First hammers

[swiftden]

Gday just after some opinions.

what do people think of the look of these ? for my first hammers ?

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-3-PC-X-PEIN-HAMMER-SET-DROP-FORGED-HICKORY-HANDLED-/300538681098?pt=AU_Hand_Tools&hash=item45f980570a

Cost for all three including postage to me would be $60.00

Seems too cheap ?
regards
Allan

[Timothy Miller]

Looks good to me. I would make sure I ground and sanded off all of the sharp edges on the peen and face before I used them though.

[ThomasPowers]

Actually I didn't spend that much for hammers until I had a dozen or so, all used from boot sales, junk stores, even some found in scrap yards.

How much a hammer costs is not how good it is!

That does look like a nice size progression, nice to have a lighter and heavier hammer as well as your "using" hammer. Lets you work up to a heavier one without injuring yourself.

[Bentiron1946]

Nice assortment of weights, however you will eventually settle on one as your favorite to use, for me it was the three pounder or there abouts. Like Southshoresmith said be sure to dress them before using them, it makes your work look better. Thomas has a good point of just looking at other sources for hammers, that is where the majority of mine have come from.

[swiftden]

thanks for the replies . I checked the local junk stores near by and they are rip offs. want nearly half the price for one with a bad handle. found a few heads lying around but the local store charge too much for a new handle. think i might get them

[ThomasPowers]

I generally expect that most the hammers I buy will need to be re-handled and so keep an eye out for good handles cheap and have a stack of them on hand in the shop for new acquisitions. Learning to evaluate a hammer handle at the fleamarket can be real handy as many of us smiths will modify the handles to fit our hands/working style and so buying "seconds" with only cosmetic issues right where you will be removing wood anyway can drop the handle cost to 1/4 of new!

What I mainly look for in handles is that the grain runs from one end to the other and does not run off the edge somewhere in between.

One fleamarket I was negotiating for a great hammer head but the price was too high---guy wanted about $6 for it---he kept talking about having put a brand new handle in it and so it was worth the extra money---well he had done a quite poor job of it indeed! So finally I pulled the handle out of the hammer head and handed it to him and asked "How much for just the hammer head?" The handle was worthless as it couldn't even be reset to fit the hammer.

Every time I travel through the handle making region of the US I stop by a place I know of and spend $20 for 15 handles; takes a bit of time sorting them from the seconds pile but they store nicely and don't go bad in my shop. I have a shelf in my metal shelving unit where I ran wires actoss the gap front and back and so have them exposed to air on all sides---important as I live in a desert and need to air dry them for a year or so before using them anyway---the kiln dried ones shrink a lot out here!

[bajajoaquin]

Every time I travel through the handle making region of the US I stop by a place I know of and spend $20 for 15 handles; takes a bit of time sorting them from the seconds pile but they store nicely and don't go bad in my shop. I have a shelf in my metal shelving unit where I ran wires actoss the gap front and back and so have them exposed to air on all sides---important as I live in a desert and need to air dry them for a year or so before using them anyway---the kiln dried ones shrink a lot out here!

I'm not sure I do the same traveling you do, but that right there is some good advice.