Hello.
Have you guys ever had the experience where you use a hammer, and as soon as you do you arm just... I dunno, it just works with the hammer? Well, a few weeks ago I started using a 2 pound ball peen with a very subtly domed face, (like a rounding hammer) and a 12 inch long handle. It's just clicked with my arm. I didn't get what all the older smiths were talking about, but now I do. I just need to talk myself into buying one
do you guys have that one special hammer that you just use for everything, or do you use a bunch and not really have a favorite?

be merry,
Archie

i really am still looking for a hammer like that......wisk i could find it

My hammer I made, the first successful good steel hammer I ever made.

a three pound Straight peen that I traded a Squirrel roaster for is about the most comfortable one I have

I use different hammers for different things. Hofi hammers for most forge work, Swedish for some forge work such as getting into corners, ball peen hammers for banging on stuff that might damage the face of a good hammer, etc.

I have a rack full of hammers and then some. All shapes and sizes but I am down to about three I use consistently. I have a haberman that I really like and use 80% of the time. I have a rounding hammer I use probably 10% and a swedish hammer that I use to move metal and I use it about 5%. The rest I use various sizes and styles for oddball things. I also have various sizes of ball piens I use for punch and chisel work.

John

I've got three hammers (so far) of which two are handmade and one is a factory made. The factory made is a smallish straight pein and the two hand mades are a largish diagonal pein and one based on an old Smithing/Farrier hammer. It has round faces, one flat and one with a decent crown.
I use the big diagonal pein for 90% of my work, the Small straight pein for about 5% and the Smithing hammer for the other 5%.
I only use the hammer I think thats best suited to the job I'm doing, but that been said I can use the big hammer to do very delicate work if I want to.
I saw a few Smiths that used one hammer for everything, but it's a personal preference. As long as the results are right it's not life or death

My favorite hammer is one that is composed of the head from my Greatgrandfather and a brazed in metal handle that my grandfather installed. It is a dual face hammer, I annealed and filed down the heads, one about the profile of a watch crystal and the other like the lense of a 1/1 vision eye glasses.

It is about four pounds or so. I wrapped the metal handle, one of those that used to have leather rings around it so it is shaped like a small I beam, with twine. About 1" thick wrap.

It works great, with the twine rather taught and a bit loose, balance, it gives great hammer control with a loose grip, isolation from the violent vibration that travels up the metal handle and the twine absorbs sweat and gives a good friction grip. Never had any blisters from it, or any other hammer for that matter.grin

It always feels a lot lighter then it really is, I attribute this to the energy of my ancesters in it. . .

Caleb Ramsby

The two most comfortable hammers I've ever used didn't even belong to me ...
The first was a swedish pattern hammer that belonged to the smith who taught me my fundamentals.
The second was a 2lb short handle that Drogo let me borrow for a class I took over the summer.

My main hammers (that are also mine ) are a 1000gr and 800gr cross-peins.

But I've been really digging the mastermyr hammers and Sam's japanese-pattern hammer. [... hmmm... Christmas is coming ... I think daddy needs new toys ... I've been good - really - honest ... ]

Sam (... the other Sam)

There are too many variables to be able to predict what it'll be or when it'll happen but finding the perfect hammer happens and it'll be a different one for most everybody.

Oh sure, there are some that are just plain better designed and so fit more people perfectly but it's not something universal.

Heck, it's the same with any hand skill tool. We used to bowl quite a bit when I was a kid and I was okay at it. Then one day some friends and I were killing time away from home and decided to roll a few frames. The ball I picked off the rack fit me so perfectly I bought the thing from the alley. I (well, Dad) had one custom made just like it but it wasn't the same, close but not IT.

Back to the topic, I have a number of most used hammers and probably 200 others that range from occasional to wall hangers. My most used are a 2lb(or so) turning hammer the sq profile turning hammer I made a couple summers ago a heavy awkward straight pein I REALLY need to change handles on, a Sears 3lb. drilling hammer and a 2,000gm flat faced, square profile Chinese hammer I picked up a couple decades ago.

Frosty

But I've been really digging the mastermyr hammers and Sam's japanese-pattern hammer. [... hmmm... Christmas is coming ... I think daddy needs new toys ... I've been good - really - honest ... ]

Sam (... the other Sam)

Sam, I might have a few of these done soon, i'll put you on the list .