Maillemaker Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Curiosity killed the cat, they say; at least the feline died informed. I was watching an episode of the Woodwright's shop the other day, and Peter Ross was talking about his hammer as he was taking a heat. He said that all his cross-peen hammer has a flat face with only slightly rounded corners. He stated that the smaller the radius of the peen, the more it acts like a chisel: cutting rather than spreading. http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/video/3200/3211.html at 15:00 or so. What does your cross-peen look like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 5/8 inch is the smallest radius I have , most are closer to 3/4 or 1 inch radius, and I have one that is a about 6 inch radius straight/cross combo I use just for drawing out damascus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYBOY Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 I much prefer a more rounded peen for general forging but we have some more "pointed" peens for specialty work. On a side note I greatly admire Peter Ross's work, his tools and clean white forgings are nothing short of spectacular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toolish Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Yep, i am slowly learning the big radius peens are much easier to use and make less dents. Most of my hammers have since had some filing, grinding then sanding to make them nice and smooth. Love a shinny smooth Peen. Love a straight peen even more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 I agree with Peter Ross. A somewhat flat bottomed peen (as compared to a half round profile) will (IMO) actually move metal a bit faster and leave less clean up work to do when drawing out the metals. To leave stronger marks you just tilt the hammer slightly to use the tighter radii at the edges of the peen... this makes the whole hammer more versatile! This is not an unusual shape for a peen. IME it is pretty widely used. It is quite shocking to witness the versatiity and efficiency of a simple forging hammer in the hands of a very skilled smith!!! Heavy shaping and amazingly delicate shapes both flow from the same tools and hands as if by MAGIC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancho Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 I agree with Peter Ross too. If the peen is sharp you have to spend a lot of time and energy flattening the depressions after spreading while with bigger radius you can really perfom ovelaping of blows . However sometimes sharp peen is needed thus there is no universal hammer. Each serves own purpose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 I changed my cross peens after I saw a Peter Ross demo in Albuquerque a number of years ago. I sanded my half rounds down to a "near flat." There is a slight radius, and the corners have small radii. I also crowned the length of the peen a bit in an attempt to always be in the middle of the peen when using it, thereby avoiding edge marks. I remember that Ross was asked about the rationale. He simply said, "Less clean up." Sayings and Cornpone "Life is not a dress rehearsal." Rose Tremain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 My favorite is a straight peen; it's an oldie and the straightpeen part looks rather like a chunk of 1" round stock attached to the hammer (not made that way, commercially drop forged I believe) with that broad smooth peen and the horn of my main shop anvil I can draw out stock easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Mullins Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 I have a more pointed peen used for defining leaves, fish tail scrools, etc, and a larger radius I use some of the time for drawing out stock. My hammer collection continues to grow as my experience and skill progress, but I do have plans to a broader faced peen to the collection. Perhaps off topic, but is there a distiction between fullering and peening? To me peening come to mind when working on more detailed or small scale, and fullering for moving more material or when drawing out stock. This could of course be the simple misconceptions of a newbie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Fullering is done with bottom and top tools called fullers. The top tool is one of indirect percussion. They are used for making grooves or indentations in metal, as well as drawing out the metal. You get more accuracy than with direct percussion (swinging a hammer). My way of thinking about peens is that they are smaller than hammer faces, witness ball peen, cross peen, and straight peen. On a rounding hammer, it is more proper to call the rounding face a "ball face," because it is the same diameter as the other face. Peening is done with direct percussion. 'Peen' is also a verb. I will often say that I "peen up" a rivet head. Sayings and Cornpone "It's better to wear out than to rust out." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 I made a 5# cross peen with the same style as Peter after taken a class from him. He is one of the most impressive smith's I have ever seem. to hit a piece of steel on the edge of the anvil and have both sides the hammer side and the anvil side come out the same. As he says a few extra min in the forge and a lot less filing. He dose suffer from damage to the elbow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I have 3 different cross peen hammers. A 3.3# with a flat face about 7/16 wide x 2" long, a 2.5# with a face about 1/4" wide x 1 3/8" and another 2.5# with a face about 3/16" wide x 1 5/8". Of all 3, the 1/4" wide peen is the easiest to control. It has more of a curve to the length of face than any of the other ones. If the face is too flat it will bounce back and forth along the length, making some nasty dents. I like them because clean up is easier and you can forge closer to finish size than with a rounded face Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYBOY Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I made a 5# cross peen with the same style as Peter after taken a class from him. He is one of the most impressive smith's I have ever seem. to hit a piece of steel on the edge of the anvil and have both sides the hammer side and the anvil side come out the same. As he says a few extra min in the forge and a lot less filing. He dose suffer from damage to the elbow. I heard him say "10 min at the forge will save you an hour at the vise"..So true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.