beef56 Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 I was thinking of welding a piece of 3x3x1 steel on the face of this old ball pien. Think this would work as a flatter or is the 1" an overkill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 The issue this has is a ball pein is relatively high carbon steel and they do NOT like being hit with hammers, they can work harden, become brittle and chip. You'll make just as good a flatter and not have a safety issue if you use mild or medium C steel instead of the ball pein. A flatter typically requires a harder blow than a top cut or punch to do it's job and work hardens much more quickly. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beef56 Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 Thanks Frosty, good information! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 You're welcome, my pleasure. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 Why not just weld a handle onto the 3 inch side of that piece of steel? Lay it onto the metal that needs flattened and whack it with a hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 A flatter is a tool that gets hit with another hammer so having the top of it something that is easy to hit with another hammer and does not damage it is a good thing. I find I don't use one very much anymore since I learned to dress my hammers and hammer flat. Having a treadle hammer really helps using one as: One hand for the workpiece, One hand for the tooling and One hand for the hammer seems to cause me issues when I'm working alone in my smithy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beef56 Posted April 7, 2020 Author Share Posted April 7, 2020 A person might need 3 hands to make a flatter work! I don't know that I need a flatter. Just looking for a project. I really don't know if I can get into knife making, more interested in other projects, just haven't figured out what! Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 I run it the other way; I pick a project and then make any of the tools needed for it that I don't already have. I'd run out of space just making tools for making tools! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar.esq Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 Beef, One thing that doesn't get said too much is that big heavy top tooling will have more inertia to overcome for the hammer strike. It's a goofy thing, but a lot of top tooling for power hammers would also work well for a solo smith swinging their own hammer. The traditional wood handled top tools make a lot of sense if you've got a striker swinging a heavy sledge for you. Not so much if you're working alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 19 hours ago, beef56 said: I don't know that I need a flatter. Just looking for a project. A better option would be to forge the ball peen into a cross peen or a straight peen to give you another working hammer (I made one into a diagonal peen, which I find I use much less than I anticipated). You can also forge that hammer head into any number of different top tools: chisel, punch, fuller, swage, butcher, texturing tool ... the list goes on and on. Also, some folks make them into tomahawks or carving adzes. Really, the only limit is your imagination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 Something like this John?. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 Exactly. Just pick the direction you want the peen to run and flatten the ball down into a wedge shape that points that way. Keep the ends square, and you're good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 FYI, here’s my flatter, made from a big sledgehammer head, cut off on one side of the eye and with a new eye punched through. I love it. Works great with the treadle hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beef56 Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 Very nice ! On 4/8/2020 at 7:27 AM, JHCC said: Exactly. Just pick the direction you want the peen to run and flatten the ball down into a wedge shape that points that way. Keep the ends square, and you're good to go. "Keep the ends square", you mean the top and bottom of the ball turned peen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 No, I actually meant “edges”. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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