der schmied Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Ok, I used a straight pein recently and found that my striking with the pein end was much more accurate and the placement of the "divot" was where I wanted it, as opposed to with the cross pein. And, frankly, I just liked it better. Now, I happened to stumble across a few cross pein hammer heads in my in-law's barn the other day and got them for the best price going...FREE! I was wondering if it would be possible to forge the pein from cross to straight. Ok, I know its possible, but is it worth the time and effort? And thoughts would be appreciated. Also, keeping in mind that I'm new to smithing, if it's worth it, will this project be over my head or above my abbilities? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Just try it. Any hammer time is experience time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
781 Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 probably easier to start from scratch and forge a whole hammer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
der schmied Posted August 15, 2012 Author Share Posted August 15, 2012 Just try it. Any hammer time is experience time. Good point! Maybe I will just give it a shot and see what happens! probably easier to start from scratch and forge a whole hammer Im sure that forging a whole hammer IS above my skill set at this point. I dont even have punches, drifts or slitters made yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Why not forge the flat face and make a double peen cross/straight from one? I've seen a fellow take a double jack hammer and make 2 45 deg peens on it using a hydraulic press----1 heat per peen! Just take care to examine old hammer faces for cracks; you don't want to use them, though you might be able to cut off the cracked area making for a lighter but solid hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
der schmied Posted August 15, 2012 Author Share Posted August 15, 2012 Why not forge the flat face and make a double peen cross/straight from one? I've seen a fellow take a double jack hammer and make 2 45 deg peens on it using a hydraulic press----1 heat per peen! Just take care to examine old hammer faces for cracks; you don't want to use them, though you might be able to cut off the cracked area making for a lighter but solid hammer. Very good idea! Thank you Thomas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
son_of_bluegrass Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Before you do anything, have you looked to see if any of the hammers are worth anything? If you have one collectable hammer in the bunch you may be able to sell that one and buy a couple of straight peens in different sizes. Or maybe not. ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Being to lazy to punch holes for handles I like using old double face and ball peen hammers from garage sales, flea markets and so on to re forge into custom shapes.......One of my favorites is my 1.5lb diagonal peen. Imo cross, diagonal, and strait in varying sizes are all useful.....But then you'll need a hammer rack......... B) Funny thing happened the other day......I got a nice 2lb dbl face and was pondering what to make on the end when I realised I didn't have a single medium dbl face hammer in the shop, got one now....... :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 I twisted a peen on a hammer from cross to diagonal. The effort to do that was serious! If you can take a larger ball peen hammer and flatten the peen as desired you may like the result. Alternatively take a cheap drilling hammer and stock remove the peen you want on it. I stopped at "fullering" which is a really big radius on a cross peen. That was the hammer I was using at the open forge. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Really hard to tell on here wot your abilities are,,"Cep't from wot you said, That to me may mean that you might want to take a shot at reforging one of the heads. Thomas' Suggestion that you make a douible pein hammer head really sounds like a great place to begin. y ou may be pleased to find youi can do this if youi keep at it and that after wards you may learn how to use both ends for different directions of metal movement. i like a cross and straight pein and today made a diagonal cross pein. Will see if I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
der schmied Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 Good ideas all. I have several of them, so I may try several projects to create differant sizes, angles, radius, ect.. Phill, I did'nt even notice the hammer you were using, I was too busy trying not to screw up what I was doing! I'd like to check it out if/when you make it back up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Good ideas all. I have several of them, so I may try several projects to create differant sizes, angles, radius, ect.. Phill, I did'nt even notice the hammer you were using, I was too busy trying not to screw up what I was doing! I'd like to check it out if/when you make it back up! Gonna be a while before I get up there...2 hours to my parents so they can have Grandparent duty with my daughter, then an hour over there...I can't do that very often. I started with a $7 3# Truper brand drilling hammer from Menards, wood handle, but has that stupid rubber collar on it AND it probably hides a split in the handle...buy a new handle at the same time for $5 the old one is quite short anyways. Cut the rubber off, and maybe the handle too (it is probably split and makes this easier anyways). Dress one face to "watchglass" where the center is pretty much flat, about the size of a dime, maybe a quarter, on that hammer, and then gradually transitions around the edges. Grind the horrible drop forge flash off for cosmetics (or not). Make a template that is a circle the size of the other face (about 1 1/2 inch diameter IIRC) cut it in two half circles, apply them to the top and bottom of the hammer as a grinding guide. Grind to the line, then dress the top and bottom "watchglass" but rounded. The sides should have blended in just fine going to the template. Tip: leave the swirls in a line in the center of the "peen" end so you know you are leaving as much metal as possible, then remove the swirls when you start to dress the head after shaping. Drift the wood plug up and out of the hammer; save the metal wedge. You can use a piece of 1/2 inch mild round as a drift for this. File the flash inside the eye (if needed) and relieve the bottom of the eye some so as not to split the new handle. Install the new handle properly. Use caulk (Sikeflex) if you want, but I didn't and don't see the need with wedges. Now get a spokeshave, draw knife, rasp, sandpaper, whatever and adjust the handle to fit your hand. Forge some, trim some. Don't be afraid of going too far because you can re-re-handle easily. MARK the handle at 10 inches below the head, I use a wrap of electrical tape so I can move the mark if I want. After you are SURE that the length mark is in the correct place cut the handle shorter. I had at least 3 forge sessions before making this cut. Congratulations! You just spent an hour or more making a $7 hammer into a usable forging tool! If you are careful about not removing too much metal, and keeping the metal cool, there will be no need to re-harden. These hammers are soft in the middle, but you have to take about 3/8 inch of material off. Yes, I have ruined a couple. The experience of taking a low quality hammer and dressing it to usable quality is well worth the time it takes. Phil Edit: I just checked, my hammer does not have an actual "dead flat" spot. It is very nearly flat for about the size of a US quarter, but still has a very slight crown to it. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Phil do youi have pics of your finished hammer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Phil do youi have pics of your finished hammer? I thought I attached pics. I can see them on the end of my post. Would you like additional views? This was a pure stock removal process. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 i guess I thought those were the before pics...did not see the modification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 I didn't go hog wild on that hammer. I don't have any "before" pictures. I couldn't find the ruined hammer (not that it matters much). I took a few pictures of the 4 that I use with some regularity, the one above included. left to right twisted 3# cross peen, 3# cross peen, 3# drilling hammer (pictured above), 4# drilling hammer (not completely dressed out) Pic 1 side (you can see the tape on the 4# handle marking length, and grinding flash off on the 4#) pic 2 faces (the twisted hammer is scarred because I didn't re-harden it.) pic 3 peens Pic 4 cutoff handles from these and others, the top one shows how the rubber boot was on the handle. The older hammers of this brand don't have the rubber boot, and the handle isn't split. The last 3 are just of the 3# modified drilling hammer from the previous post. pic 5 side view of 3# drilling hammer face on anvil, pic 6 side view of 3# drilling hammer peen on anvil pic 7 bottom view of 3# drilling hammer peen on anvil. in pics 5, 6, 7 there is a US quarter sitting on the anvil, but it isn't helpful because it is not in the same plane as the hammer. Sorry the pictures are fuzzy, this camera doesn't do macro. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
der schmied Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 Phil! Awsome work! Thanks for the advice all! Appriciate it, once i ger one done Ill post some pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Being to lazy to punch holes for handles I like using old double face and ball peen hammers from garage sales, flea markets and so on to re forge into custom shapes.......One of my favorites is my 1.5lb diagonal peen. Imo cross, diagonal, and strait in varying sizes are all useful.....But then you'll need a hammer rack......... B) Funny thing happened the other day......I got a nice 2lb dbl face and was pondering what to make on the end when I realised I didn't have a single medium dbl face hammer in the shop, got one now....... :D That's a good one Bruce! While that exact thing hasn't happened to me I've done similar and it's been good for a laugh every time. Thanks for the smile. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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