Set tools (punches etc.) from hammers

[matt87]

I've seen this done somewhere before but for the life of me I can't find any articles or pages on he net (including in the BPs) on this. Could anyone point me in the right direction at all? I'm mainly looking for harden/temper info. I'm guessing that modern cheap hammer heads are something like 1050 to 1070. Can anyone shed some light on the subject?

[mike-hr]

You want the punch end hard, and the struck end soft. I would normalize a few times, or anneal overnight after re-shaping. Wrap a wet rag around the end you don't want hard, keep squirting the rag with water while heating. use a solid fuel forge and only stick the end you want soft in the fire. When it gets non-magnetic, quench in oil, swirling the whole piece around .After it's quenched, temper. You could put the whole piece in the oven at 450F for an hour for inch of cross section, or use a drift that fits the eye that's heated to red, and watch the colours rise up the punch until the end starts turning blue, then quench in water. Heat rises, so orient the punch up. This works real nice to use two drifts in the fire, so one will be ready as the other cools down.

[Shane Stegmeier]

Robb Gunter says that ball pein hammers were better quality steel than regular hammers I have that in my notes somewhere... Found it apparently most of them used to be W-1 tool steel, I wouldn't guess that the cheap chinese import hammers are the same, but I would water quench them anyway... If you can find some nice old ball pein hammer heads at the fleamarket, or garage sales use them. You will want to keep them well lubucricated and cool them often while using them or they will mushroom badly need to be redressed at best, and at the worst they will get stuck in the work.

[Rich Hale]

If it takes you a while to get the heat treat correct and want to work in the mean time use a brass hammer to strike those tools that you hca not tempered on the end you hit. Just DO NOT allow them to be struck with anything else maybe a spritz of red paint would remind,,,I at times use a regular hammer or pein for something odd and use a brass hammer for it. Brass pein is also good for useing over a cut off hardy. No worry about marring the face of hammer or hardy, Enjoy

[matt87]

Well I finished making it today and tested it sucessfully. The raw material was a

[R Funk]

Matt 87

I would draw the struck side of the tool to reduce chipping when struck.

I tend to be conservative but I would draw (temper) the struck end to almost a dull barely visible red. It is easier to reforge or grind if it mushrooms. It is much harder to repair if it fractures plus the safety hazard of flying steel chips.

It is hard to know what steel it is but I am certain is not a great steel. But it should be fine for top tool.

On a side note I never use a wedge or similar on a struck top tool handle . If the tool is loose on the handle it is less likely to break the handle on a miss strike.