heat treat newly forged hammer

[Scott 78]

Do I need to heat treat a newly forged hammer and if I do this is 1095.  The next question is would i need to temper after heat treating?

Thanks

 

 

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Scott, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you'll have a chance of hooking up with other members living within visiting distance.

If you made a HAMMER out of 1095 and hardened it you'd better danged WELL temper it and immediately!

Have you made this hammer or just thinking about it because you have the steel? Most folk make excellent hammers from the 1040-1050 range, I have a turning hammer made from a broken Ford pickup truck axel and it's 15+ years old. A hammer 1095 hard WILL chip perhaps break into pieces and it WILL work harden even if you keep it tempered. Heck, it might not survive the quench you have the surface being chilled and shrinking while the center is still HOT and expanded

I think you're treading dangerous waters Scott, too dangerous. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Steve Sells]

tempering is a heat treatment, I suggest you read the pinned posts on heat treatment, its all there, I am not typing all that again

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome from the Ozark mountains. I like to make hammers out of 4130 or 4140 and still quench and temper them.

 

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sails. ~ Semper Paratus

[JHCC]

I agree with Frosty and IDFCW. 1095 is not the best choice for hammer steel when there's so much better material readily available.

(On a side note, this is an excellent example of the traps one can fall into when asking the question "What is the best steel?" 1095 can make excellent knives, but it's lousy for hammers; 4140 makes excellent hammers, but isn't so great for knives. There is no one steel that is the "best" for everything.)

[anvil]

1095 is pretty hard for a hammer, but it can be quenched in oil as well as water, depending on use. If you oil quench 1095 it will tend to be a tough steel instead of a "hard" steel. which is doable for a hammer. So oil quench, not water. Draw your temper into the blue range, if I remember correctly. Definitely not to a straw. Danged memory,,, draw to a purple to enhance toughness. 

I agree with all the above, but hey, you already made the tool and using an oil quench will work. 

[Stash]

I agree with the above also. I would even consider just normalizing it.

Steve

[anvil]

For what its worth, Francis Whitaker made and demonstrated hammer making and always used W1 or 1095.  

He recognized the benefits of the "designer steel" era we live in and the fun of experimentation, but practiced the KISS principal and suggested we smiths use one or two basic steels for our work. His go-to steel was W1 or 1095.

[JHCC]

Interesting. 

[anvil]

I thought I'd add this about what Francis said above. Please realize this is my interpretation of what he said. The idea of "best steel" is really subjective and differs by situation. His "job" was selling architectural iron. I have no doubt that if his "job" was selling custom tools, he would have used the best designer steel available for each tool in his catalog.   My personal "one liner" on this is if I'm making a spring for a spring fuller, an old buggy spring and my forge are all I need, and it will last me my lifetime, but if I'm making a spring for the landing gear on the space shuttle, my steel and forge fall far short.  If your great joy as a smith is playing with the myriad of special use tool steels, then go for it. Thats my belief on whats the "best" steel.  And, I have no doubt that Francis Whitaker would agree with that 100%.  

[Frosty]

Heh, heh, heh, he might agree but with the caveat that best for you and best for him would probably be different. 

My main concern with using a high carbon steel for impact tools like a hammer is work hardening on the edges and chipping. Drawing the temper back far enough it won't work harden in your lifetime puts it pretty close to what you'd have with 1040 range.

It's easy to re-heat treat struck tools but hammers are not so, the thickness is it's own game.

Frosty The Lucky.

[anvil]

Speaking from experience both with Francis first hand and following his example in my own shop with W1/1095 tools, your concerns are not a problem. As an example, All of the tenoning tools in the pic are made from W1/1095 tool steel and have 30 some years of work, mostly under my 25# Lil giant. No chips, mushrooming or any other problems. Just a lot of years making a lot of tenons hassle free. They may not be hammers, but they sure have been hammered on.  Lol, the steel for the big tool on the top was in fact a gift from Francis to make the tool. 

[Frosty]

Different situation for sure Anvil. Tenon tools are driven together with piece of nice hot SOFT steel to cushion the impact. Miss a blow with a W-1 or 1095 hammer on a HARD anvil and it won't be many times before it chips. My Soderfors will skate a new sharp file, banging it with HARD steel is a bad idea. No?

Sure, I do some clean up on cold steel in my tenon tools and they're HC steel but even then there's a cushion and I'm not striking it like it stole my milk money. A piece of steel on my anvil? Oh Y E A H, I drive it like it's stolen. 

My hammers aren't mild but they're aren't HC enough to become brittle without plenty of warning. I look at my hammer faces, peins and edges frequently, especially if someone misses a blow and smacks an anvil. I look then.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[anvil]

 

with all due respect, Francis Whitaker's demo and advice work for me, and have with my hammers as well as my other tools for a few decades. Oil quench and draw to a purple creates a tough steel out of W1/1095 that won't chip. But hey, just passing on good advice from a rather good smith and my own experiences. And most importantly, I'm offering this advice that directly answers the question,,, how do I heat treat a hammer I have made from 1095 steel. If the question had been "whats a good steel for a hammer" I would have suggested using 1060 or O1.

[anvil]

Frosty, thats actually a good critique on my tenoning tool. Thats the closest pic I could come up with to emphasize my point. I thought of one this morning. Even tho I don't have a pic, Francis made his daily driver. Sheesh, I have no idea how many hours over how many years he has in that hammer.  All his hammer demo's were made like this hammer and all, including his daily driver were made from W1/1095.  

[Frosty]

I wasn't critiquing your tenoning tools I was referring to the difference between them and missing a blow with a hammer on an anvil face.

It's entirely possible maybe probably I'm being more cautious than necessary, I know for a fact I don't have the heat treat experience you do let alone Francis Whitaker. Perhaps I'll pick your brain and make a hammer from 1095 or W1 one of these days. Being wrong is a natural talent of mine I demonstrate it here often enough. 

Frosty The Lucky.