671jungle Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Found in the metal bin a few months back. I need a ball peen, would it be worth turning this into one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 I wouldn't it looks like a good cross peen that only needs a little dressing. Ball peens are a dime a dozen around here in junk shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shimanek Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Looks like it could be a Champion brand cross pein, a handy hammer to have; like IFC said, ball pein hammers should be easy to find used, or buy a cheap one at a big box store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 Ditto. Why put the work into turning a rarer hammer into a common one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 I turn: yard, garage, etc. sale ball peins into: cross, straight, angle pein hammers ad other top tools. Keep that old beauty as she is. OR if you really need a ball pein I'll swap you 3 for it. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
671jungle Posted July 25, 2019 Author Share Posted July 25, 2019 Lol, got it. I won’t change her. Didn’t know these were coveted. Thank the gods for saving this hammer from my ignorance. I ran a file across her and it bit. Could it have possibly been annealed? maybe dress her and heat treat? 14 hours ago, Frosty said: I'll swap you 3 for it. I’ll send it to you for free! It is the least I can do for all the knowledge you share. I’m still pretty amateur, I would butcher the “good tools”. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 I couldn't accept that thank you I was joking. The most I'd do is shine up the face and pein, radius the edges and use it. NO, don't try heat treating it, she's as she was meant to be to use. If you only strike HOT steel the work will move not the hammer. Yes? OR maybe make it a nice wrought shelf, hanger, etc. and hang it on the wall on prominent display. It's a fine wall hanger. I offer the benefits of my: mistakes, experience and experiments because I enjoy helping folks. Honest just making things a little easier or more successful for someone makes me feel good. I'm selfish that way. I've received all the rewards I could want, I've learned far more than I've shared and I have thousands of friendly helpful folks I can BS with anytime I want. What more could a boy want? Your thank you was more than enough. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
671jungle Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 Some big chunks bit out of this head. I was going to dress past the divot but I feel that would take too much material off. Also the file eats into it easily. Would that be a problem? I wire wheeled it and found what looks like forge scale. ideas on how I should proceed? I just want to use it. It’s so pretty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donal Harris Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Since it has already been too hot, you could try heat treating it first, but I say use it. On future heads you buy, you might want to be a little less aggressive with the wire wheel. I took my first “finds” down to bare metal and now wish I hadn’t. Rust is now a problem when if I had just cleaned it up it wouldn’t have been. I have a hammer similar to yours, except mine is unmarked. I heated it and twisted the peen to make it a diagonal peen, then heat treated it. I love it, but have to remember to apply BLO fairly often to keep it from rusting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Keep it and use as-is for now. When your skills have progressed to the point that you feel confident heat treating it, go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 I have a dead soft steel french cross peen hammer I have students use who are determined to leave their mark on my anvil's face! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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