I finally finished my first rounding hammer over the last few days. Biggest issue eat my spring fuller kept breaking and I don’t have big enough tongs to hold it well when I was adding the fullers. So the fullers are sub par. But function over form. This thing works well. I made it to replace a store bought hammer that sucked. It’s 4140 forged by hand. Weighs 4.75lbs. 18” hickory handle charred and coated in boiled linseed oil. A lot of mistakes and flaws And it’s over all ugly but it’s functional so I say it’s a win. 

Just keep after it, correct issues you know of and press forward. The correct tongs help dramatically, if you can’t hold it you can’t hit it. 

Yep. Planning on making more tongs to hold it better before the next one. Not that I’ll probably be making a hammer this big until my forging press is finished but for other smaller hammers 

Good Morning and Merry Hasbeen,

There are no Miss-Steaks, just the School of Hard Knocks giving you a Lesson that you won't/shouldn't forget. The Boy Scout motto is Be Prepared!! Now you know what to Be Prepaired for. When your material is hot and you aren't ready, the heat wins. It just got an Easy Ride!! The Hammer doesn't care if it is perfect, Perspective plays with our Minds.

Neil

 

I would say your hammer is a win. It looks a lot better than the hammers I have made, but work well.

Wise words Neil! The hammer definitely doesn’t care if it’s perfect or not. It will beat iron the same. I’m the only one who cares 

thank you Irondragon F&C 

That is good first hammer. Actually looks just like my first hammer but mine was made from round stock. One thing I can suggest is to bring the troughs closer to the eye so the proportions are more even. I did the same thing on my first hammer. Nice job.

Oh wow that’s really close! Mine was from round stock. 2.5” round to be exact. I just squared it up as I like square better. And it’s easier to punch when it’s not rolling around. I thought I’d put the fuller in the middle but nope. Ended up further out and I should’ve put them closer like you said. Thanks. How heavy was yours ?

Mine was somewhere around 3.5 pounds. It's been a while.

Have you heard of Brian Brazeal? He is the hammer maestro in my opinion and on his YouTube channel he has two "how to" videos on rounding hammers. He uses round for his hammer but its the same for square.

I have heard of Brian. I’ve seen his videos on rounding hammers. If I’m remembering correct wasn’t he one of the people who made rounding hammers popular among blacksmiths? I still like my straight peen better I just thought rounding can be useful and its easier than straight or cross peen 

Yeah he made the rounding hammer popular. They are very useful hammers for sure. I rarely use a cross peen. 

Spring fullers are a pain for hammers imo. May want to make a Guillotine tool for hammers 

They are a pain for sure. I ordered a guillotine Kit from uncle bucks forge but that’s probably not gonna fit hammers. Might fit some because I usually make around 2 lb hammers. Thinner and longer but I plan to machine a guillotine like the one from uncle buck that’s 2.75-3” wide for making hammers of any size I want 

Both of your first rounding hammers look just like my first. The one without a handle is my most recent attempt at forging a rounding hammer entirely under the power hammer.

Here is the guillotine tool I made with hammers in mind

What’s with all our hammers looking the same?? Haha. 
 

wish I had a power hammer but all by hand for now. In the process of making a forging press from scraps on the farm. so that should help when finished 
 

I like that guillotine. Nice and simple. 

That guillotine is nice. The only thing I might do, is to cut a hole in the back to allow longer stock to go through.

I did after the picture was taken.  

Great minds think alike.

That they do 

Have you seen Joey vandersteegs guillotine tool.  I like his design a lot!

i built mine like I did because my large leaf springs fit perfectly 

Yes, i like his design too.

I plan on building a guillotine tool just like that but with a saddle to sit over the lower die of my power hammer. I would have to build mine to be a little shorter though.

Could you just use spring dies?

i would think a spring fuller would work well under a power hammer. Or even just some dies with a round bar welded to them for fullers. But what do I know about power hammers ha

Or just some fuller dies for the power hammer