Hello Jon. I am using a three pound standard blacksmiths hammer, cross pein, for the main forging. I also have a four pound french pattern that I use for heavy work. There is also a 2.5 pound cross pein, a 1.5 pound cross pein, and a one pound german pattern hammer for straightening and very light work. All have polished faces. If the handle works for me I will use what they came with, If not I usually go for a slightly longer handle, just personal preference. The three pound cross pein is my favorite.

Brion

Jon,

I use several forging hammers from six (6) pounds for heavy work to a two (2) pound hammer to work the blade and then a one (1) pound hammer to straighten at the end. I also use a flatter with my two (2) pound hammer at times to straighten the blade and tang.

My favorite to move metal is a six (6) pound hammer with a curly maple handle that the late Tom Clark made for me several years ago. One face of the hammer is round and the other is flat. I went with a heavier hammer for most of my heavy forging work after I saw Master Smiths Jim Crowell and Joe Keeslar forge at ABS Hammer-Ins with heavier weight hammers and saw the results.

This is my Tom Clark forging hammer.

Hi Jon,

I have three hammers I use.

1.) 2&1/2# Stanley cross pein from home depot-, and it has been my main forging hammer for the last eight years.

2.) 4# Stanley cross pein for moving steel.

3.) 8# Engineers Sledge that I found while mowing the lawn. Added a one foot long handle, and have been using it for Damascus welds for seven years.

I don't bother to polish any faces or handles. Below is a shot of me and Stanley. The fiberglass handle got melted and replaced about six years ago. I made one for it with a piece of sledge handle, and cut a couple of contours in the handle on my grinder.

Cheers,

Fuad

I of course use the hammers that I make. Early in my forging career I always found it difficult to use a cross or straight peen....and while attending a Blacksmithing symposium, spoke with a gentleman about hammers. He brought up the idea of an Angle Peen, and after a lot of experimentation, I came up with my current hammer style. http://www.caffreyknives.net/Angle%20Pien%20Hammers.html

I have a number of them hanging around my anvil, but my most used one is a 2 1/2lb version. When I forge, I usually start with larger hammers, and work my way down in size as I forge a blade, generally ending up with a tiny 12oz hammer for finishing.

The "Double Draw" hammer (the one with a peen on each side of the head), is great for installing distal tapers, and forging in blade bevels without having to back bend.

I like to keep the faces of my hammers mirror finished, and really like a "split" hickory or ash handle in 16" length. This allows me to choke up as needed for finer work, but still gives me a longer handle for power when needed.

Dear John,

Good question. I think we are all trying to accomplish the same thing but we may use different tools and methods to achieve the same results. Currently I use three hammers and they seem to cover all the bases for me. My primary hammer is a 3lb. German pattern cross peen of dubious ancestry. (It is an inexpensive hammer. I don't know as I got it second hand and no markings as to manufacture.) I do most of my work with this hammer and like the faceted face as I often align one of the facets up with the edge of the anvil such as when I am pulling out the cutting edge from the bar. I have an eight lb. double faced sledge hammer on about an eighteen inch handle. This gives me the option of choking up or down as needed and my ability allows. This is for heavy hits and moving a lot of metal if find myself without a power hammer. Last but not least I have a 1 lb. ball peen hammer I use to refine and straighten. I differentiate straightening from forging by not "moving" any metal but "bending"it straight. I am rather conservative and not too much into what ever the latest "thing" is. I have used very many hammers over the last thirty years and I have found these styles fit my needs for forging bldes. All my hammers are "regular old hammers". I grind the faces of my hammers very flat. This works well for me as I have learned to hit flat over the years and leaves me with few hammer marks in my work. I think that careful practice and our skill does the most for our work.

Best wishes and good luck,

Jim Crowell

Jim,

Do you realize you just wrote a Dear John letter? <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmiths.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//ohmy.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':o' />

It's good to see you here. Eight lb hammer? I guess I'm a wimp. I use a couple of different 2 lb hammers for most of my forging. One is a Tom Clark similar to Dan's and the other is an old ballpien that I modified into a straight pien and re handled myself. It's my favorite. Lin

That is good Lin, a dear Jon letter. I don't think it could be stated any better than Jim's reply. Practice and skill definitely. I learned from Jim and I think I may be getting better at forging after his help and a number of years of practice. Good to see you here Jim.

Take care

Brion