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I Forge Iron

My first hammer head


AdamG

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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.

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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

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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.

 

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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.

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What kind of tools did you use for punching the eye?

 

 

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have a picture of the jig?

                                                                                                                      Littleblacksmith

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thanks!

                                                                                                                     Littleblacksmith

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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.

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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.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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.

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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?

 

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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). 

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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. 

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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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