metal choose for hammer

[JamesG]

I have some 1050 round bar would it work for hammer. I plan quanch in brine , How long should I temper them? Thanks you.

[Frank Turley]

I've made a few of 18 wheeler truck axles, probably 1045. I water quench, no brine. I don't harden the eye and cheeks of the eye, as a crack may occur. If you oven temper, about 465ºF ought to do it, comparable to a dark straw tempering color. Pre heat and hold one half hour for each one half inch of thickness.

[ThomasPowers]

How hard do you like your hammers? Asking *us* is sort of like asking us how much chile you should put on your food.

As it's easier to dress a hammer face than an anvil I like many of my hammers to be softer than the anvil face---particularly the ones used by students!

As I make the struck end of my tools fairly soft I like hammers that are harder than they are.

There isn't *one* *true* hardness for pretty much anything!

[pkrankow]

How hard do you like your hammers? Asking *us* is sort of like asking us how much chile you should put on your food.

As it's easier to dress a hammer face than an anvil I like many of my hammers to be softer than the anvil face---particularly the ones used by students!

As I make the struck end of my tools fairly soft I like hammers that are harder than they are.

There isn't *one* *true* hardness for pretty much anything!

That is an appropriate description, even when making chili knowing appropriate amounts of seasonings is not much different than deciding on what is an appropriate temper for a hammer head/face. The understanding that a *RANGE* of values are acceptable must be kept!

I can tell you that a very soft face, such as normalized, is acceptable but will need frequent dressing. I have a hammer that is normalized, and wish I tried to harden it but it works rather well all the same! It is not my favorite hammer, but gets used often enough.

Phil

[JamesG]

Thank you Frank, I asked because about the temper because I did not want it to shatter or chip on me.

[ThomasPowers]

So go with a starting temp that's probably "low" and then check the hardness with a file. If too hard go up 25 to 50 degF and temper again. Then test again; repeat until happy. (Then record that temperature for your next one from the same metal. Note that drawing temper 3+ times is a standard amongst knifemakers---repeated draws do not damage things.

[Steve Sells]

And I should add the Highest temper temperature is the effect you get, so a temper drawn at 480F then another at 460F is still softened to the 480F unless you re-harden prior. Read the HT sticky's and you will learn a lot, Mine are posted in the knife section, as the thin cross sections for blades have particular needs than larger items such as hammer heads do not need to address, so that is what I learned to deal with.