearing in the boiler room in the Navy I made sure that what was left was protected and my eyes were taken care of too. I never gave a thought to flying chips except from tools and that was because my dad taught me to keep the mushrooms ground off as one of his uncles had lost and eye to a curl flying off and hitting him square in the cornea. When as a somewhat younger fellow and it was a 110F or hotter in the shop I never wore any leathers when working, it was hot enough already, just jeans and a tee shirt. I had lots of holes in both and I usually wore light weight canvas shoes too. When you have rivers of sweat running down your legs I didn't want heavy leather shoes to have my feet squishing around in. Frosty may find 70F somewhat warm to work in but that is almost winter here. I guess you could call me lucky since I never had a serious mishap but I think more like God took care of an idiot. :blink:

[jw223]

I agree that PPE can sometimes get in the way of our normal movement. It seems like I only bump my head on things when I wear a hard hat. Fogged up splash goggles aren't exactly safe either. I always wear a leather apron when doing hot work though. the same with a welding jacket, glasses or a shield. The biggest thing is, spend the money, and buy good safety gear. If you need to go to the emergency room because your $2.00 glasses didn't fit right, were the $20.00 ones really that expensive? If something isn't comfortable, chances are, it won't be used. when you find stuff you like, buy two if you can. these are just some things I've learned, and I'm sure we all already know. I am pretty new to forging, but I have done quite a bit of welding,cutting, grinding, etc. getting burned is no fun, and injuries will really slow the project down. Be safe everybody, and thanks for all the info!

[CurlyGeorge]

NICE!!! That is a real nice texture. Good job. :)

[ThomasPowers]

I have an extra consideration on apron wearing: I have an insulin pump hooked up to my abdomen and have to avoid snagging the tubing, melting or overheating the tubing or damaging the pump---and as it's cost more than any one pickup I have owned I so don't want to have to replace it before the insurance will cover it!

One thing I have found that worked well for me is bib overalls, the bibs offer extra protection right where it's needed and do not flop around causing troubles in other places. Also if something did manage to get inside they are "flow through" and it can drop all the way to the floor with little trouble.

It's like a built in apron! (My mother comments that Grandfather always wore bibs out on the farm too)

[RalphS]

I have an extra consideration on apron wearing: I have an insulin pump hooked up to my abdomen and have to avoid snagging the tubing, melting or overheating the tubing or damaging the pump---and as it's cost more than any one pickup I have owned I so don't want to have to replace it before the insurance will cover it!

One thing I have found that worked well for me is bib overalls, the bibs offer extra protection right where it's needed and do not flop around causing troubles in other places. Also if something did manage to get inside they are "flow through" and it can drop all the way to the floor with little trouble.

It's like a built in apron! (My mother comments that Grandfather always wore bibs out on the farm too)

I've been wearing my bibs in this heat, I find them more comfortable. The flow through works for the fan blast to and when they are sweat soaked I don't have to keep pulling them up. I can always find my pencil with the built in pencil pockets.

[Sam Thompson]

One of the few items that I always wear is an apron; trousers are expensive.

[CurlyGeorge]

Sam, you'd better wear trousers too. Else you might scorch something!! LOL. :D

[Sam Thompson]

It's a very long apron.

[JeremyP]

I'm a bib overall fan as well. I bought an apron last year but hated it. as much as I wanted to like it, I just couldn't. I now where bib overalls and if im welding I have a leather half jacket to cover my arms and shoulders. It's surprisingly decent in the heat of the day (we see mid 90's here). Coming from full coveralls, bib w/half jacket is a pleasure.