oscar C Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 maybe this qustion has already been posted...I no its really is up to personal preference but what is a good general peen size for a hand hammer? (cross,straight, diagonal.) is it proportional to the weight of the hammer? Or does it depend on the type of work beeing done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 To be useful it needs to be large enough that you can peen out metal without having problems making coldshuts. My favorite one looks like a 1" (2.54 cm) round stock on the end of the hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alwin Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 It depends on the weight and the work being done. Are you riveting with it, using it to stretch metal, texturing with it, etc.? I would look on the internet at different smiths and watch how their hammers are shaped for the work they do, that should give you some idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 depends on work being done... usually bigger for heavyer hammers ... also personal preference comes into play... ive started useing a sharper pien on a couple of my hammers for textureing leaf blanks.. looks better with smaller sharper marks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Bly Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 So more or less, several different style peens for different types and styles of work would be useful to own?:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Ayup, the more the merrier. Don't be discouraged though, you really only need a couple hammers to do most everything. Below is my main selection of working hammers. Then there are another five or so I use pretty often but not often enough to keep on the anvil. I have probably 140+ more but only use one of those on occasion so they're in buckets and the like, out of the way but available. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Bly Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Nice engine hoist Frosty, no wonder why my back aches.:rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arbalist Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Ayup, the more the merrier. I have probably 140+ more. Frosty Thats a lot of Hammers Frosty! Vic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 My engine hoist is making your back ache Jeff? I must really be using it wrong. I picked it up last summer at a garage sale, without it I wouldn't've been able to do much while my elbow was healing. With it though, I'm able to do quite a number of things. Good investment for sure. I don't know quite how many hammers I actually have, I haven't counted in a long time but I stopped actively collecting them some while back too. Still, I won't walk off and leave a good hammer on a table at a sale, especially a smithing hammer so the collection continues to grow. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfDuck Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Jeff buy every pean hammer at sales that are broken or rusted. All off them can be re made or reshaped with fire or grinder. They make good hot punches. or any special hammer you want. Claw hammers too. just weld the claws together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Bly Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 just weld the claws together. Now there's a good idea. I've been passing over quite a few claw hammers. That ought to be fun trying to reshape them, and if I get disgusted with them I can turn them into dinner plates or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blksmth Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) I'm sure this is not universal, but quite a few blacksmiths try to make the peen end of the hammer just a narrow section of the main hammer face. Same radius on the edges and crown on the peen as is on the main face of the hammer. If you have a hammer with a big crown in the face with larger edge radius, then the peen would be the same. Various smiths prefer different shaped (flat to round) faces and peens for their main hammer. Peter Ross uses his relatively flat hammer and minimal edge radius for just about everything. Uri Hofi uses his relatively rounded hammer for just about everything. Peter Ross (at least in about 1998) used a 1 lb. 15 oz. hammer with a 3/8" wide flat peen - with maybe a 1/16" crown and 1/32" radius on the edges. He may be using a slightly heavier hammer of the same style now, but it could be the same hammer. My Uri Hofi/Tom Clark hammers made in 1997 have peens that are more rounded with more radius (about 1/8") on the edges. The smaller hammer (2 lb. 13 oz.) has a 1/2" wide peen and the larger hammer (3 lb. 6 oz.)has a 5/8" wide peen. Both hammers have about a 1/16" crown. With the peen of the Hofi/Clark hammers it is easy to make the Hofi style leaves. That can not be easily done with the Ross hammer. Edited March 5, 2009 by blksmth Took out redundant url Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Bly Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Is it just a matter of texture that you are trying to obtain with ones individual hammer, or is there a specific reason to use different style peens such as the straight, diagonal, ball, flat, etc.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalMuncher Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Depends on what kind of work is to be done. A round hammer face will spread the metal 360 degrees, whereas a cross-peen hammer will spread it 180 degrees. Therefore lending more ``direction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blksmth Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I've heard blacksmith extraordinaire Brian Brazeal comment that the hammer and the anvil are each dies. I think he makes a good point. The hammer is the top die and a certain part of the anvil or possibly a bottom hardy tool etc. is the bottom die. When smashed together the hot iron conforms to the 2 dies. Brian uses several hammers each as a different top die. Other smiths use various top and bottom tools to get roughly the same results. Possibly Brian could expound on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blksmth Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Peter Ross uses fairly flat hammers with very small radius on the edges and his ironwork is very smooth without hammer marks of any kind. His expertise is Colonial Ironwork (year 1776) and he reproduces it. Apparently the goal in those days was to not have hammer marks show. Much of the ironwork was filed and it is not fun to have to file out hammer marks. His style hammer takes some getting use to as the sharp edges do leave hammer marks if one is not use to using a hammer like his. This is just one example of how one blacksmith prefers a particular hammer style and why. Many blacksmiths today are producing ironwork for clients that prefer hammer marks to show that the piece was forged or home made. It is the sign of a good craftsman if he can do either smooth or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Bly Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I never thought of it that way. So in some sense it's not necessarily the hammer, but how you use it? You can force the metal in the direction you want no matter the peen, yes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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