elmoleaf Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 I found this hammer head with a metal detector many years ago at homesite that’d burned in the 19th century. Seems to be cast and has lots of corrosion pits, included big one on the main face. Sides are chamfered, and the smaller face is not parallel to the bigger one. Not sure it’s mounted right side up or not on this handle. Is there a name for this hammer type? Would it have any use with a dished face? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 Looks like a well worn ships maul to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 Have you spark tested it to see if it is wrought iron or steel? If the former it may well indicate a greater age. Weight? Dimensions? "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmoleaf Posted November 23, 2020 Author Share Posted November 23, 2020 Dimensions are in the photos. Weight is a bit less than 2lbs. Have not spark tested but think it is cast steel, not wrought, based on pocked appearance vs “grainy” rusted wrought I’ve dealt with. Closest shape I’ve seen is a Bell linesman pointed peen hammer. Ship maul is similar, but this has a deliberate curve to the narrow end. Just trying to understand what it is before any doing repurposing....though the rather small roundish eyehole will make getting a strong handle on it difficult. And the deep surface defect may require too much grinding. Guess this will remain a junk basher for now, instead of wasting time trying to tweak it into a nicer more useful tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Of course they were not casting steel hammers back then; "Cast Steel" was a material used to forge high grade tools from. They would take blister steel or shear steel and melt it in a crucible to remove the ferrous silicates found in those materials and to homogenize the carbon content and then teem it into ingots that were then worked. Some low grade hammers were cast from cast iron; but few have survived. What makes you think it was cast to shape? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmoleaf Posted November 23, 2020 Author Share Posted November 23, 2020 Thomas, thank you for the info..I’ll do some reading on that. Yes, I have old chisels marked “cast steel”. ...that’s what got me thinking along those lines, along with the hammer’s seemingly smooth uniform shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Looks pretty well worn right in the center like it's been striking a drill or chisel for a very long time. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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