bajajoaquin Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Just got my new touchmark and it’s fully hardened. I’d like to regularly use a softer face hammer on it. Are drilling hammers typically soft so they can be used to strike drills? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMike Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I have a short handled 2 pound sledge I use on mine. I made my mark from an old chisel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajajoaquin Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 Is the struck end hardened or normalized? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 For the most part stone working traditional tools have hardened struck end, do traditionally drilling hammers have soft faces Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajajoaquin Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 Awesome. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 *check* If you can't test the hardness of a hammer face should you learning how to do that first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I like to use a brass hammer, as there is little chance of it ever hardening more than even a unhardened HC steel tool, though I do plan on forging a simple chasing hammer out of mild steel in the near future like the ones Elmer Roush makes. The 2# brass hammer I use was from Harbor Freight, but you can sometimes find them at flea markets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaudry Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I prefer to use a soft steel or bras hammer with some weight when striking a stamping tool . This seems to give a clearer impression, probably because it's more of a solid dead blow without any bounce or vibration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajajoaquin Posted February 23, 2018 Author Share Posted February 23, 2018 On 2/22/2018 at 11:32 AM, ThomasPowers said: *check* If you can't test the hardness of a hammer face should you learning how to do that first? I know how. That’s not the question I asked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 OK the correct answer to your original question is: Some are, Some are not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcornell Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 okay, I'll bite, how do you test the hardness of a hammer? I watch some Brian Brazeal videos where he's using his 3# rounding hammer to smite his tools (eye punch) and it makes me cringe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 I have two soft hammers: an Andy hammer (an all-metal hammer with a replaceable wooden face, great for straightening twisted sections) and a 5-ish pound hand sledge with a wrought iron head (picked up from a junk shop in Maine). The latter is great when I have to hammer on anything hardened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 I check with a file. I know some smiths that will draw the temper back on a hammer to have a softer one for tooling. (And mark it as the soft one!) As mentioned; for a touchmark you could use a brass hammer. I have one dead soft hammer in my bucket that I move students to if they are having trouble hitting the workpiece and not the anvil. I have a screwpress for indenting stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Just came into possession of a hammer-size chunk of mild steel. Now I'm getting ideas.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajajoaquin Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 People don't always appreciate your going after their hammers with a file. Not that I won't do it, just that I try not to lead with it. I come across drilling hammers at the swap meet pretty regularly, so I'm just trying to have a place to start. I keep threatening to make a new coil for my forge that has three loops in it (since induction forges drop efficiency rapidly as the material gets farther away from the coil). I think the largest loop I'm considering would heat a hammer head. No reason I couldn't just normalize a swap meet hammer if I need to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Well there is the ball bearing test...or "poor smith's Scleroscope" . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greebe Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Could just pull the handle, heat it to red, let cool slowly, then rehang the handle. Then you would know you have a nice soft hammer for what you are wanting to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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