Just curious if this hammer is considered a specific style or if it is just a German pattern with some bevels forged on the corners. I like the looks of it, but have no experience with this style hammer. All my hammers have either round or octagon faces and did not know if the square face would work well. I like that it has a large radius peen as well.

 

Looks a lot like the hammer style Elmer Roush makes (the simpler, non-"carved" ones).  I'm not sure what he calls it, but they move metal very nicely.  I'm working on finishing one up for myself as I prefer a rectangular face for forging due to the option for fullering in a variety of directions.

I am thinking of making one in the 2.5 lb range. What size square stock are you using? Thanks.

I will have to check.  I'm pretty sure I used something in the 1.5" - 2" square stock.

What weight are you aiming for? I would be interested to see what you come up with.

Stock was 1.5" x 1.5" x 4".  Initial weight was 1.14 kg, after punching and initial forging and shaping I'm at 1.035 kg.  Still in progress,  but will try to post photo. Still need to anneal well enough to finish chasing, then chance a heat treatment.  Unfortunately had to miss the Elmer Roush class due to a family emergency,  so this is certainly a poor man's version of his work. 

If that hammer ends up feeling great in “your” hand it will be a very cool hammer for you.  The design looks awesome.  Nice work

That is turning out really nice.Thanks for posting it.

Tagging along.  That hammer looks great 

Lorelei is pictured swinging an uncarved ,or undecorated, Elmer Roush hammer on the cover of her first book.

Latticino ,Did you ever finish that hammer you posted?

Edited July 19, 20206 yr by Mod30
Remove @name tag

It's on the docket, so to speak.  I've got that one and four others (one dog's head, one Swedish crosspeen, a German Crosspeen, and a Thomas Latine inspired crosspeen) to finish up and heat treat.  Starting to pile up, but I've been working on axes, knives and hawks lately.  Having a little trouble chasing the hammers effectively to get the carving depth I want.  The hot work I originally did went well, but the detailed cold chasing is playing hob with my tools.  I'll have to forge some new ones, and fortunately have a nice donation of cutup sucker rod to work with for the purpose.

Thanks, keep me posted. I am curious to see how it turns out.

Yes, the person mentioning Elmer Roush is correct. It was made somewhat popular by Lorelei Sims’ book, the Backyard Blacksmith. On page 62 of her book are some good images….mark

I've never been too particular about the shape/length of a hammer. For me its the weight and working faces that matter. 

Latticino's hammer fits my bill for a good hammer. 

For me a square faced hammer is more efficient than octagon because the most work done is drawing out and a straight line or edge does it all in one blow. If its octagon, you have to tune up the facets.

Same goes for the cross peen. A flat face with slightly radius'd edges moves all material under the hammer in one blow to the same depth. With a radius, only the centerline of the cross peen is at final depth, and you have to do multiple blows to turn that round depression into a flat. 

For what it is worth, I have finished the hammer in the photo above and used it successfully on many forgings.  It is a great pattern and size.  The only thing I will change for any future hammers of this design would be to move the "nostrils" a little further towards the peen.  When I ground the slight radius into the face after forging the edges in those locations aren't as well supported as I would like.

I got to see a couple of Elmer's hammers back when, 07 maybe? One was pattern welded to boot. He'd made some imaginative tongs for uses I don't know. 

Nice job Latticino.

Frosty The Lucky.