Davor Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Few weeks ago I came across an article, on the web, about useful types of iron in the blacksmiths shop and of course what they can be used for. And it said that a railroad track can be used for a hammer. Well I have a piece of track laying around, not from a train track but smaller. So why a Japanese hammer, well it seemed as the simplest hammer to create, and it is my first hammer project. I cut the top of the track with an angle grinder and drilled the hole, then I tapered the whole thing a bit and drifted the hole. Simple enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Hi Davor, Nice use for a piece of junk steel. I just have a couple of questions: Have you tried to use it yet? Doesn't it leave hammer marks in the steel? I can't see in the pictures is it crowned or not. What diameter was the hole you drilled? And the final hole, is it about 2 cm in diameter? Thanks in advance for the answers. Greetings Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davor Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 I haven’t used it yet, hope to find some time tomorrow. I’m not sure what you mean by crowned, the striking end has the biggest diameter. I drilled a 12mm hole and drifted it to 21 mm. I would like it to be a bit larger but I don’t have a bigger punch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Thanks for the info. By crowned I meant that the face of the hammer usually gets some grinding on the edges. This produces a bit rounded edge surface and thus you can better avoid hammermarks. Here is a picture which shows it well. The picture is from here: http://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?showtopic=16838 For bigger punches I use sway bars or halfshafts found on scrapyards. 30 mm dia is quite common. Just needs to hit it hard :) Tell us how did the hammer work after you tried it! Happy hammering! Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Pretty good looking hammer Davor. Have you heat treated it? I don't know about RR rail in your part of the world but in America it's high carbon, 1085 +/- and if you don't draw a good enough temper it can chip dangerously. At full hardness it can shatter like a ceramic cup. Crowning is putting a slight dome in the hammer face and grinding a radius in the edges is called "radiusing the edges". Radiusing the edges is more important than a crown as it not only helps keep from marring the work but relieves the edges so they don't chip as easily. You done good Bro Keep it up. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davor Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Well now I know what crowned is I can say no it is not crowned, but it will be. Now when I think about it, it is pretty common sense. :huh: :P I didn’t heat treat it, I’ve just let it cool down when I pulled it out of the fire (no quenching or anything like that). I was worried it might chip in use, but I didn’t have the time to use it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davor Posted February 8, 2014 Author Share Posted February 8, 2014 The hammer works fine, well to be honest it worked fine till the head didn't break of the top of the handle. I guess that a 21 mm is not big enough for the handle. :huh: Ill drift it some more, I just have to find or make a bigger punch/drift. It does take a bit of getting used to, kind of a strange feeling having such a long hammerhead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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