I finally broke my favorite cross peen hammer yesterday

The handle split right down the middle on a 3lb strike, spent 20 minutes fishing the head out of the slack tub. Anyone else ever have a vintage hammer head just let go on them out of nowhere?

2 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

2 Comments

valc911mo ago

Actually came across an old blacksmithing forum post a while back where a guy talked about this exact issue with vintage hammer heads. He said the steel can get brittle over decades from all the repeated hammering and heat cycles, even if the handle looks fine. That makes sense when you think about it. My old man had a similar thing happen with a 1900s era ball peen that just cracked in half mid swing. Scared him pretty good, almost took out his workbench. Might be worth checking the head on that hammer you salvaged for any hairline cracks before you hang a new handle on it. Could save you from another surprise down the road.

6

murphy.tessa1mo ago

Buddy of mine had an old head shatter too, lucky it missed his leg.

5