September 22, 20169 yr Just thought I would throw this up for posterity. It's mild steel so it will be used for Japanese chisels (wood handle). I tried to forge weld some W2 on the striking ends but failed... I'm just getting started and just getting my forges running (charcoal and gas). i might take another run at this hammer head to clean it up, widen the eye, and maybe even stick weld some stainless or O1 or W2 on the ends. I wanted to stick with the Japanese style, but it's starting to look more like the farrier style rounding hammers.
September 22, 20169 yr Neat little hammer. How much does it weigh? What kind of steel did you make it out of?
September 22, 20169 yr Good Morning Adam Nice job! Soft Hammer for soft work is good. No need to Heat Treat. Punch your Mark, date and weight into it. In 20 years it will give you something to smile about, "My 1st Persuader". Look for a Semi or Gravel Truck axle. Ask at your local Truck Shop, they will have an old or broken one somewhere. They make great Hammers. Neil
September 25, 20169 yr Author Ok, I finished it yesterday. I cleaned it up a little dimensionally but probably didn't enlarge the eye enough. I used the oak board from the pallet my air compressor came on to make the handle, and shaped it with a hand plane and a push chisel. Then a little 120 sandpaper and a blast with the bernzomatic and some tung oil. There's a split in the handle though, which opened up when I burned it. Hope it's ok.
September 25, 20169 yr On 23/09/2016 at 0:56 AM, AdamG said: Just thought I would throw this up for posterity. It's mild steel so it will be used for Japanese chisels (wood handle). I tried to forge weld some W2 on the striking ends but failed... I'm just getting started and just getting my forges running (charcoal and gas). i might take another run at this hammer head to clean it up, widen the eye, and maybe even stick weld some stainless or O1 or W2 on the ends. I wanted to stick with the Japanese style, but it's starting to look more like the farrier style rounding hammers. What kind of tools did you use for punching the eye?
September 25, 20169 yr Author Just a couple of punch/drifts. The main one was made of 4140. Gave me a good blister, and took a while by myself. I also made a jig to keep the piece from rolling away.
September 27, 20169 yr Is that a Japanese kanna in the pic or have you made it yourself? If your first head looks so good I want to see your tenth.
October 2, 20169 yr That's a neat little jig! What kind of stock does everyone prefer to use for hammers? Round or square??? Cheers
October 2, 20169 yr Thanks for the pics. Your fullering tool/guillotine is almost identical to mine! I use old snow plow cutting edges for the dies. What did you use?
October 2, 20169 yr Author I'm starting easy... it's hot rolled mild steel, and soft! Mushrooming already. I may weld on some carbon steel or stainless bar I have on hand. I had written another post but it disappeared.
October 2, 20169 yr Most that I see is round stock but if you are going to do a few it is well worth it to spend alittle extra and get square. You have to make it square to forge it anyway. Try a piece of angle iron for your jig to hold round stock. You can make another jig off of the angle iron that will always put a center punch mark in the middle of the stock. Will try and remember to get a pic. Today.
October 9, 20169 yr Author Well, those tongs are a bit weak, but they work. And I tried making a handled hammer eye punch, but decided it was too big so I made it into a cross-pein. However, it puckered up so much I had to cut off about 3/16" and still was left with a deep divot. I'll have to pay more attention next time.
October 23, 20169 yr Author Finished my hammer eye punch and fuller. I think if I were to do this again I would change a few things with dimensions, more fullering on the hammer face of the cross-pein/fuller, etc. I think I might need to make bigger eyes for future hammers too.
October 30, 20169 yr Author Just had to post. This looks way better with a filed-down and treated handle. The knife is not my creation.
November 6, 20169 yr Author How much puckering is too much? This is the start of a cupping tool, made of mild steel for making hammer heads of medium carbon steel (1045 or 4140 seem to be what I can find). This picture is the tapered end of the hardy. Is this a problem?
November 6, 20169 yr Looks like you need to get it hotter and hit it harder. Not trying to sound like a donkey, just thinking that might help prevent some of the puckering. Give a friend or family member some food and drink one day and get them to strike for you. Just be patient and explain exactly what how and where to hit. My wife loves to help on occasion (good for stress) but I have to give it to her step by step what we are doing and sometimes having a picture to be able to point at and say 'this is the part we're working on now' can help. After I do that she's usually able to tell what I need about the same time I do (she won't admit it but she's a quick learner).
November 7, 20169 yr One problem with creating "fish mouths" on thick stock is that one needs to let the work soak long enough and slowly increase the temperature so that it is heated evenly throughout. If the stock is heated rapidly, the outside gets hotter and softer faster than the interior. As you hammer it, the hotter outside will move more than the interior, resulting in the overlap, or "fish mouth". Heat your work thoroughly and evenly before hammering.
November 7, 20169 yr Arkie and Michael are right, all that fish-lipping is caused by insufficient heat and/or too light a hammer blow. You can't use a light hammer to draw down heavy stock because it doesn't have the weight necessary and your arm can only power it so much. The result is the outside layers moving faster than the center layers, which makes the fish lips. Check out Brent Bailey's youtube video on making a 3-pound cross peen hammer. He uses an 8-pound hammer to do the major moving! As the end of the shank going into the hardy hole, it's a nonissue because it's not actually part of the working area.
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