Your favorite hammer

[Golden_eagle]

Mine is a 3lbs tru-temper cross pein, A 2 1/2 pound GE style 45* pein is on the horizon.

[Doug C]

My favorite is the 2 pounder / cross peen that came with the forge I bought from a friend aunt. My hammer set is pretty small:
3lb Cross peen
2lb cross peen
2lb ball peen
1lb ball peen

[Quenchcrack]

I own three diagonal peen hammers made by Irnsrgn, a 1.5#, a 2# and a 3#. They all perform beautifully and I paid less for all three of them than for the legendary Hofi hammer alone. Forgive me but we all choke at paying $5 per pound for an anvil but will pay almost $42 per pound for a hammer?

[Frosty]

I don't know if I really have a favorite but these are the ones I use most. The turning hammers and drilling hammer are my most used overall.

There is a diagonal pein in my future, as soon as I can talk Mark into another hammer making session.

Frosty

[SGropp]

The two I use the most every day;
3#French cross pein with well dressed face and corners and the handle scraped down a bit to fit my grip.
2# farriers double face rounding hammer
In the interest of efficiency and saving the daily wear and tear on my body, I try to use my power hammers as much as possible.

[KYBOY]

Most used is a 2 1/2 pound rounding hammer..It really moves the metal. Next would be either a 2 pound crosspien or a 2.75 pound diagonal pien..I have a 1.5 pound rounding hammer for the small light work..

[Bentiron1946]

I started with a claw hammer, then moved on to a 2.5# rounding hammer, then a 6# Atha sledge hammer and finally a 2.5# cross peen that said 'Made in Japan'. Great little hammer that I have done most of my great works() with until some xxxx decided that he needed it worse then I did.:mad:

[Sam Falzone]

The first hammer I learned on was a 2lb Swedish pattern hammer - unfortunately it wasn't mine. I loved that hammer and I still love that style of pattern, but I haven't got around to buying some of my own ... yet. My main hammers now are both no-name german pattern cross peins I bought at a hole-in-the-wall tool shop (1000gr and 800gr) but I also have several other ball-peins that I tend to use on occasion. But my absolute favourite is still my 1000gr cross-pein.

Speaking of hammers, I got to take a class with Solvarr and Drogo last month and Drogo let me use his hammer. It felt like a 2lb, but it had a short handle that just felt SWEET!!! It had some great action. And I think that is one of the main points, that several have touched on - a good part of that good feel is the handle. Handle shape, diameter, length, all these things are part of a good hammer, not just the weight and shape of the head. For my work style, I find I like short handles more than longer ones. And I've found that my comfortable working weight is around 800-1000gr. So when you get a new hammer, spend some quality time with it and a belt sander. Trust your senses and tune that handle until it feels just right.

I'm planning to expand my hammer collection in the future - definitely getting some swedish pattern hammers, but I'll always have my trusty cross-pein.

[maddog]

I have Hofi style hammers from 1 3/4 3# to 4# my favorite is a 3# Tom Clark with a rounding face in place of a pein. I do most of my peining on the edge of the anvil. I always rework the handles to a narrower grip because my fingers are short. The Hofi style hammer and Hofi's method have helped me tremendously

Edited August 20, 2008 by maddog

[jwmotley]

I use a 2lb13oz Hofi style by Doug Merkel and a 2lb farrier style double faced rounding hammer, on small material usually an old blacksmith made double faced maybe 20oz--- nothing special but really has great balance,all with short handles shaped to suit my grip.Those handles to the length of your forearm just don't suit me very well for some reason.

Edited October 30, 2008 by jwmotley
didn't finish

[philip in china]

2lb ball pein. Don't know the brand but it is German. Sean favours a Chinese made item but it is a bit light for me.

[David Einhorn]

My Hofi hammers, definitely.

[Fruityloops31]

1500 gm peddinghaus cross peen

[jimbob]

2.6 right diag. Hofi style from Big blu is becoming my favorite

[divermike]

the one in my hand when the metal is ready

[phil shelton]

:cool: all my hammers are my favorite depending what i am doing but by far my big blue hofi hammer was my favorite at 3.7 lb but my new hofi hammer is taking it place quality ,better, balance ,craftsmanship has no price :D

[Doug C]

Have to admit, the new Hofi 3 pounder is getting more use than the others. Just feels right when I use it.

[Archie Zietman]

2 lb ball peen, it's got more weight on the flat face, so swings a bit like a japanese cutler's hammer.

[hibjib10987]

My favorite is about a 21/2 lb strait peen because i can control it the best. Also it doesn't have a strai edge off the face which helps when i over or under swing.

[Old South Creations]

I have a couple of old cross pein hammers that I got cheap from a flea market & tractor show...fairly small 1 ib & 1 1/2 lb...I mostly work on small pieces and just don't need a big hammer...yet :)

[unkle spike]

2 lb chinese with wood handle from Harbor Freight, with a wood handle, it is a cross pein.
I have about 6 or seven of varying weights, but I keep coming back to the 2 lb.

[Quenchcrack]

I have three hammers made by Irnsrgn that I dearly love. A 1.5# cross peen, a 2# diagonal peen and a 3#diagonal peen. When I thought I lost my bag of demo tools, I ordered a set from Blacksmith Depot. Two hammers for $35: a 800 gm Swedish and a 1000gm Czech hammer. I like the Czech hammer alot, too.

[teejay]

I use a 2 1/2lb Plumb crosspein for just about everything

[bigfootnampa]

For most work I use my 8lb cross pein that I made about 10 years back..for smaller work I use a 6 or 4# cross pein and for the dainty/delicate stuff a 3 or even the miniscule 2 lb cross pein...

WOW! JPH; I checked statistics on your profile expecting to find something like "twenty-nine inch biceps" but there was no such entry... seems incomplete to me.

[tribal forge]

2 1/2# Cross-peen and a 3# straight-peen