I recently started making hammers myself, i've made a rounding hammer but struggled grinding the round dye ( in don't have a belt sander only an angle grinder)

Any tips? thanks!!

 

Look into Mark Aspery's first book.  Then check out Brent Bailey's grinding videos.  

Thank you very much!

By the way nice looking hammer!!

Thanks again!!!

 

I made it this year just not so lang after my 14th birthday!!

 

Where are you from?? You might be surprised how many blacksmiths are around you!!  You might be able to hook up with one or all of them to show you a couple tricks.  There also might be a club close that you could go to and see so much more.  If you are around Nebraska my door is always open.  

Im from The Netherlands, Maastricht Nebreska in quite a trip But thank you very much for the offer!! 

I know there are some other smiths on this sight from the Netherlands that I know would be more than willing to help you out!!

Calling all Netherlands Smiths!! 

Look up Tecnicus Joe, (a.k.a. Joe Van der steeg ? ? ?).

Sorry about the mangled spelling.

Just sayin.

SLAG.

His videos are well worth a look, too.

Edited September 11, 20169 yr by SLAG
remediating punctuation.

I know I was at his shop some time ago.

He helped me make this hammer and gave me some valuable tips.

It was a lot of fun working with him!

I am also familiar with his videos, but thanks a lot for the tip!

-Smitse

On 9/11/2016 at 9:46 AM, Smitse said:

I recently started making hammers myself, i've made a rounding hammer but struggled grinding the round dye ( in don't have a belt sander only an angle grinder)

Any tips? thanks!!

Hi Smitse and welcome to the site, if you didn't have a cupping tool to form your dome, you should have forged the rounding end and then finish with a hot file/farriers rasp, allow it to cool slowly to anneal/ stress relieve it and keep the metal relatively soft, so that you can then finish file, and polish to give your required smooth finish, When satisfied, heat treat and then a final finishing polish and buff.

If you are going to use your angle grinder you will ned a bit of patience and various grit wheels rough out first with a coarse grit to your desired profile, then a finer grit and finish with emery cloth in increasing grades until your reach your goal.

Have fun plenty of tips here on finishing and polishing. 

 

 Thank you very much! the thing i struggled with was that it shouldn't be a half round "ball" but it should have different radii... but i kept getting a flat spot in the middle i don't know how to get it out in the picture you don't see a half round ball but neither a flat spot. how would i remove the flat spot????

 

 First, that is a NICE hammer, and for a 14 year old to have forged it proves that age means nothing. GREAT WORK !  Joe, Alec, Daniel are all GREAT young-ish smiths that are keeping the faith and carrying on the tradition. I think we need to add "Smitse" to that list.  

 As for the hammer, I use a flap disc on my 4-1/2" angle grinder to profile my rounding "dies".   I find the center then with a compass, draw circles on the face and work the wheel in those starting from the edge to create the primary steps so, the outer circle would have the most material removed and at the steepest angle, then move in to the next etc. After I have that all done, I work in multiple directions across the face. draw lines across top like the face of a clock and work the disc across in those directions to take the steps out.  Really hard to explain what I mean but I hope you get the idea.

 

    Todd

Thank you very much for the kind words todd, 

I was planning on getting a 4 pound hammer and practice to make the round face on there. ( I needed a 4 pound rounding hammer)                                                               I understand that it was hard to explain but in get it:)

 

PS. You can call me Jeroen, thats my real name, maybe a little hard to pronounce:)

 

Jeroen (aka Smitse)

 

 

6 hours ago, Smitse said:

I was planning on getting a 4 pound hammer and practice to make the round face on there. ( I needed a 4 pound rounding hammer)

 

Good idea. Here's my own 3 pounder, reground to rounding:

Nice!

Todd's directions are very good, and a flap disc is definitely the way to go. A hard disc will grind flat facets, but a flap disc will naturally tend to round over the edges, especially as you press harder. 

Thanks for the info!! it helps me very much!

Also, make sure you've ground to the profile you want before you move on to a finer grit. 

The slack belt section of a belt grinder works too, once the profile is mostly worked out.

I shaped my 6 lb sledgehammer into a rounding hammer that way.  Right at my upper limit!

yes thats a good way to do it, but i don't own a belt grinder.... its on the list of things i want to buy....

Early blacksmiths made lots of tools before belt grinders even existed. Electric just made things easier and or made things faster. 

If you NEED a belt grinder, then make one. Attach a long piece of sandpaper (or cut a sanding belt) to a wooden frame so the belt if only attached at the ends. The middle will have a bit of slack naturally. Think on a long U or \_____/ . Move the hammer head instead of the belt.

You may have to unlearn some of the things you have been taught or told are necessary in order to work and get the job done. Thinking outside the box is an excuse, so do not go there. Do not build the box (limits) and everything is possible. It is a skill that is acquired through practice. Stop looking and starting seeing the possibilities and what IS possible with the materials at hand.

Your a blacksmith, you make things. So make what you need, or a tool, to get the job done. If you build a box (I need a belt grinder) then you limit yourself until you get a belt grinder. If you DO NOT build a box then you do not have to think outside the box, and everything becomes a possibility. For instance, put a piece of foam under the sandpaper. You will get support for the sandpaper AND the sandpaper will flex and conform to the shape you need. No box, problem solved. 

The body of this hammer is round, so a large knife vise should work for rotating it evenly.