I am trying to make a hammer to flatten a blade and to help take out hammer marks. the hammer with what looks like a plate on its face.

I have a pallpeen hammer, how would I go about making it into one of these hammers. I'm thinking heat the peen and then strike flat as if trying to upset the face.

Kinda like this?:

Or these alternative styles


They are not technically hammers, they are a swage, struck by a hammer when in contact with the workpiece to be flattened, they can be rodded, handled or hand held

A little water on the face will help produce a good finish on the work. Just make sure there is no scale on the piece between the tool and workpiece.

Kinda like this?:

yes exactly, how do you make one of those? would it work if I just welded a plate to a round bar, or how would you forge one. As I said I was thinking take a ballpeen hammer and heat and flatten the peen end bu setting it on my anvil as if I had struck the anvil with it, and then flatten out the peen from that position.

I think the easy way would be to arc weld a square plate (1/2" ?) onto a vertical shank, and arc weld a haft onto it. It could even be mild steel. The working face is not dead flat. Around the bottom, you can fall it off about 3 or 4 degrees, maybe 3/8" in, so when you use it, you don't get edge marks. The largest U.S manufactured faces appear to be 3" square, at least the ones I've seen. I have a 3 1/2" square one marked AT&SF. They were made as small as 1 1/2" square.

Using blacksmith techniques, I am currently not set up to make a large one. A smith could start with 3" square stock and fuller four sides, drawing it up to a head. Then punch for an eye. For one that size, it would certainly be advantageous to have a large power hammer and maybe one good striker to help fine tune it.

I presently have some 2" round 18-wheeler axle steel, probably 1045. I could upset the heck out of one end, probably obtaining a circular working face. Nothing wrong with that.

http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

When I was first learning about smithing, I made a flatter accidentally.

I was wanting to make a hot cutter from a section of axle, so I drew out a short taper and dropped it into the hardy hole on my anvil. When I screwed up a hammer stroke or two, I decided to "fix" the situation by peening the remaining axle to spread it out over the top of the anvil. Worked amazingly well, but I ate up a lot of coal to get that steel hot enough to flow under my 4lb hammer.

After getting the head to about 3" in diameter, it was small work to weld a rod on the side of the stem and true up the face with sandpaper and files.

I'm inclined to say that a ball pein doesnt have enough mass to make a decent flatter.

I made a flatter by butt welding a square piece of leaf spring onto the end of a block of 1 1/4" mild steel. I tack welded the face in position with my arc welder, heated it up in the forge and hammered the weld. It went easy and has seen a fair amount of use.

I'm inclined to say that a ball pein doesnt have enough mass to make a decent flatter.

I made a flatter by butt welding a square piece of leaf spring onto the end of a block of 1 1/4" mild steel. I tack welded the face in position with my arc welder, heated it up in the forge and hammered the weld. It went easy and has seen a fair amount of use.

I would agree this is the shortest path to a flatter.

I'm inclined to say that a ball pein doesnt have enough mass to make a decent flatter.

I made a flatter by butt welding a square piece of leaf spring onto the end of a block of 1 1/4" mild steel. I tack welded the face in position with my arc welder, heated it up in the forge and hammered the weld. It went easy and has seen a fair amount of use.

I'm with you all the way, but why did you heat and hammer the weld?

edit: Oh, you actually forge welded it! Cool!

I would also be concerned that the eye of a relatively modern ball pein hammer is not strong enough to be hammered on. A flatter has a large surface area in contact with the work and requires heavy blows to work.

If you have access to a lathe, you can turn square stock round for the body and have a square face. Or use flap disks and grind off what is not needed.