liamh Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Hello all, I am curious as to what a high quality hammer steel would be? This hammer would be used to forge steel. Are they made out of steels like S7, 5160, 1060? I've also seen some damascus steel hammers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 good stuff is 1045, 5160 would be good if you could find it in big blocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liamh Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 I have 1 inch diameter 5160 round stock, i use it to forge tomahawks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 1045 and 4140 are both commonly used to make quality hammers for forging... most consider 1045 about ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOblacksmith0530 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I used to use mostly 4140 plenty hard if heat treated correctly and has good abrasion resistance, I still use it when I have it. I have also made very acceptable hammers from 1040 through 1050. I think Nathan at Jackpine forge (big hammer maker) uses only 1045, and makes excellent hammers. The goood thing about the 10XX steels is they are more forgiving on the heat treat and can be water hardened and tempered generally without cracking from stress. The last half dozen hammers I hae made have all been out of 1040 and have worked well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 The high alloy steels can make excellent hammers; however medium carbon plain steels make excellent hammers as well and are far cheaper and easier to forge without messing up or needing fancy heat treats. So most of us use plain medium carbon steels and save the high alloy stuff for things like punches and slitters where the high hot hardness is a *great* advantage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormcrow Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 I make axes and my power hammer dies out of 4140 and it performs excellently with a pretty simple heat treatment. For a hammer, I'd bring it up to non-magnetic, giving time for the heat to soak into the mass, and then quench in oil. I use a commercial slow quench oil from McMaster Carr for it. After it's cooled, I'd temper three times at 600 degrees for an hour. 4140 will crack if water quenched. If you don't have about 5 gallons of oil to quench in, go for 1045 and water quench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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