Hand hammers: your preferences?

[Blacksmith Jim]

I'm very pleased with a 3# rounding hammer I picked up recently. Seems very nice, I'm enjoying using it. After that I have an old 3# cross pein flea market find that I use quite a bit. I have a small, 1# maybe, ball pein that my dad made, and I use that for light work or small work or riveting, etc.. I used a HF 2# cross pein for quite a bit. I've redressed and re-handled it. Needs a new handle again though, this one has a nice crack in it now..

[fat pete]

The Hammer Source

try this place
i use a 2.5 # on biggerstuff and a 2 # and i have 1.5 rounding hammer for finishing stuff

[imagedude]

Ratel10mm, may I ask where you got it from? I've been looking for a reasonably priced cross-pein but I can't find one in this country.

Cromwell tools

[Ian]

I have three proper hammers and one double pein hammer. My favourite and most used is the diagonal pein hammer I made with Glen Moon. Not sure on the weight of it, guess 3lb or over. Then I have a small 2lb Peddinghaus cross pein for light work and another hammer I made with Moony thats based on the classic Smiths ball pein. Both faces are round, one is really flat, the other quite rounded. All handles are wood, not a fan of fibreglass, don't like the shock transmition.

[Mende]

3-4,5 pound german cross pein wooden handle

[MRobb]

I use a 2lb cross pein & a 1-1/2lb ball pein mostly.... both w/ wood handles.

[Glenn]

Hammer Poll - what is your primary forging hammer?

[Pault17]

My most used is the 2.75 Lb diagonal pein I made from a cheap HF 3-Lb'er
My smallest is a 16oz ball pein . largest hand hammer is a 4 Lb hard sledge.



keykeeper, this one only took about 2 hrs without re-harden and temper, neither of which I have even done yet since making it.

[R Funk]

Matt87:
I don't know the parameters you require for a cross pien hammer.

If you don't want to spend the 25 Eng lbs or more for a high quality name brand like Peddinhaus, I would by a double face hammer and mofidify to a cross pien. A 4.5" right angle grinder with a slicer wheel will do the job. After the sides are sliced off to form the pien use a frinding wheel and/or a flap wheel. It will take some time but you do not need to reheat treat.

Using a ox/ac torch would be a lot faster but will require re-heatreatment and re-handling.

If you modify the hammer you have the option of making a diagonal pein hammer

[Steve Sells]

My main hammer is a 4 pound cross peen with a thick 16 inch Hickory handle, it is my Baby

I have a 3 pounder I use for setting bevels on larger blades, and the 2 pound I used for finer details. all toget her I have about 30 hammers plus about 30 other hammer looking tools like: sets, drifts, fullers, punches, and cut offs.

I look forward getting the hammer that Richard of Dancing Frog Forge made for me, 4.5 pound right handed peen.

[larrynjr]

My regular hammer is the 2 lb. cross peen on the right, I haven't tried the one I modified yet. I'll probably do some more trimming before I try it anyhow, it still feels too heavy to use regularly.

[Hofi]

I want to clarify some subject in this discussion and tell a story.


There is ''no'' ''Czech hammer'' a ''Czech hammer'' is not existing in the Czech republic. The Molnar the Biehal the Josef Muck the Habermann every one of this long time blacksmith families that all of them I know and visited and with all of them with very good relationship are forging with d i f f e r e n t hammer .the hammer that people here and in the us are referring to as the ''Czech hammer'' is the Hofi hammer. It is not a modification of the Habermann hammer (that was invented and forged first by his grandfather). The ''Hofi hammer ''is completely different hammer” and if one looks at the hammer one can see that the design is completely different the balance the handle the longer pien the radiuses and the grinding. The story of the ''Czech'' hammer started when George Dixon in his book on Francis Whitaker the late in the paragraph of hammers. He put a drawing of the Hofi hammer and called it Czech.

In three places in the states the ''Hofi'' hammer is forged

1 At the Ozark School by Mr. Tom Clark that I was teaching at the school for 5 years and Mr. Clark visited my shop in Israel 4 times and I taught him how to forge the Hofi hammer. Tsur Sadan that is now teaching at the Ozark was my student for 4 years at my smithy.

2 The BigBlu by Mr. Dean Curfman that also paid twice a visit to my smithy in Israel twice special to learn how to forge the Hofi hammer and to grind it and also to learn about the quick change system for the air hammer die and about forging other tools that he sells now. The air hammer school is also my idea and I was teaching there the '' free form air hammer system''. Mr. Dean Curfmann also took three classes with me at the Ozark and in NY.

3 Doug Merkel that took also three classes with me two at the Ozark and one at the air hammer BigBlu school.

Now Thomas Dean the story of kissing the hammer.

10 years ago I was invited by BABA to participate in forging elements for the '' niddle'' a huge sculpture the is now located in Newcastle on the side walk along the river. The meeting was in France in doarnane on the brest bay a beautiful fishermen harbor on the channel in brest bay the other side of England. 54 blacksmith from Europe and England took part in the forging meeting.

A young man by the name of clod was following me like a shadow all the time where ever I moved he was there. After three days he dared to ask me: Mr. Hofi how come you are forging with one hammer only and do it easier and faster then all the others? I with my sense of humor answered him very earnest, clod when you enter the smithy in the morning first thing I do is standing opposite to the anvil take the hammer and kiss it then go around the anvil and kiss again when you do it 7 times the hammer will forge alone.

Next morning he came to me and said Mr. Hofi I tried it and it did not help.

A month later clod came to me to my smithy in Israel and stayed 1-1/2 years. Now he is married, has two kids, an he is teaching the Hofi system in France.

This story I am telling every where I teach and also kiss the hammer daily.

Sorry for the long story but I think it is nice
Hofi



This post has been edited for spelling and grammar

[Thomas Dean]

AH! a good story Mr. Hofi! Thank you. Sorry for stating wrong information about the "Czech" hammer, but, as a lot of folks not only here but others places, it's the information we have been told.... The technique of using this hammer is great. I took a class at the Ozark school with Tsur Sadan as my teacher just to learn this technique. I had read about it on the internet, as best as I remember it was on "keenjunk" several years ago, and needed something to save my elbow. This technique works! I will save my kisses for my wife! ;)

[julian]

I mostly use my 2lb crosspein hammer made by Richard Thibeau (rthibeau on here), for damascus sometimes I use my 4lb wide crosspein store bought.

[Gobae]

Wow, very interesting thread. It looks like a lot of people are using "light" hammers (right around 2#).

Of course I switch hammer weights as needed, but the bulk of the stock I work with means I'm often using my 3# cross-pein (octagon face), and my 1500g French cross-pein.

[Ratel10mm]

Ratel10mm, may I ask where you got it from? I've been looking for a reasonably priced cross-pein but I can't find one in this country.

Sorry Matt, I only just saw your post.

The place is Cold Hanworth Forge, run by a chap called Bob Oakes.

The cost iirc. was

[matt87]

Thanks Ratel10mm!

[R Funk]

I am impressed by those like Hofi, Tom clark and others that do almost all their forging with one hammer.

I have several hammers that I use to expedite the forging proccess. This in part is due to my relative lack of skill compared many of these well known smiths.

Of course I like tools and more hammers is always better, right? Maybe not?

[rthibeau]

hammers are tools and the more the better........as in more better...:)

[Hofi]

''the More You Can Do With A Hammer The Better Hammer It Is''
The Same Aplyies To All The Tools
Hofi

[Archie Zietman]

Hello.
Pretty much the only hammer I use is a 2.5 pound Home Depot "Blacksmith hammer" but last summer I realized that I was gripping the handle very hard and straining my arm.

So I took a tip from Mr Hofi's Hammers and shortened the hammer's handle to about 5 and a half inches. I'm much more comfortable now, I cannot physically grasp it hard, and so can hammer for much longer periods with pretty much no strain, and I have more coordination, the hammer head being closer to my hand.

[teejay]

I use a 2 1/2 lb cross pein for almost everything,sometimes I use a 3lb rounding hammer thats homemade

[RichHallstrom]

I do most of my work with a 2.2# swedish cross pein. I also use a 1.75# cross pein for lighter work and I have a 1.5# ball pein that gets some use. I have others, but they rarely get used.

[Brian C.]

I use a 2 lb. Peddinghaus Engineers style cross peen, a 2 Lb. Channellock cross peen and a 3 lb. Diamond rounding hammer.

[Finnr]

the only ones I am using now for the majority of my work are hammers I forged myself ranging from one to 2.5 pounds. A couple larger cross peens for heavy work and of course an assortment of oddball hammers for other things.
Finnr