Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Stainless steel: hammer material?


Admanfrd

Recommended Posts

Is stainless steel a good hammer material? i found some 2" round rods 148" long for $100.00 a piece. Is this good for hammers?

They are 15-5PH stainless

I found this composition if it helps 

 

Carbon 0.07 max.

Manganese 1.00 max.
Phosphorus 0.040 max.
Sulfur 0.030 max.
Silicon 1.00 max.
Chromium 14.00 - 15.50
Nickel 3.50 - 5.50
Copper 2.50 - 4.50
Columbium plus Tantalum 0.15 - 0.45
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks; that's better.  Now look at the carbon content:  7 points *max*---30 points is the lower boundry for medium carbon steels and stainless steels tend to bind carbon in the alloying element carbides if you are not careful.

 

So not an alloy I would make hammers from; however I might make blade fittings from it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"practice hammers" ---Why not just make *real* ones???? 

 

That alloy will not work like good hammer alloys so what are you practicing?  (making mud pies isn't good practice in making apple pies!)

 

 at US$100 a piece you could buy a heck of a lot of good hammer steel!

 

Knife fittings:  guards, pommels, bolsters.  Of course just one of those rods would probably be a more than lifetime supply and not a very easily worked size/shape.  (Unless you are making wheel pommels for medieval swords and even then making 75+ the same would probably be a tad wearing on you even with a good lathe)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...