CEmory Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 One day soon, after I get a good bloom or five I plan to forge my own set of hammers starting with a regular old mini-sledge, both styles of cross peen, a ball peen (these in the 2-3 lb range) and a larger sledge for heavier work. This is sort of a project of love for me as the ore I am saving for this came from a very special place. For my own sake I will keep the details short. In October of 2009 my wife unexpectedly lost our third child, Jordan, in a miscarriage and he was soon buried in an old cemetery out in the country nearby. It so happens that there was quite a hoard of ore there that I have recently brought a good deal of home and as I CANNOT waste any of this I have to get everything right the first time. I plan on practicing smelting with ore found elsewhere, but I would love to see everyone's self made hammers and if anyone has made a matching set that would be even better. I really like this style http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEAT-2-Lb-NORDIC-FORGE-Cross-Peen-Hammer-Blacksmith-Farrier-Anvil-Forge-Tool-/190676947612?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c653b529c Just seems to fit me, I dunno. This cross peen seems thick to me though, is that because it is a farrier's hammer? I am sorry, but there are so many different types of hammers that I'm a bit in the dark, see. I would like these to be all around hammers for now, but I do have plans for more in the future. Any tips on heat treating would be helpful too. I was thinking to try a clay treatment with this to get some nice patterns and hard faces, but I can't remember off hand if this has been done or is a bad thing to try. I would think the clay would have to be applied quite thickly because of the mass, but again, I'm probably totally off here. However I did it these would be 'pretty' hammers so I would likely do some sort of design on the sides. So again...SHOW ME YOUR HAMMER! Please? ~C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 What a great project! I have a question or two though---(do I not always???)---you mention "both styles of cross peen" I have seen about 30 different styles of crosspein so far and expect many more are out there. In my forge we commonly use french crosspeens, swedish crosspeens, English/German style crosspeens and several wonderful old ones that were Lynch Collection---the same style but ranging from light delicate ones through forging hammers and up to a sledge I particularly like. They look a lot like some of the medieval ones found in the period illuminations. So which are the "both styles" Perhaps fat and thin peen? I tend to like fairly substantial peens save for a couple I have that are used almost solely for ornamental texturing. Tempering will depend a lot on what carbon content you end up at in your bloom; but bloomery iron tends to be shallow hardening so base your processes on that to start with. Will you be forge welding on higher carbon ends as was commonly the case? (I have several old hammers I have bought that have wrought iron bodies but steeled faces!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEmory Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 See...shows how much I have yet to learn; thank you. I meant vertical and horizontal though you make a good point in having a thin and thick set of both which was why I had asked about the thickness of the one in my link. So my little set now comes to 7 hammers total, but I will probably end up doing a pair/quartet of larger cross peens. Should I do a larger ball peen as well? 5 lbs maybe? My education here is sorely lacking so I do not know what is commonly used. I had really wanted a sort of 'starter' set forged of this ore and I may start some sort of line out of better stock somewhere down the road of the same combination; whatever that will end up being. I pretty much cleaned out the large stones that I could, but there are some MUCH bigger stones outside the 'proper' cemetery, but that just didn't mean as much to me. I hadn't thought of forge welding on a face as forge welding in general is something I have never tried. In the past I had only made some basic fire tools, the poker of which I suppose WAS forge welded a bit but I didn't use flux, then I lost the room to work. I have not worked with bloomery iron at all which is why I needed alot of practice beforehand. I'm just getting the idea out there so I can find a little help with it. Could you point me in the right direction to learn this process? Perhaps I will madke the body of the hammers out of this ore and buy better stock for the faces, but honestly I'd like to avoid that, which leads to......... ....I have been learning all I can about the Aristotle furnace which can refine the carbon content of the bloom or just whatever scrap you have around if I am understanding things right. I have heard it has to do with the oxygen input, like the air blowing off the carbon during the melt or where less air will allow the product to soak up carbon. Please tell me if I am wrong about this. I plan to forge the hardware for my shop as well out of different ore and want to make it out of wrought iron as well as make blade and tool steel so I am highly interested in learning the processes for coming out with the results I am aiming for. It can be a bit confusing however because it seems to be vastly determined by what size furnace you have. Many smelts in my future, just working up to it. I would love to hear stories about how you came up with your designs as well. About how you maybe redesigned something you already had to do a certain job better, made a twin of a fav cuz you loved it so much, or for those hammers that are not self-made then I know people have a hammer that means something to them and I would love to hear the story. Some first time jobs would be awesome too. ~C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 methinks you are looking to leap before crawling...........as it were....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 If you got only one shot at getting it right, may I suggest that you make a hammer from more available materials in order find a shape and weight you prefer in a hammer. Once you have a preference, you can make the hammer you want and will use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEmory Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 I have been misunderstood I think. This is not an immediate project at all and I am saving this ore for the right time. I do have more from elsewhere to work with, just was harder to get ahold of cuz I had to drive around more. Leon county is on the state list for having iron ore so finding more isn't really an issue, I believe it is hematite (spelling) but need to get some pics up to be sure. That will be posted elsewhere. I understand that I have alot of time ahead of me still. In 'soon' I meant within the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Start saving your scale from forging---it's high grade magnetite ore you know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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