Brazeal - holding onto hammers

[Admanfrd]

I recently visited a smith who had trained with Brian Brazeal. He told me to practically hold the hammer head, but, he had a REALLY long handle.. why? If there is a reason it isn't 7-8" long and huge at the end to prevent slipping, i would love to know it. Thanks!

[brianbrazealblacksmith]

I think you're talking about having your hand up close to the hammer head, but your hand would be on the handle and not on the hammer head. Check out videos of other smiths like myself, Hofi, Habermann, or anyone that has been around these people awhile, and you should notice that there is a lot of tilting of the hammer to create smaller surfaces to forge with. Holding a hammer down the handle like most will do won't allow for much freedom of motion, and it would be stressful to your joints. Also, if you do larger work and use a larger hammer, it would not be as heavy to hold up by the head. Watch people forging with sledges also, when they are doing heavey work. No one would ever hold a sledge down low to initiate the throw of a large hammer.

[Dave Budd]

i think what admanfrd means is that the handle was excessively long for the technique used. Like you say Brian, yourself, Hofi, etc hold the heavy hammer quite close to the head (I do the same), but the handle on Hofi's hammers at least are pretty short since there is no need for a 14" shaft. 

 

I suspect that the visitor had just fitted a handle that he had lying about and it just happened to be much longer than needed  ;)   I doubt there would be a counter balance argument such as with some axe handles. I have cut a few of my handles down on account of them getting in the way when in use at shows (where I am working on a low anvil and I am prone to hitting the log in certain situations)

[Stephen Olivo]

a handle is a range.  Think of it like a scale with the most control and the least power down by the head and the most power but least control at the end of the handle.  When working smaller things you often want lots of control over how and where the hammer hits so you choke up.  When you start to work larger pieces to brake the stock down or draw it out the control is not as much an issue but you need more power so you slide your hand down the handle to effectively allow your hammer to work the larger cross section faster.   There is a point where the handle gets to cumbersome to use with your hand all the way up under the head and to short to effectively hold and control the hammer.  A striking sledge is to cumbersome with the long handle and a piece of round steel can be used in the hand but its hard to hold on to and you can't get the full amount of work from the piece all you can do is lift it up and drop it.  Works great for control but you are limited to the weight of the head for all your work.  

 

This is just what I have come to understand as I have used longer handles and shorter handles and at one point a piece of 4" round to strike some tooling with no handle.

[Admanfrd]

Wow, Brian responded to this 0.o. I meant that he said that Brian said to always choke up on the handle and never hold more than about 3" away from the head. All his handles were really long. Is there something about weight I'm missing or something?

[Frosty]

He may have misunderstood what Brian said. Where you grip the handle can depend on what you're doing, closer to the head (choked up) makes it easier to swing and control but less powerful where gripping near the end gives you the longest moment of leverage and the most power but is harder to control and more tiring. You might do the rough work gripping near the end to move the most metal fastest and do the clean up and texturing gripping near the head for control.

 

If you have to pick one person to follow word for word, Brian is a good choice.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Francis Trez Cole]

I involves many other factors not mentioned. First with a longer handle you gain more velocity. Second it is what you are accustom to. I have seen many farriers use light hammer with long handles and they have great control. I personally use a 16" handle. If I want to choke up I can and when you throw a hammer with you hand just guiding the hammer head your grip is loose. For me it is a fluid motion some times I want much more force even using a 5# hammer. With the raise of the hammer I let it slide through my hand so I catch it at the end of the handle with the added length You gain force on impact.For me I choose a handle with a bulge in the middle and at the end. With a short 9" handle you limit you velocity. There is nothing wrong with a straight handle again it is what you are accustom. Look a Philip Simmions he was accustom to a ball peen hammer.

[brianbrazealblacksmith]

I cut my handles at 15 inches because that is the length that fits best on my belt grinder where I shape them. I prefer long handles, and 18 inches would be my length of choice. I have hand hammers that range from 1 1/2 pounds to 6 pounds. I started out as a farrier and stand on the farriers side of the anvil to forge horseshoes, but I stand on the other side to do most of my blacksmithing. If you stand on the horseshoers side to forge and address the anvil from the heal side like Habermann and Hofi do, you need a short handle so you don't break your handle in the hardy hole or interfere with the anvil face. But by standing on the other side my handles dont hit the anvil no matter what the length. I initiate the up swing of my larger hammers close to the head because of the weight, but I do use the full length of my handle when needed.