I found this hammer in a rusted out metal bucket in the middle of my grandfathers scrap pile. My dad says he remembers using it like this. Looks like I get to learn how to heat treat hammer head. I'm thinking I could use the stake (handle) drift hammer eyes.

The face is really rounded and mushroomed. I'm thinking I may just grind off the dangerous edges and use it to dish out things like spoons. Any other ideas?

It looks like it was used as a fuller and not a hammer. You use it to make a groove or start a tenon. It could sure use a better method of holding it though. You set on a piece of hot steel and strike it with another hammer, rotate your piece of steel, hit it again, rotate your piece of steel, set it in place again, hit it again until you have done all four face of say a 1" square piece of steel and there you have the start of a tenon. Then you draw it out to say a 1/2" round and then heat up again and drive it in to a hole on your swage block to square up the shoulder. Fullers are very handy tools to have around the forge but that one looks ill used.

Anythings possible I guess. I never knew my grandfather to smith anything other than plow points. That could mean it's older than I thought. 50+ years old at least. Thanks for the tenon lesson.

Kevin

It's certainly shaped like a cross-pein hammer. Amazing what can happen to things over the years.

One of my first fullers was an old straight peen that at sometime in the dark reaches of the past had the flat face annealed. Sometimes you use what you have at hand, other times you buy and other times you just make what you need. Oh the joys of being a smith! :D

It's certainly shaped like a cross-pein hammer. Amazing what can happen to things over the years.

It's absolutely a crosspein. I knew it was a modified hammer when I picked it up. It looks just like my new crosspein only mushroomed......and rusty.........and a very uncomfortable handle.....did I mention rusty? Lol

I've decide to clean it up and take it back through the hardening and tempering cycles. It will be the first tool for my demo kit.

Don't clean it too much, it's got some lovely pitting.

I've got an old shop and there are some tools in it that were clearly worn into bizarre shapes by years of use, not modification or abuse. These things happen gradually, that hammer face starts spreading, maybe the curve means it leaves fewer marks on the plow points.

"Oh, I should grind those off, well they're not cracking yet and I've got something to finish." "Oh I should grind that down, but I only need it for a few licks." Repeat a couple hundred times :-)

These things happen gradually, that hammer face starts spreading, maybe the curve means it leaves fewer marks on the plow points.

I had not thought of that. I'm going to forge/grind it back to somewhat original shape.

I heated it to orange and buried it in hardwood ashes yesterday. I'm looking forward to using it soon.