john_zxz Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 For a couple of weeks, I seek the Internet and local shop to find a 2 to 2 1/2 pounds hammer for forging and I wasn't able to find one. All local hammers are 3 pounds and the shipping for a hammer is more than the price itself when I check on blacksmith supply websites. So I decided to give it a go and make myself one. I didn't have any big high carbon steel so I made it the old way. Mild steel body and high carbon steel face. All I had was a piece of 2" round mild steel and spring steel flat bar from a car's suspension. I slit the eye and then drift it, tapered the pein end and then forge welded the spring piece to the face. It was a really good practice for forge welding. I don't do it very often and I learned much with this hammer. I had diffuculty to reach welding heat on the hammer body and I have tried at least 15 times to do the forge weld. Putting the small face plate on the right place and at the same temperature as the body was real hard. For those of you that say that if your weld did not take after 3 attempt, don't try anymore it is worthless... then it is not true. As long as you don't burn the steel it is okay to continue. I finaly succeeded when I started the forge weld in the fire directly. They stick together when they were at the right temperature and I was able to lift the whole thing to the anvil and set the weld then put it back in fire and do this 2-3 times to make sure the weld was good. Once the weld completed, I forged the face to shape and then I did the hardening in oil and then the tempering. I tempered it to a purple color because I was scared that a missed blow would damage the hammer or the anvil if it was too hard so I feel more safe with purple on the face. I did not tempered the pein as it is mild steel. The handle is red oak. So far I'm really impressed with this hammer, not because I made it but it happens that it feels very comfortable in my hand. It's like I have nothing in hand, my arm is never tired like with my other hammers. I used to forge with a 3 pound hammer for a long time but now I'm getting the same work done in the same time with a smaller hammer. I can hit faster but with no fatigue. It seems that I found the right balance and weight for me. I was scared of doing all this hard work and then realize that it is not good at all, but it was the inverse totally. Plus, it is very satisfying to forge a good forging hammer like they did in the past. Give me your impressions guys or your own story with your first hammer, I'm curious to read yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Make sure to put your mark on that one---it's a keeper! I haven't seen many, if any, mild steel body/high carbon steel face hammers; most composites I have seen were wrought iron body and high carbon steel face; (I own several of that type). By the time mild steel was cheeply available the price of higher carbon steel had dropped quite a bit. HOWEVER; you still have made an excellent hammer indeed! A most proper variation on the traditional method! IIRC there is a comment in Richardson's "Practical Blacksmithing" on the difficulties of welding a face on a hammer and they suggested cutting a couple of spurs in the back of the face plate to drive into the hot body and hold them together during heating for welding. Did you do something similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_zxz Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 Thanks Thomas. You are right about the mark, I forgot to stamp my initials and the year... I'll do this tomorrow. How could I possibly forgot that... :blink: I read a similar article for the hammer face in "Blacksmithing Basics for the Homestead" by DeLaronde. I tried to put some spurs in the back of the face to "grip" on the body but they flatenned as soon as I put the hammer head on them... Maybe they were not sharp enough and not raised high enough. I just put the body in fire and when it became yellow I put the high carbon steel near to get the same temperature. Then with my poker and tongs, I placed the face on the body and they stick together just enough to lift the "package" to the anvil. It's the only way I was able to join these 2 pieces together. Before that attempt, I tried the "drop the tongs" method but the face was never hot enough to weld when I arrived to the anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 That is one NICE hammer Do put your mark on it! You don't want it growing legs. I've always wondered about welding HC faces on hammer bodies and just haven't done the experimenting I'd need to to answer my own questions. My impression was to weld the face right after slitting the eye and well before forging the pein down. I have a philosophy about doing tricky projects, I try to do the tricky part first if possible. That way if it just doesn't work I've lost the least amount of time and effort. Slitting the eye first helps reduce the heating and soaking time on the hammer body. Leaving the pein till later gives you a good flat parallel face you don't need to protect during the welding step. Welding spring can be trickier than low alloy high carbon, the chrome content can be problematical. Chrome oxide just doesn't weld easily at all and chrome oxidizes very quickly at temp, heck it oxidizes quickly cold. when I'm messing with welding spring I form it and match the joints, let it cool and put it on the belt grinder for a quick polish THEN I either flux it and warm it till the flux melts immediately OR spritz it with light oil like "3 in ONE". The trick that's been most successful for me is keeping air OFF the spring steel as completely as possible. I'd seriously consider matching the hammer to the plate, polish the hammer body, oil it, polish the steel face, oil it and perimeter weld it leaving a small gap. As it cools put a drop or two of "3 IN ONE" in the gap so capillarity draws it in and go to the forge. Well, I think I've rambled more than enough for now. Great job on the hammer, well done. Frosty The Lucky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 weld looks very good. I will back up the statements others made about how chrome steels are a real pain to weld. you did well, hammer works for you and looks great, nothing more to say here :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Like Frosty I haven't tried welding a hammer face on, but I have seen a couple of refferance a in third world extencian service manuals that suggest making a nail out of the face material and punching the face plate. From there the face is nailed to to the hot body, fluxes and heated as an assembly. Might be worth a try. I will offer my congradualations on a job well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCROB Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Nice work John !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_zxz Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 Thanks all for the comments. I did not know about the chrome content in the spring... I just took it because I knew it was a hard steel. I learned something new today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zengineer Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Something to be very proud of! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARVINf Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 i just made my first hammer back in june of this year. a hammer making class at virginia blacksmithing institue. taught by nathan robertson. hammer said to to be the best of both classes. i chose to make a 2 1/2 lb. rounder. 4140 hardened then tempered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_zxz Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 Nice! Your hammer looks really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Thanks all for the comments. I did not know about the chrome content in the spring... I just took it because I knew it was a hard steel. I learned something new today! And a good choice, spring steel is just a little trickier to weld is all but it's darned good stock. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Beautiful hammer Marvin! Well done! <to understate the accomplishment.> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 both of you have made nice looking hammers the only suggestion I would add while you drift out your eye I would thin out the sides of the hammer. That will help loosen the drift from the hammer head Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Gaddis Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 We make a lot of hammer products down here in the South. But I am interested in forging a spring plate onto a face for a tool also. Somewhere in an old manual it was stated that a slot was formed on one piece or the other to help "hold" the other piece steady while performing the forge weld.I am going to try this next week for one project and then I am going to try placing a little bit of a tack weld (electric) on another. Of course that will be after all the prep cleaning is performed. The tack weld is to only hold the two into a common dimension as the forge weld deforms the two pieces into one, allowing the other material to squish out the crack along the side. Maybe there will be a picture or two taken.Carry on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_zxz Posted August 18, 2013 Author Share Posted August 18, 2013 We make a lot of hammer products down here in the South. But I am interested in forging a spring plate onto a face for a tool also. Somewhere in an old manual it was stated that a slot was formed on one piece or the other to help "hold" the other piece steady while performing the forge weld. I am going to try this next week for one project and then I am going to try placing a little bit of a tack weld (electric) on another. Of course that will be after all the prep cleaning is performed. The tack weld is to only hold the two into a common dimension as the forge weld deforms the two pieces into one, allowing the other material to squish out the crack along the side. Maybe there will be a picture or two taken. Carry on Great! I would like to see the result, if you took any pictures of it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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