Forges at the county fair showed me I was using the wrong hammer

I was demoing at the state fair in Des Moines last August and this old timer walked up to my setup. He watched me work for about 10 minutes and then asked why I was using a 3 pound cross peen for everything. I told him it was what I learned on and he laughed and handed me a lighter 2 pound rounding hammer from his bag. Tried it for the rest of the day and my wrist didn't ache and my drifts came out way cleaner. Now I keep three different hammer weights on my bench and swap them based on the steel thickness. Has anyone else switched hammer styles mid-career and noticed a big difference?

3 comments

3 Comments

barbara_grant44d ago

That bit about swapping based on steel thickness is something I don't hear people talk about enough. Most folks just grab their favorite hammer and go, but even a 1/4 inch difference in material can change how a hammer wants to move the metal.

blakestone4d ago

Yeah, totally. I messed that up bad when I first started. I was trying to move some 1/8 inch strap with a really heavy rounding hammer I use for 3/8 plate and it was just bouncing off, not doing anything useful to the metal. Switched to a lighter cross peen and it moved like butter. It's like the hammer's energy just gets wasted if its too heavy for the job. You end up fighting the tool instead of the metal. I keep three hammers on my bench now just for different stock thickness and it saves me so much frustration.

alicemurphy4d ago

Applies to picking tools for anything really, same idea.