I made this hammer today out of 1" hex stock from an old drive shaft. That metal has to be yellow or else it won't budge. This is my first hammer that I've ever made. Thanks so much rthibeau for the video before. I made it for my brother who is 8 and gets tired using my 2lb-4lb hammers. It's about 4" long, and weighs about 1-1.2 lbs. It should get some good use out of it. I know that it's not pretty, but I used it tonight and it works good. Not good at taking pictures but here they are. I upset both aces and then forged them. It's a cross peen obviously. This was a lot of fun, took me about two hours to make the hammer, but 4 hours to do the whole thing, and I HT it to. It has a 1.65" diameter for the face, and about 1.5" peen diameter. Critic as much as possible.

Edited December 22, 200817 yr by m_brothers

I like the way it looks, loads of character. What really counts though is how your brother likes it.

Frosty

You did good on this One, keep at it. As a wise man once said "the good is too often the enemy of the best". If you will learn to never settle for "good enough", you will succeed beyond your dreams.

Thanks guys, I will make some more drifts tomorrow, and MAYBEstart on another hammer.

mbrothers - Well Done - you did way better than I did today in my unheated Waterford, Wisconsin forge. Way cold! I was having trouble getting 3/8 Rd. stock to orange let alone 1 in Hex to yellow.

My propane heater got the shed up to about 38 degrees but that was all she would do.

Keep up the good work

Thanks, you hear of peter martin??? he lives in waterford, you might wanna hook up with him some time, we could maybe hook up sometime, talk, and do some forging, or all three of us.

http://www.petermartinknives.com

My shop is a plywood box that keeps rain, wind, and snow out. It was -14F outside, maybe 0 inside cuz of the forge. Either way, I was/am cold. Lol.

Edited December 22, 200817 yr by m_brothers

Good job John. Keep at it!
Finnr

Hey Johm, looks good! You have to make the first one to know how to make improvements on the next one, and the one after that and on and on! like anything else each one you do becomes easier than the last and you make your refinements to suit your needs. Keep up the good work!

Terry

Looks good John!

Thanks guys, it's to cold to do any forging today, yesterday stunk, and today is worse, so I'm staying inside.

Nice Hammer John, very cool looking!

Thanks Sam. Any tips or hints for my next one?

Start with bigger stock, and start with square.

Looking Good John. Keep at it. I havent had to time to start my hammer yet . Will soon though.