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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.
Advanced
4–6 hours
Instructions
1
1
Mark and flatten
Mark and flatten
Mark the bar with a chisel and centre punch. Flatten the end before punching, or the hole grows too large.
Materials for this step:
Square Tool Steel Bar1 pieceTools needed:
Center Punch
Hot Chisel
Blacksmith Forge
Anvil
Sledgehammer
Blacksmith Tongs2
2
Punch and drift the eye
Punch and drift the eye
Punch the eye at the centre-punch mark, drive in a drift and hammer the bulged sides straight.
Tools needed:
Hot Punch
Drift
Forge Hammer3
3
Shape the body
Shape the body
Rough out the shape with top and bottom fullers, then round the body at the anvil's rounded edge with a top fuller and set hammer, thicker at the centre than at the ends.
Tools needed:
Fuller
Set Hammer4
4
Face and peen
Face and peen
Cut the head from the bar from four sides for a square end. Draw out the face, swage it and trim it with a hot chisel; then cut the peen to length, cut off its corners and round it in a bottom swage. Drive the drift through from both sides to taper the eye.
Tools needed:
Hot Chisel
Bottom SwageDrift5
5
Grind
Grind
Grind both ends, rounding the edges of the face slightly so it does not mark hot work.
Tools needed:
Bench Grinder6
6
Harden and temper
Harden and temper
Heat the whole head slowly to the hardening heat and hold it by a tong jaw in the eye. Lower about 1½ inches of the face into water, then harden the peen the same way while water drips on the face, keeping the eye hot. Polish the ends; take the face to dark brown and the peen to brown or purple, then dip the ends alternately so the eye cools slowly.
Tools needed:
Blacksmith Forge
Quench BucketBlacksmith Tongs
Emery Cloth7
7
Handle
Handle
Shave the handle stock to fit the eye tightly, drive the head on, saw a kerf in the handle's top and drive a glued hardwood wedge into it. Trim flush and oil the handle.
Materials for this step:
Hardwood Handle Stock1 piece
Hardwood Wedge1 piece
Linseed Oil10 mlTools needed:
Spokeshave
Crosscut Saw
Bench ViseMaterials
4- 1 piecePlaceholder
- 1 piecePlaceholder
- 1 piecePlaceholder
- 10 mlPlaceholder
Tools Required
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