Half-Round Swage from a Sledgehammer Head

[JHCC]

A while back, I cut an ~8 lb sledgehammer head apart — just on one side of the eye — to make a flatter:

The other half has been knocking around ever since, and it occurred to me that I could use the eye part to make a half-round swage. So, trim the excess sides of the eye from one end:

Cut off the other end:

Marvel at how cleanly a new bandsaw blade will cut:

Weld on a stem (formerly part of another bodged-together hardy tool that has since been further modified):

Be thankful for the invention of anti-spatter spray:

Clean up the inside hollow with a die grinder, to go from hourglass-shaped to straight:

A bit of final cleanup, and we are good to go!

 

The final inside diameter is about 7/8”. You can see from the last two photos that one end of the hollow is fairly heavily rounded (a relic of the original eye profile) and the other is somewhat sharper. This should give a bit more flexibility for what shoulder profiles I can forge on this.

Now, what to do with the last part of the hammer head? Maybe an anvil block....

[JHCC]

And done:

Unlike the swage, this only fits in the hardy hole on a 180 degree rotation, which means that there are two sides that are always parallel with the sides of the anvil. Each of these sides and the ones adjacent to them have been given the same radii, with one set having a smaller radius and the other with a larger. The sides that face the heel and horn are rounded over to prevent any cold shuts. 

[JHCC]

The stem for the anvil block is a squared-up piece of 1” black pipe. By a happy coincidence, that is very easy to fit to a 7/8” hardy hole. 

[Latticino]

Very impressive re-purposing John.  Use these in good health.

[JHCC]

Thanks!

[Frosty]

Good job John. You have a real penchant for making what you want/need with what you have don't you? 

Attaboy!

 Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

Good exercise for the brain, without overtaxing the pocketbook.