Best hammer to start out with

[countermeasure]

Hello, 

I'm just starting out and only got this approx. 800g hammer. Is this good to start out with this one? 

I'm looking on Ebay for other hammers but I have no idea what each one is for. 

Can you enlighten me, please?

[CrazyGoatLady]

As long as the face and pein are dressed well, it's a usable hammer. And the handle is well fitted and free of varnish. Varnish will rub nasty blisters on your hands. I have several hammers ranging from about 11oz. to 3.5 lbs. In my opinion, it's good to have differing sizes to accommodate different work. Smaller, more delicate work really benefits from a lighter hammer. My favorite is a 2.2 lb. German pattern cross pein. That's just my 2 cents worth

[countermeasure]

Thanks for the reply, I see the advantage of having different sizes and such, that's why I choose to create my own hammer in my smithing course. What size would you recommend? 

I'm no native english speaker, what do you mean by:

Just now, CrazyGoatLady said:

As long as the face and pein are dressed well

 

Greetings

[CrazyGoatLady]

I've always taken the advice that something around 1.5 to 2 lbs. is a good starter weight and work your way up. Also depends on what you want to forge. A heavy hammer will wear you out fast if your not used to using one. Dressing is preparing the face and pein for smooth hammer work. They come from the factory with rough,  sharp edges and you want to get rid of these. They'll transfer to the piece of steel your hammering on. There are different ways of doing this and there are threads on it. I don't know specifically what threads you should look up. Hopefully someone who knows the site better will direct you soon. I use a file and sand paper for most of it, but that is slow, tedious work. There are others that will be able to explain much better than I can, but hope it helps

[Frosty]

Ball pein hammers are good blacksmith's hammers, have been for centuries. Dressing the face means cleaning up the face and pein to remove nicks and damage that will texture your work. Also rounding the edges so they don't mark the work. You don't want any sharp edges or the marks they make can become stress risers, starting points for cracks and breaks. 

800gms is a good weight to start out with, heavy enough to do good work but not so heavy it makes your mistakes permanent too quickly or fatigues you and perhaps causes injury before you develop the muscle and hammer control. 

Nice hammers, I always pick up ball pein hammers at yard, garage, etc. sales if they're cheap enough. I especially like ones with broken handles, I replace them anyway and sellers think handles are more valuable than I do.

Frosty The Lucky.

[CrazyGoatLady]

Frosty is one of the guys I was telling you about

[SLAG]

For Americans 800 grams is one and three quarter pounds.

SLAG.

 

[countermeasure]

Ok, so I picked the right hammer, I guess. My goal for the next few years is to be able to forge my own tools like hammers, tongs, shizzles and the likes. 

I am a professional gardener, so I am no stranger to hammers.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

My wife uses a 800 g (1.76 pound) French cross peen as her favorite hammer. It's a little light for me as I'm used to a 2.5 pound (1134 g) cross peen. It always amazes me she can move hot metal just as fast as I.

[lyuv]

Too small is not as bad as too big. As we dont know your physical build and capacity, 800gr is generaly OK. But I reccomend that you also get a 1-1.1kg cross peen hammer. At least a cheap one to start with. There is a good chance the 800gr will get too small after you gain some experience.

My blacksmithing teacher claimed normaly you should start with the final hammer, which is 1.3kg (or 1.1 for women).

[countermeasure]

Thats why I intend to create my own hammer in my blacksmithing course. I have a little trouble in finding out how a cross peen hammer is called in german, since shipping from abroad is quite expensive.

I'm currently on ebay looking for "cross peen hammer" and there are many different shaped heads. Which one are you suggesting?

[commercial link removed]

Edited July 28, 2019 by Mod34
Commercial link removed per TOS

[lyuv]

1 hour ago, countermeasure said:

Thats why I intend to create my own hammer in my blacksmithing course. I have a little trouble in finding out how a cross peen hammer is called in german

At least here, this type is known a "German hammer". So perhaps in Germany it's knows as a "Hammer".

[commercial link removed]

I think you"ll find it in any hardware shop, and for only few euros. no need to order from abroad.

As to making you"re own - nice, but it may take a long time to get there. NOT a beginer's project.

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by Mod34
Commercial link removed per TOS

[countermeasure]

Ok, here is what I intend to do. I'm going to by a used Schlosser Hammer, which looks similiar to your Cross pein hammer and make the flat side a little round.

The thing is, there is only 1kg and 1.5kg. Which one should I purchase?

What's your opinion? 

[Charles R. Stevens]

So historical examples from the Iron Age (in particular Viking era finds) Randell from 1.5-2#, so 1kg is on the upper limit. Now they were working wrought iron, wich is softer and is worked much hotter, so it’s like hammering play do compared to modern steels. 

In my day job I swing a 2# rounding hammer, at the forge, depending on the class of work I gravitate to a 3# hammer. 

A beginer will get a lot of work out of a 24-32oz ball pein and a 1.5-2# cross pein. Soon enugh you will find you would like a strait pein and a rounding hammer. From there it’s veriasions on the theme. 

You have an advantage of a much longer history than we do, as the first blacksmith to come to the my side of the globe was around a thousand years ago and we didn’t get serius about it for another 600 years. 

Fond memories of Achafensburge (sorry for the spelling). An amazingly friendly town.

 

[anvil]

7 hours ago, countermeasure said:

'm currently on ebay looking for "cross peen hammer"

I prefer a square cut, flat faced cross peen  around 2.5#.  Square cut means the hammer shape is square, not round. As Frosty said, slightly rounded edges is a must. I believe this is the most efficient shape for a general forging hammer. There are many "nationality" variations like German, French, Swedish along with the machinist type . Some swear by one over the rest. I think of these differences as preferring a Ford over a Chevy.  

But any and all will work to move hot iron. 

[countermeasure]

Just now, anvil said:

As Frosty said, slightly rounded edges is a must.

That's what I meant. I bought this old Bundeswehr hammer (it's a 1kg Peddinghaus) and gonna do a little work on the edges. 

[CrazyGoatLady]

Oh I like those a lot

[countermeasure]

That's cool, I got one of them for 10€ and no shipping. 

[CrazyGoatLady]

I don't know what that is in American currency, but no shipping is awesome

[countermeasure]

It's about the same. 1€ equals 1.11 USD

[CrazyGoatLady]

Thank you. That's a great deal. I've only bought one new for smithing and it cost US $54.00. I think you bought a fine hammer 

That's more than all the hammers I have combined in price

[countermeasure]

xxxx that's expensive, but depending on the hammer type you pay that or double. That's why i prefer buying used stuff or make it myself. Can't wait to finally hold that glorious glowing steel in my hands. 

What was the first thing you did? Is a hammer really that hard to do while getting help of a seasoned blacksmith? 

[CrazyGoatLady]

I agree. I don't buy anything new if I don't have to. But I'm glad I bought that hammer. I love the balance of it. I really admire the fact you want to make tools. I started out making S and J hooks. Leaves. Small things that weren't too complex to learn basic skills that apply to all your work thereafter. As far as making a hammer with a seasoned smith, I personally can't tell you how easy it would be. I've never taken any kind of classes. What I know, I've learned here and select smiths on you tube. Then just getting to the forge and working. Whatever you do, my suggestion is keep it fun and don't overthink it

[countermeasure]

I'm a practical guy, that's why I like to be able to do stuff I want on my own. I guess that comes from the survival tours I did with a friend, where we basically built things using sharp rocks, wood, clay. 

I admire your patience to learn stuff on your own, not everyone can pull that one off. Did you get that leaf idea from Alec? He recommended doing a gazillion of them. 

 

The pictures below are from clients who finishes that course showing their finished projects

 

[pnut]

I've been practicing punching holes with a hot punch. I couldn't imagine trying to slit or punch and drift a hammer head. If I had an experienced smith I could help but they would be in charge for sure.  I think you'd need a press or power hammer to do it alone.

Pnut