I'm just putting together my forge etc... I got a couple of hammers that were inexpensive to try several styles of hammer to see what I like before investing in or making good hammers. I have a short german, hofi style, swedish, ball pein and a standard cross pein. I want to get a french style but haven't found a cheap one. I am going to see if I favor one style over another or if I can even tell a difference. However, I am curious as to what others use. So, what style hammer do you use and what style do you dislike?

I predominately use a cross pein I made. I have a "Hofi" style hammer and it works well but dosen't fit my forgeing style so it can be disconncerting. I have one hammer I spent a great deal of money on that I dislike to the point of never using. The head is unbalanced and tends to rotate in my hand. The handle also feels like a club, but that is my fault for not taking the time to fit it to my hand. You will find that each hammer type has a purpose, or it would not have been developed. Learning the uses for the different types is part of the fun. My bit of advice is that you spend time forging with them and find out how they best move metal and what effects they can create. Also don't be afraid to modify each hammer, if need be, to fit your hand comfortably. This will make a HUGE difference in your performance and that of the hammer. As an example I prefer a octaganol shape to my handles with the flats parallel to the head larger than the others. This configuration fits my hand well and allows me to control the hammer better. They are your hammers make them your hammers!

Daniel

I don't have a whoe lot of forge time in, but I do have a few hammers and a friend who has a whole assortment of hammers, lee silva @ black sheep forge. And I mostly use his hammer, it is a brazeial (sp) style and I love it!

I use a 2lb straight peen for heavy work and a 12 oz ball pein for small, intricate work. I'd like to get a 1 1/2 lb cross peen, but right now I'm working on assembling my forge.

It all depends on what the task at hand is! Different hammers for different applications. One of my all rounders is a hofi but I also have a slightly lighter ball pein hammer that is my other all rounder. I have a small cross pein I use for some detailed work, oh, and a little ball pein as well.... I used to have a really nice farrier's rounding hammer that I loved, but it developed a crack through it so I had to retire it. I have a collection of hammers.. some have specific purposes, like the ball pein who's hammer's face is exactly the size of a tea light candle, so I use that one on my swage block that has exactly the size circle in it the same as a tea light, to make tea light candle holders!!

I tell ya though, I know what my most used hammer would be if I had one, whatever brand it would be it would have power!!! :P

I use a rounding hammer with a square face on the other side. My avatar shows a picture of it. I also use a cross pein that Tom Clark made occassionally. If I only had one hammer to use, I would definately choose the rounding hammer because it has more surfaces to forge with. There is not another type of hammer out there that has as many surfaces availiable. If there is, I'd like someone to let me in on it, because I'd change the second I see something better.

when I decided to revisit blacksmithing, I went to my old toolbox and pulled out a short handled red painted, crosspeen, for years I thought it was a 2.5 lb hammer, just the other day I took a wire wheel to it, turns out it's 3lbs! It is the first hammer I reach for for general forging. I have a french pattern, it is a great little hammer and yes Brian, I love my rounding hammer as well, but that old crosspeen just fits my hand like an old soft pair of slip on topsiders! But I always also have a 1.5lb hammer for finer work sitting right on my anvil stand, it works for fine points, tight scrolling etc.. I think I might have a hammer fetish come to think of it.

Alright, since somebody admitted having a thing for hammers I decided I'd try posting a picture to show why I'm asking about hammers. I only bought three of these when I started getting ready for forging. I had the rest in my collection. This is in no way all of the hammers I own from gunsmithing and general metalwork. I asked because I have as many carpentry hammers but find that I really only use two of them. I thought maybe I would end up the same way with banging hot metal. A box full of unused hammers and two that are well worn.

I have already noticed that while the German short weighs 3.3lbs and cross pein weighs 3lbs, the cross pein
feels heavier and awkward by comparison.

Edited because I figured out how to add a picture and you don't have to pretend you see ten different hammers. :rolleyes:

I use a cheap (under $10) 3# drilling hammer with a wood handle from the local big box that I dressed one face to a fuller, and the other to a watch glass. I used a spoke shave and altered the handle until it was comfortable whichever face I was using.

Maybe not the best, but I like it. I have had good feedback about it at the open forge I got to, so I must have done something right.

Phil

I have several hammers but my favorite is one I modified. After watching some of Brian Brazeal's videos I wanted to try a rounding hammer but didn't have the cash to buy one. I took a 3# engineers hammer and reground the faces. Instant favorite, my second is a 2.25# diagonal peen with a square face that bigfootnampa and I reforged from a ballpeen.

I have to say my favorite main forging hammer is a "hofi" style Cast in the Tom Clark molds I do all my general forging with this hammer. I own about 40 hammers though and most are in the rack to be used as needed. I don't use my forging hammer to strike tools I keep a separate hamer for that near to where I am working. I have a cross peen turning hammer in 2.5 pounds that is my forge welding hammer cause it works for me.
My suggestion is start with what you ahve and spend a day forging with each and see what works best for you.

I have a 1.5# crosspeen that I use more than my other hammers, and a 2# engineer's hammer that I use next most often.

I have a 3# crosspeen that I like but I can't swing for very long since I'm still working on building up my arm strength. I used it a lot the first day I got my forge running and my arm and hand hurt for about 3 days. Good hammer, but I'm not ready to use it as my #1 hammer yet.

I use a rounding hammer with a square face on the other side. My avatar shows a picture of it. I also use a cross pein that Tom Clark made occassionally. If I only had one hammer to use, I would definately choose the rounding hammer because it has more surfaces to forge with. There is not another type of hammer out there that has as many surfaces availiable. If there is, I'd like someone to let me in on it, because I'd change the second I see something better.

have you seen the 4 sided cats head shoeing hammers ?
flat and rounded as per normal the a cross peon and a point pein on the other 2 sides.

Yes I have seen them, and hammered with them, but I wouldn't say it has more dies or surfaces than my rounding hammer with a square face on the flat side. The square flat face has a straight and cross pein when I tilt it along with a nicely crowned flat die when I don't. The rounding side of my hammer is not a half sphere but more like a squashed ball, so it has a whole range of fullers when I tilt it in different directions, with radiuses bigger than a basketball to smaller than that point pein on the cat's head hammer.

i use a 2.5 lb nortic basically a german short, and a 1.5 rounding hammer. my main hammers are all nortic from 3/4 lb to 6 lb. i think that no matter what style fits you best,making the handle fit your hand is an important part of the hammer. it is the difference from forging a few hours to forging all day. i also use the swedish style, ball peins, straight pein (mine is a bell systems 3lb it is kinda fun because of the hole in the pein for turning in climbing screws) a few different modified auto body hammers, ect....it really does depend on what you are forging. but as for the go to everyday it is my2.5lb nortic. i do have a longer handle in all my "shorts" than is originaly in them.

When I moved out here I had over 100 handled tools in my rack---that was about 8 years ago and they are still accumulating---added two Atha double jacks (4 and 10 pound) and a 7 pound straight been with the British broad arrow on it the last couple of months---paid less than US$20 for the lot of them but did re-handle two of them so an extra $5 for the two handles.

I'm very much a "right hammer for the job at hand" especially when doing weird stuff---I have a couple hammers I've only used to peen rivets in the tops of early medieval styled helms...

I also tend to start with a lighter hammer if I'm out of practice and then move to the larger one as I warm up and then taper off to a lighter one as I tire. I used to use my 1500 gm Swedish crosspein for everything but I noticed I was really pulling the blow for delicate stuff and decided I was old and smart enough to stop stressing my joints and use a light hammer for light work.

When I teach at times I like to take the hammer the student is having trouble with and use it to correct the issues to show them that the problem is *NOT* with the hammer...

When I teach at times I like to take the hammer the student is having trouble with and use it to correct the issues to show them that the problem is *NOT* with the hammer...

Well, Mr. Powers, you obviously are out of touch with today's world. Everyone knows that in todays modern society it is never the student's lack of experience it is always the lack of a fancy hammer. ;) So I guess by saying that you can't just buy a master hammer and instantly become a master, you don't understand advertising. :D

Matto,
What I call a German short is actually a nodic hammer and the most expensive I bought. I knew I'd at least not hate it since I've used that style for other things in the past. In the picture that hammer weighs slightly more than the yellow handled sledge. But when you pick them up the sledge feels heavier and awkward. The head dimensions are very close to the same and the only thing I can figure is that the handle makes it feel awkward even when you grip them at the same length from the head. I'm going to try a wooden handle I can shape and see if that fixes it. If not it will be going into the box of hammers to be used for non forge work.

I use a Habermann style hammer mostly. When I started out I bought hammers from the big stores, but after some broke apart in your hand they all were sold and I make my own now.

I started off with a 32 ounce Stanly ball pien hammer, didn't much like it. Next was a Diamond rounding hammer, liked it a lot and used it for a long while and then went to a 6# short handled sledge, really old one. I used it till the handle got burned nearly off then I bought a "made in Japan", 3# cross pien hammer head for fifty cents at a yard sale and put a new handle on it and from then on used it for most of my work. It fit for most of my work, it became the perfect extension of my hand and it was all in the handle. Oh, I'm not saying that I forsook all other hammers, I had hammers for specific tasks that only they were suitable for and no other hammer would do, not even my old favorite. One hammer just won't do it all. Now that I'm doing different metal work than hot forging my number of hammer styles has grown exponentially and I have many dozens where before I only had a few dozen of so. Hammers have a tendency to multiply like Lemmings, except they never seem to run off over a cliff in a frenzy, if you can visualize that.

I use a 6# cross pien, a 3# rounding, a 2.5# Hoffi style, a flatter a 5/8" fuller, and a 12# sledge with a straight pien...well here is the picture of few of my hammers.

maybe we can add some pictures of those most used hammers ????

maybe we can add some pictures of those most used hammers ????

OK :D


Horror Fright 2# sledge.



Faces have been dresses to break sharp edges and one face dressed rounder than other.

Nice G clamp but a bit limited on size

Yes I have seen them, and hammered with them, but I wouldn't say it has more dies or surfaces than my rounding hammer with a square face on the flat side. The square flat face has a straight and cross pein when I tilt it along with a nicely crowned flat die when I don't. The rounding side of my hammer is not a half sphere but more like a squashed ball, so it has a whole range of fullers when I tilt it in different directions, with radiuses bigger than a basketball to smaller than that point pein on the cat's head hammer.

But a cat's head hammer is a rounding hammer, but with a clipping pein and a cross pein, so surely it must trump yours?
-Dan

Nice G clamp but a bit limited on size

LOL It holds a hair real tight though... :D