Atha 12lb cast steel sledge hammer problem

[Will Brouwers]

I received this hammer recently and wasn’t too concerned about the head, but the more I looked at it, the more it looks like the head is mushrooming. The first picture shows some very sizeable (like 1/8) chips taken out of the sides of the head.

In addition to this, the second picture shows that there are small cracks that I think, over time, will lead to similar problems. 

I don’t know whether to use a flap disk and grind until the cracks are gone, and try to blend the bigger chips, use it as is until something changes, or if it is just a wall hanger?

[Frosty]

Saying "Cast Steel" doesn't mean it's a cast steel hammer head. All steel is "cast" at some point in its manufacture and seeing it's not untrue saying so is perfect marketing hype. 

How much does it weight? Most single or double jack sledges are NOT hardened steel, seeing mushrooming in an old work horse is to be expected. Also scratches can look like cracks and be harmless but don't take chances, take a file to it and see if those are scratches or cracks. It's better to be safe than wear an eye patch. 

Tough a mushroomed spot to a grinding wheel and read the sparks and heck dress it up. If it's mild or medium you can grid the cracks out and arc weld them up. Remember to drill stop holes at the ends of cracks so they don't run. 

Atha made it's tools to be used and repaired. Is it going to be a user or wall flower? It's good either way, your call. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I was starting to type when Frosty posted and pretty well covered it. Cast steel can be either high alloy or low alloy steel. Another is carbon cast steel. Spark testing should tell. I wouldn't use it as is, mushrooming will chip off with the velocity of a bullet, but if it's dressed up it should be good to go.

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

[Will Brouwers]

These pictures that I took are pretty bad, but it isn’t really mushrooming. The big chip you see in the top left of the first picture goes into the hammer. It is more chipped than mushroomed.

 

So maybe I should weld it like Frosty said? I guess I just assumed that welding an old hammer head like this is similar to welding an anvil, it’s not recommended. I wonder if I need to preheat, and if that would screw up whatever heat treatment there might be?

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Without hands on looking at it, I would just dress it down to eliminate he cracks. I don't think it would have a hardened face.

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

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Edit time had expired...

It's funny how memories come back to ya. I remember reading that Atha (later name changed to Stanley) used 4140 steel for all their hammer heads so just dressing it would be fine.

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

[Will Brouwers]

Hey! Glad the memories kicked in! Thank you!

[George N. M.]

The origins of the Atha Tool Company are sort of obscure but it definitely existed from 1884-1913 when it was bought out by the Stanley Tool and Level Company.  I believe that Stanley continued to use the Atha logo on some tools for some time after the acquisition.  IIRC Atha made a lot of farrier tools.

Earlier in the summer I wandered into an antique shop in downtown Laramie and walked out with a 9 pound Atha sledge head for $5.  When I mentioned to the owner that I was a blacksmith and was going to put it back into use he tried to give it to me but I made him take $5.

G

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

They made all kinds of blacksmith tools, beside hammers and farrier's tools. I have seen anvil swage's and top tools along with a lot of tongs.

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

[JHCC]

I once had to slice a full half inch off the face of an old sledge to get past the cracks. It's been doing great ever since.

If you want a museum piece, leave it alone. If you want to use it, modify it to suit.

[anvil]

Yup, don't weld on it, dress it down on a grinder or whatever you feel comfortable using and bring the head back to slightly domed with champfered edges. Then you will have a great hammer

[jlpservicesinc]

Looks to me like someone was beating drill steel with it.   You see this typically when the ends of the struck tools are not soft enough..  Yes, in same places they leave the ends of the tools slightly hardened..   Saves on having to replace the tool as often..  

Struck on center the hammers will not spalt until they have seen substantial use and then you have the whole face coming off. 

[Frosty]

The clarification of what's going on with your hammer changes my advice completely. If it's mushrooming that has chipped my first opinion stands. If on the other hand it's JUST blowing chips out it shouldn't be welded unless you perform the kind of testing necessary to map the cracking and who in their right mind is going to do that?

That hammer may not be suitable to repair and if you're not willing to do the kind of testing necessary turn it into a wall hanger, it isn't safe. If the cracks can't safely be ground out, welded up then just grinding them till you can't see the flaws is just masking the problem, NOT fixing or making it safe. 

The time just dressing cracks away being effective, passed long before that big chip was knocked out. I wouldn't use it on anything harder than wooden stakes and wouldn't allow it's use in my shop. PERIOD. Provided what you observations are accurate. I haven't held it and looked with my own eyes or applied Dikem after it was dressed so my opinion rests solely on your observations.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Will Brouwers]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

JHCC, I saw your thread, and am considering cutting the face off. It’s pretty bad. I really want to use the hammer, wall art is an absolute last resort, but I don’t want to hurt the hammer.

Frosty, I haven’t used it for anything yet. I wanted to make sure I went through the right steps before using it.

 

JLP, that makes sense. I got it in a small town in Kansas, and assume it was beaten on in its life.

 

So, to address the cracks, with the information above and the picture below, it seems that the best option is to grind the face or cut it, quite far back.

[jlpservicesinc]

If you are using the hammer for general work, you can arc weld the cracks back shut..  Put some preheat into the hammer and then weld it with 7018 or ER 70-6..  

The hardness and temper at this point mean nothing.  and even if you are using it for forging the metal will always be softer when hot vs trying to drive drill rod to sink a hole or the like.. 

other thing is it will help with the hard material that has been work hardened over time. 

[Will Brouwers]

So, I realized there were other threads I could have resurrected. I didn’t know what was better, resurrecting or starting another one.

Anyways, the results of cutting a slice are some some deep cracks on the sides. The next question is: do I slice again or radius the edges and hope for the best?

[Frosty]

What did you expect you didn't make the cut deeper than the visible cracks in the sides? What did you take off? It looks close to 1/4" and the picture two posts up the page clearly show that one is more than 1/2" deep.  If you are cutting cracks out or off a piece you MUST cut deeper or you're wasting your time and cutting disk.

NO, do NOT dress it as is, and hope for the best! A chip resulting from a crack that deep would hit you like a .30cal bullet only jagged and if you aren't lucky it'll hit someone else, maybe a child walking past on the sidewalk.

Either fix it RIGHT or put it on the wall!

Frosty The Lucky.

[Will Brouwers]

Ok, thanks for the encouragement! It kills me to take more off, but I will do it!

[anvil]

Just remember, you are dressing out someone elses abuse and to make it be a safe and workable hammer, get the cracks out. Also, another problem to consider, the temper on hammer faces is not very deep, so you will most likely end up with an unknown and mostly softer face. If you use it much, you will end up very shortly with the same mushrooming problem. Consider heat treating when you are done. A good learning experience all around.

[Latticino]

Seems pretty counter-productive to me.  When you are done you will have a hammer with softened faces from cutting and grinding (not to mention removal of a fair portion of the initial potentially relatively shallow original hard face).  I can typically pickup a fully usable 8-12 LB sledge at a garage sale for under $10.  It won't be a "collectable" Altha hammer, but neither will yours be after you are done.

Heat treating a large hammer head of unknown steel will certainly be a learning experience.  Watch out for "auto-tempering" and make sure you get that eye soft afterwards.  Arc welding on it will likely create HAZ zones that can spall chips even faster unless you are very familiar with proper pre and post heating.  You likely should do a full heat treatment afterwards anyway.

If you are trying to make something useful out of this, you might consider revising the faces to something like double diagonal or cross/straight peens.  That would be a lot of grinding work, but at the end you will have something that you couldn't just buy off the shelf much cheaper.

Personally this one would go in the recycle bin if I owned it.

[1forgeur]

Yep