First hammer head. Slitting/drifting opinions needed.

[DanBrassaw]

So I'm going to attempt my first small hammer head, and I've read a lot into how to slit and drift it, and there are a lot of ways to skin that cat, apparently. I think I'm going to try a combo slitter/drifter, just so I only have to make one tool. A lot of people have posted saying they make them with the intent of making seperate handled tools later. Is there a reason that having a seperate slitter and drift is advantageous? I can already guess why having a handle might be nice .

Also, I've seen slitters with both pointed and convex ends. I'm inclined to make mine pointed since I can more easily just find a center punch mark with it, but again, I was wondering if there was any other functional difference I was unaware of.

Lastly, should I have a straight section at the top of the drift at all? I thought it might be handy to have while I'm forging the taper, to act as a guide where to stop, but since I plan on drifting from both sides, I'm unsure it would be necessary to the function of the tool, or if it would even be detrimental (allowing it to get stuck when I slam it in too far).

I have 1 1/16 axle stock I'll be starting with, long enough that I don't have to worry about tongs until I put the taper on the striking end, and this is also what I plan on making the hammer out of. I got a swage for Xmas, and I've been having fun making small bowls with the ladle forms, but I don't like the texture I get using the ball pein, so I'm going to make a hammer with different large rounds on either end. I haven't decided on the eye size yet, so any recommendations there would be appreciated as well. Thanks!

[rthibeau]

first, do you have handles already or a source for them that you will be using? If so, make the "drift" to match the size of the handles. If not, and you're going to make your own handle each time, then it doesn't matter what size the hole is each time. A slitter is thin and sharp to slit through the metal easier and make the initial hole. The "drift" is then used to make the final hole the size and shape you want. I use "drift" because technically a drift is hammered all the way through the steel and drops out the other side, giving a straight sided hole. For hammer eyes you want the hourglass shaped hole so you "drift" equally from both sides only halfway. A combination tool slitter/"drift" does both at once, but is more difficult to get through the steel. I use one in my flypress and have used one under a power hammer so they make it easier. I have hand hammered such combo tools and they work just fine, albeit a lot of hand work. The combo tool or separate "drift" should be tapered to well past the point you wish to stop at for size. Make them handled tools or really long to keep your hand away from the hammer blank as they tend to really hold the heat.

[CurlyGeorge]

Hey Dan. I was having some trouble with the texture using a ball pein, also. Here's how I solved it with a larger ball pein. I used a cut off saw and shortened both ends of a large hammer head. Then used a belt sander to radius the ends. Gives you two sizes of radius. Hope this helps. It works great.

http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/25416-modified-hammer-for-swages/

[John B]

Hey Dan. I was having some trouble with the texture using a ball pein, also. Here's how I solved it with a larger ball pein. I used a cut off saw and shortened both ends of a large hammer head. Then used a belt sander to radius the ends. Gives you two sizes of radius. Hope this helps. It works great. http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/25416-modified-hammer-for-swages/

For what its worth, One problem using this is the short distance between hammer face and edge of shaft in relation to the depth of bowl

I would recommend fullering in the necks/back of head to improve the length and then finish the faces, this will improve visiblity and useability when forming deep bowls/half spheres in swages.

To get bowls smooth, they can also be planished over stakes.

[CurlyGeorge]

John, that is a good idea. Thank you. I haven't had any trouble with the short hammer, but can see your point. I have another extra hammer that I am going to rework. Thanks again. :)

[SmoothBore]

The advantage to having and using a variety of punches and drifts, is that the silly things get HOT.

Now, to a certain point, that's a good thing, ... because a "dead cold" tool, sucks the heat out of the work.

But too much heat, draws the temper out of the punch.


It's more-or-less a personal preference thing, ... I don't think there's any one "right" answer.

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"To get bowls smooth, they can also be planished over stakes. "

I too was thinking that it might be more practical, to make a "mushroom" hardy, rather than a "single purpose" hammer .....


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[JNewman]

I prefer punching a hole in a hammer rather than slitting. Punching is less likely to leave a rag in the hole and I have had better luck with punches standing up in a heavy mass like a hammer head.

A number of industrial blacksmiths have told me to use a ROUND punch for punching hammer eyes. This is typically what I use now. When you punch a hammer head with a round punch the sides bulge out, when you hammer the bulges back in the hole becomes oval. The advantage of a round punch is that you don't have to worry about keeping the punch in line with the hammer head.

[Frank Turley]

I've punched the eyes to my hammer heads with a hammer-eye punch rather than slit drifting. The punch is undersized of the finished, drifted eye. In cross-section, the eye is about twice as long as its width. The haft is put on at a 45º angle to the long axis of the eye, so you can see better what's happening, and it gets your hand away from the heat.

I am going to try JNewman's idea presented above of using a round punch.

[Francis Trez Cole]

I like Brian Brazeal style tooling for punching hammer eyes it is very effective. I have made his style punches out of 5160 and 4140 I like the 5160 better under the hammer they have a better feel when struck. Though they do fatigue faster from the stress. I did make a slitter out of A-2 so far so good.

[DanBrassaw]

Just as an update, I'm going with a seperate slit and drift, just because that's the how the scrap I had on hand worked out best. Finished the slitter tonight, and made the slit in the hammer stock. It was a little crooked, and I think a tiny bit off center, so I'm going to make a round drift as JNewman suggested, to hopefully accomodate at least the crookedness. As I said, it's 1 1/16 round I'm working with, so I'll fuller out on either side of the eye before I drift it, then round the ends for my bowl shaping last with the grinder. Conveniently, I just finished the bottom fuller to match my friends top fuller he got at Quad State! Tools to make tools to make tools.

[JNewman]

Round PUNCH not drift. After you punch the hole you do have to drift it with an oval drift to taper both sides of the hole.

[DanBrassaw]

Round PUNCH not drift. After you punch the hole you do have to drift it with an oval drift to taper both sides of the hole.

Right, that would make more sense than what I said. I used a round drift anyways, which did correct the slant issue, then squeezed it back into oval. I'm not sure if I'll clean the eye up with a round file or make an oval drift, but I should probably go the drift direction since I'll need one in the future at some point anyways. Thanks for your help!

[rockstar.esq]

I had a similar question a while back about tomahawk holes. Thus far I've learned that using one long tool seems easier than it is in practice. I find it terribly difficult to cut all the way through in a single heat mostly because the end of the chisel/slitter/drift is so much higher than the work. I thought it would prove helpful for sighting myself plumb to the head but the trade off is an errant glancing blow to the tool tips the whole danged thing.

I'm going to try Brian Brazeal's tool which is somewhat like a tapered slot punch. Being able to punch from either side keeps the eye nice on either end.

One thing I've noticed is that experienced smiths are punching all the way through in one heat. Whatever makes your hammer blows more accurate and forceful should be first concerns. A common thread woven throughout a lot of traditional blacksmithing techniques is that efficiency is more about getting it done with less work than getting it done with fewer tools. When I first considered this hobby I was impressed by the enormous tool collections that most of the smiths had. Now that I've spent some time with it, I can see that making several simple tools which progress the work faster is better economy than making one "super" tool which at least in my case, makes things take longer.

[Francis Trez Cole]

I have never seen any one hand hammer through in one heat. It takes me at least 3 or 4 heats. I use a 5 pound hammer. even when I make the hot punch with an eye out of 1" spring it takes a few heats. I do not think there could be one super tool. I use at least 3 different punches and 3 drifts they pick up to much heat and have to cool.

[brianbrazealblacksmith]

I have punched hundreds of holes in one heat, but the important thing is to punch a perfect hole, so take your time.
If you want to do it most efficiently, do it like they have been doing it for centuries, and use a punch press and do it in two hits.

[Timothy Miller]

If the steel is good and hot, the blows heavy meeting their mark every time and the tools are in good order it can be done. I have made about 50 hammers so far I can get it about 25% of the time in one heat but that is not my goal, my goal is to make a clean true hole. Most times it takes me 2 or 3 heats.