Crazy Ivan Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 4140 rounding hammer with isolated fullers on the cheeks hung on a hand drawn and sanded American hickory handle, burnt and finished with a BLO, turpentine and beeswax mixture. I don't usually make 2 lb hammers since they don't seem to sell as quickly. I just wanted to take it easy on this one lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Cool hammer; very dramatic. The shape of the handle strikes me as a bit odd, though, and I wonder if the swelling is placed to far down to allow the occasional choking up on the handle. Does that make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankySmith Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 I'd use it any day...just in case, ya know, it's too light for the manly men up your way and you wanna ship it to a poor Southern Gal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 JHCC the swelling spot in the handle is great. I have been using one of crazy Ivan's hammers for about a week now and love the bulge. I fit the handle to what I like and cleaned up the bulge some so it fit inbetween my fingers comfortably. It is a great reference point for me to know where the hammer is during forging with out having to look. It has no effect on my ability to chock up on the handle. It really acts like a gear and cog. Your hand is the gear the swell is the cog. Pete puts a nice not to big button on the bottom of his handles too. Again helps with the knowing where your hammer is in your hand with out looking at the hammer. And the piece of mind that it should not sail out of your hand in a full swing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 2 minutes ago, matto said: JHCC the swelling spot in the handle is great. I have been using one of crazy Ivan's hammers for about a week now and love the bulge. I fit the handle to what I like and cleaned up the bulge some so it fit inbetween my fingers comfortably. It is a great reference point for me to know where the hammer is during forging with out having to look. It has no effect on my ability to chock up on the handle. It really acts like a gear and cog. Your hand is the gear the swell is the cog. Pete puts a nice not to big button on the bottom of his handles too. Again helps with the knowing where your hammer is in your hand with out looking at the hammer. And the piece of mind that it should not sail out of your hand in a full swing. That makes a lot of sense, matto; thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud in PA Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 What is the purpose of fullering the head? Is it for looks, balance or both? I do like it, and if I had the money and experience to use it I would buy one. The handle looks like it is easy to hang on to when your hands get sweaty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted April 2, 2016 Author Share Posted April 2, 2016 Thanks for the replies. Matto pretty much cleared up the wonkey looking handle design. As odd as it may look to the eye it it a real treat in the hand. 7 hours ago, Bud in PA said: What is the purpose of fullering the head? Is it for looks, balance or both? I do like it, and if I had the money and experience to use it I would buy one. The handle looks like it is easy to hang on to when your hands get sweaty. Bud, the fullers help in a few ways. One is that I like the hammers I make to be kind of stalkey to start out with so the fullering gives the hammer "reach" for using the edges without the handle getting in the way. Same time, the center of gravity is as close to the handle eye as possible so that off axis blows do not transfer to your wrist with the hammer head torquing. Make sense? My hammers do not go out the door without being perfectly balanced in the center of the mass because I think the over all feel of the hammer is greatly benefited by its center of gravity. I've had far less joint pain since I started making and using my own hammers, but that's partially because I suit them to what I've found that I need over all these years. So far I have had nobody who uses my hammers tell me otherwise so I'll keep it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave51B Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Hey Guys, either one of you have a pic of the rest of the handle? That looks awesome... Will I get in trouble if I try to copy that design? I definitely like that.......Thanks Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud in PA Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Thanks Ivan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted April 2, 2016 Author Share Posted April 2, 2016 58 minutes ago, Dave51B said: Hey Guys, either one of you have a pic of the rest of the handle? That looks awesome... Will I get in trouble if I try to copy that design? I definitely like that.......Thanks Dave Feel free brother. I don't own a trademark or anything. I'm not that type of person anyways. I'll make my money and if you like what I make, make it for yourself all you want. I was inspired after using Jymm Hoffman's hammer. He has "odd" bulges on his handles too only much differently. I'd only ask that if someone asks who's design it was that I get due credit. ill see if i have a pic handy. If not, ill make one monday and take one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhutton Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Nice looking hammer Pete...Really nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave51B Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Hey Ivan, thanks for the reply. I haven't a clue on how to go about it...But I have a few sacrificial handles laying around, to give it a go. Life is good Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 23 minutes ago, Dave51B said: Hey Ivan, thanks for the reply. I haven't a clue on how to go about it...But I have a few sacrificial handles laying around, to give it a go. Life is good Dave I use a draw knife and a 1.5" contact wheel on the belt grinder. Sometimes I preshape them on the wood lathe. Depends on how I feel going about it. The wood lathe gives me an oversized round blank to work with which I draw down and sand to oval by hand. Helps to keep things consistent. I start with 6/4 hickory slabs for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Here is what my handle looks like after I fit it to my hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave51B Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Jeepers, didn't realize there was so much wood working involved in blacksmithing......I prefer scale to sawdust..... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Dave I'm with you but a little hoof rasp and sand paper go along way in making a handle fit your hand. I have had this hammer for a week now and have almost 70 hrs using it. If I did not make it fit my hand I would probably have half the hours do to fatigue. or I would of started with it and then quite using it because the handle was to big or hurt my arm or hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 When you care as much about the handle feel as you do the aesthetic and balance of the hammer head, I figure it's worth the extra effort. I always said a poor handle can make an expensive hammer worse than a $3 hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 I like the fact that Pete takes as much time developing the handle as he does the head of the hammer. They are one of a kind hammers to use! Amen Brother Amen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 For what it's worth ..... Back in the 70's, there was an aftermarket company selling motorcycle handlebar grips, with a pentagonal cross section. The premise, was that the flats on the grip coincided with the distance from one knuckle to the next, ... thereby creating a very natural shape. And they worked surprisingly well in off-road applications, providing good control without fatigue. I've modified several handles, on heavier hammers, ( 4 to 4.5 lb. ) to reflect that shape, ... and like the control it provides. I thought the orientation of the pentagonal handle shape, to that of the head, might pose a problem when reversing the head, but in practice, it works very well either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Can you clarify about the pentagon, hammer head relationship please. A sketch would be perfect. I do remember the grips though but didn't use them long enough to really develop an opinion. A job change and thieves took off road biking off my menu. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 9 minutes ago, Frosty said: Can you clarify about the pentagon, hammer head relationship please. A sketch would be perfect. Consider the handle cross section of this Finnish puukko: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Got it, thanks. I'd have to give one a try to determine if I liked it better than my slab handles. Something to think about. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar.esq Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 Ivan, Nice looking hammers. Your comment about the lathe work reminded me of a trick I learned from the Woodwrights shop. You can turn a handle to oval by laying out three "centers" on each end of the handle stock. They're arranged in a line and the lines are parallel at each end of the stock. You use the centered center to make the stock round. That's the widest it's going to get. Then you use the other center's in combination. The idea is to turn the "shadow" shape that's created when the stock is whipping around. Its a pretty neat way to get things to a consistent shape. I'm curious how you go about verifying that your hammers are balanced to their center of gravity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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