Forged Ball-Peen Hammer

A 2-pound ball-peen hammer forged from 1½-inch square tool steel; a 6½-inch bar gives two heads. The eye is punched and drifted, the body fullered and rounded so it tapers both ways from a thick centre, then the face is drawn out and swaged and the ball peen rounded in a bottom swage. Both ends are hardened by dipping them in turn, with water dripping on the face, and tempered from the heat held around the eye: dark brown for the face, brown or purple for the peen. The eye cools last, which keeps it tough.