dablacksmith Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 well after reading how a lot of people are makeing their own hammers i decided to try one ... i had made a couple of speciality hammers a long time ago but hadnt made any hammers for myself to use.so i was looking for something to make a hammer from and found a auction on ebay that was 50 lbs of 4140 in 2 1/4 and 2 in round stock various leingths .... it was cheap enuf i bought it and forged a hammer out of it today.took lonnger than i was hopeing but looks to be useable! weighs 3 1/2 lbs without handle ime pleased! hardened it in water and didnt temper... seems to be about right hardness ... will make a lighter one in the viking style next...spent about 3 1/2 hrs on it so its kinda costly hammer but i can say that i made it so that is a bonus! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrynjr Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 cool, looks good. other than modifying an existing hammer, I haven't tried to make one yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triw Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Very nice am courious how it preforms not being tempered keep us informed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Looks pretty darned good. I'll be looking forward to a performance report. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalMuncher Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Looks like a fine hammer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I haven't tried to make a hammer like that, yet. I do have some 2 1/4 inch round shaft and some 2X2 square. I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for the pix and let us know how she works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbrazealblacksmith Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 After working with Alfred Habermann for a year and a half, I now believe that a hammer should be one of the first things that you make as a blacksmith. Prof. Habermann is no longer with us, but what he shared with the world for over 25 years continues to be practiced today. Look at Hofi's hammers and tongs. Look at my tools and countless smiths in Europe. Tool making was one of the first things you had to do to make anything. My brother and I now give hammer making workshops where you and a striker make your own hammer and then change sides and strike while the other person directs his hammer. That's how Alfred had us do it, and I believe it's the best way to learn. If anyone is interested our E-mail adress is brazealbrothers@yahoo.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbrazealblacksmith Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Here are some pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Making your own hammer and tools, good investment, and !!! gives great sense of accomplishment , and learning! I made one... kind of ugly, but.. its mine and I am kinda proud of it, will do better next time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Thanks for the pix, Brian. I like the handled punch. Nice. I have to hold my punch in my hand, right now. But I can see that I won't be doing that much longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
element Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 dablacksmith, That is a good first attempt, Seems functional. Brazeal, The eye of your hammer looks a bit simillar to the Hofi hammer, Does that make your hammer more balanced? I find your design interesting ,so im curious as to how it feels? Thanks in advance:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted February 26, 2009 Author Share Posted February 26, 2009 well ive used it today ... Worked good! its plenty hard but not too hard... will stille dent slightly when hitting my s7 chizel that i accedently hardened full leingth...brian i like the pictures of your hammer class... i agree about tools in general and have made numerous punches and chizels but never figured a hammer was worth doing ... but after makeing this one i think i was missing out ! its not perfect it is not perfectly square for one (its perfect ofset for a lefty tho) i think ile wait a week or so then build another one ! i know some were woried about it being too hard but i looked up 4140 and at full hard it dosnt get much harder than 51 rockwell c ... and ive not seen any cracking or chipping problems so far .it is a little harder than a standard hammer but that is one of the reasons i made it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbrazealblacksmith Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 The eye is done like Hofi does his. The only difference is he uses a power hammer and I'm using a striker. Also, he uses a chisel while I use a punch. We both learned the technique from Alfred Habbermann who used it to make top tools. I never saw a hand hammer or sledge made by any of the Habermanns with this technique. Hofi, as far as I know, was the first in these modern times to start making hand hammers and sledges with this technique. Then Tom Clark and Tsur Sedan started making them also. There are some Chech smiths also making them for sale. Brent Baley makes hammers with a very similar technique. And then there is also Erin Simmons who takes it even farther. What I like about the technique is its efficiency. It takes me about 40 minutes to an hour to make a 3 pound or under hammer in a coal forge doing one at a time. I've seen Tom Clark do 3 at a time in a gas forge in 30 minutes. The forging is the quick and easy part. The other stuff takes up alot more time. As far as the balance goes that depends on the amount of material on each side of the eye. That hammer in the pictures is a farriers rounding hammer. It should have equal amounts of material on each face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nett Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Ah, Brent Bailey is just north of us. I haven't met him but I've visited his web site and noticed his work photographs very well, if you know what I mean. One unique idea I discovered at his web site and is a little off topic was his drawing of a drum bellow for a side blast forge. It looks to be a most ingenious design that had me totally baffled until I realized the bellows required water to make it. Brent Bailey Forge & Tool Company take a look at his hammers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
element Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Great site , super shinny hammers thats for sure.They look to pretty to even use:rolleyes: That bellows seems efficient, I saw that design years ago and always thought it was a great idea, Simple perfection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted February 27, 2009 Author Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) well here is the second cross pien hammer ... this one went a lot faster...it is a lot lighter head (2 1/2 lbs) and therfore easyer to get up to heat and punch/slit...was trying to get a more midevil look to this one . i think it came out real nice! a lot straighter than the first(spent more time squareing it up first).will take it to the shop tommorrow andput it thru its paces! (sorry just realised the first pic is a repost of first hammer) Edited February 27, 2009 by dablacksmith screwed up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
element Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Did you try em yet? How do they move steel? we need an update:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 been useing them bolth in the shop ever since i made um... they work great!! the smaller of the two is the harder and is really a nice hammer! the bigger one is a little heavy but really hits hard! it is a little softer face (i used it with my s7 chizel that i axxedently hardened the struck end it slightly dented it) but still harder than the sweedish pattern hammer i usually use .....one of the reasons i made these is that my regular hammer has a slight swale in it from use... (it took a few years to create but it re apears every year after dressing).i am probably going to make at least one more .. ive got a chunk that weighs right at 3 lbs that aught to make a good weight hammer... i am likeing the pien that is in line with bottom of hammer .. its nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Bly Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 That's pretty cool. Congrats on those hammers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMartin Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 nice hammers only started fooling with some about a month ago myself, the cross peen is my main forging hammer, maybe 2lb surly not over 2.5lb, the second i made last night, a little dog face hammer, or cutlers, what ever you want to call it. the cross peen is 1045, drilled little guide holes then punched, hardened in water then tempered in oven around 400 to 500 for about 2 hours, the dog face hammer is some part of a huge spring that was attached to a plow blade on some pice of equipment that had maybe 10 plows on it there was alredy a little hole in the end, just drifted larger, then filled the sides to a nice shine. hardened in oil, just headed the face with a torch, quenched in some old cooking oil, then ran the colors to about a purple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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