AdamG Posted November 7, 2016 Author Share Posted November 7, 2016 Thanks, guys. That's about what I figured. That's the largest stock I have ever worked, and even with one of my burliest friends on a 12 lb sledge, I could see the surface moving more than the core. I was running out of propane, but I think the issue is that my forge just doesn't get hot enough. Or we were a bit impatient, but 2" is probably beyond the limit for my shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamG Posted April 2, 2017 Author Share Posted April 2, 2017 Ok, next round of hammers. I wanted a rounding hammer so I tried to make one out of 1045. I don't have the gear to move this size stock on my own. Just barely made the punch through. Next is my first Asian style hammer head. It's just mild steel, so it may be a prototype. Still had a hell of a time punching the hole. I don't think I am getting hot enough, and I need tongs for intermediate size round stock. Some pics of the fire... and a fail with large stock 4140. I thought I would make an axe eye drift. Barely made a dent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlasterJoe Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 Really nice looking hammers Adam. I hope to get some that come out that nice someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 I've had fish mouthing under a 150lb Nazel power hammer on 2" round. It isn't always that your not hitting it hard enough. yes, light blows does increase fish mouthing, but also if the end of the bar is flat, compared to a piece of steel cut using a top and/or bottom hot cut, which is domed it will fish mouth more. The steel that is cut with the hot cut, when forged the fish mouthing does still occur, but it just brings the dome flat. the steel that is flat, will fish mouth noticeably more. what you can do, is with steel that is cut flat, use a hammer and forge a dome on one end, and if you do this over a cupping tool, then you get a dome on both ends. Good looking hammers! Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamG Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 Quick question... would it be a good idea to heat treat this 3.5 lb 1045 hammer by rapidly heating it in the forge but not letting it soak long enough for the interior to reach critical? My thinking is that it could result in a surface hardening of sorts, but it could also introduce major stresses (but so does quenching anyway, and this is a big blocky piece). What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamG Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 Just for fun I started a handle for the Asian hammer from a crabapple branch. What do you think? It's only rough right now, but I might keep it. This is the mild steel one anyway. Well, it not be very practical as is. The eye should be drifted much larger and more parallel I think. And I know that the wood grain direction is all wrong, but what the heck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Looks nice. I'd taper the handle down towards the head a bit more, but otherwise leave it alone. How does it feel in the hand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamG Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 It's a bit strange, I won't lie, but mostly because the handle is wide relative to the size of the head, but there's a knot at the bottom that acts like an axe handle. I think I will thin some of it down and see if it ends up good for chisels or maybe some small knife bevel forging. Mostly I was trying to get some miles on my tools (hammer eye punch and power hammer). Both need some work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamG Posted April 9, 2017 Author Share Posted April 9, 2017 Looking better I think: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 The problem I'm thinking of with the hatchet style handle is that your hand will be significantly lower than when using a regular hammer. I like the swell at the end, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamG Posted April 24, 2017 Author Share Posted April 24, 2017 Here's a bit of a diversion making bolt tongs (poorly) and some pics of the dog head hammer in use: I used Gorilla Glue on the wedge, but I don't think I would recommend it. After trimming back the foam so it didn't look ridiculous there was little left to hold in the wedge. I thought it would expand into the voids and be more flexible than epoxy. The eye was not perfect. Good of fun anyway, and even the mild steel didn't get banged up working on mild steel tongs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Nice hammer head but I sure don't like the handle. It wouldn't automatically index in the hand and strike parallel with the anvil face. I don't want to use a tool I have to devote more thought to making it hit correctly than the work. As a test, hold it loosely in your hammer hand, assume a relaxed stance like you're working at your anvil and lay the hammer face on the anvil. Do you have to hold it in a special way to allow the hammer face to lay flat on the anvil? Ideally you should be able to just let the hammer head drop and have it strike the anvil parallel in both dimensions. That is just MY opinion and preferences your's are your's. No problem, different is good, you learn from different. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamG Posted April 24, 2017 Author Share Posted April 24, 2017 Good points, thanks, Frosty. I did flatten the sides so it indexes to my fingertips , but the dogleg handle might have to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 It's what works for you, some things are pretty universal but everybody is different. I'd keep the knob on the end, all my slab handles have a knob. I don't like my hammers taking solo flights in the shop. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamG Posted May 27, 2017 Author Share Posted May 27, 2017 I heat treated my rounding hammer today, and then I tempered it... possibly a bit much. I think it's not hard. But then my anvil is not hard either so I decided to handle it and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 What is it made from and how far back did you draw the temper? Mine is made from an broken Ford pickup axle, hardened at critical and I drew the temper too far into the purple so it's a bit softer than I like but it's a nice hammer. I drew the temper by heating the eye drift to high red and inserting it in the eye while the punch I used heated up. Alternating the drift and punch drew the temper from the eye towards the face and pein. I may have been smarter to do it in the shop toaster oven but it worked well enough so I called it . . . done. Nice looking hammer you made yourself, how do you like using it? Feels good doesn't it? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamG Posted May 29, 2017 Author Share Posted May 29, 2017 This one is 1045. I quenched it from orange in cool water and then kept it at the door of the forge until I saw some colours on the faces, with flame coming through the eye hole but I won't do that again. Not even enough, and hard to control. I'll report back about hardness. I'm looking forward to having a proper rounding hammer, even though I have a good little modified store bought 3lb that's now a rounding hammer. First project is to clean up my hot cut (4140) and I'm set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamG Posted August 4, 2017 Author Share Posted August 4, 2017 So far so good! I'll upload a video soon, but as I suspected, the 1045 appears to be plenty hard, even with the aggressive tempering I did. Man, it feels good to use a hammer you've made! Next one is going to be a Japanese-style (dogleg) hammer with a stainless working surface (309). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millhand Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 Fantastic progression of hammer making. Nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 I drew the temper in mine with the drift I used to form the eye, I heated it and inserted it in the eye till the colors ran. I screwed up and drew the faces till they were verging on purple, I should've stopped at dark straw. Still it serves nicely. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamG Posted August 6, 2017 Author Share Posted August 6, 2017 Yep, I'm liking it. Hope I can make more down the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamG Posted August 6, 2017 Author Share Posted August 6, 2017 This might not be the place for it, but here's a quick clip of what I was using the hammer on yesterday. To keep this somewhat related to this forum, I'll mention that I think I neglected to normalize the razor before heat treating. Next time I'll follow the rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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