Hammer Time

                I recently realized that I have a hammer problem.  Unfortunately there isn't a support group for this.  I know I'm not the only person on the planet that is a collector of odd bits. I'm not even the only tool collector, but I don't really collect tools.  Actually, I don't really collect.  What I do is make, or purchase, or acquire in whatever way possible, hammers.  I even cheat and reform hammers that I pick up cheap so that they do things that they weren't designed to do.  I love moving metal, so hammers are an incredibly useful tool to me.  I only have one claw hammer because I might have to fix the roof or tear something apart.  Mostly, though, I have fantastic specialty hammers.  Hammers that only do one thing.  I was thinking of including a picture of all my hammers here, but I don't want to have to put them all away again and by the time I got far enough away to get them all in one picture the handles would look like toothpicks and you wouldn't be able to make out the heads.  

This is pretty much what my claw hammer looks like only mine is dirtier and more beat up. 

 

                I was talking to a computer tech guy on the phone who was trying to help me with my online advertising which is unnecessarily complicated if you ask me.  I guess it's job security for the tech guys.  Anyway, he was looking at my web site while trying to come up with search keywords and, of course, he told  me he was learning blacksmithing so he could make knives.  Due to conversations like this one, I am starting to think that most people who are interested in metalwork and smithing are only interested in making knives.  I don't make many knives because there is too much grinding involved in bladesmithing.  I'm more into moving metal than removing metal.  In truth it isn't actually necessary to do any moving of metal when making a blade.  You could make an incredible blade without an anvil, a hammer or a forge.  I suspect this is why so many bladesmiths get into pattern welded blades.  Making the pattern welded billet requires the use of a hammer.  Moving metal with a hammer is so satisfying.  Grinding is not. 

I told the tech guy to start out doing this.  It's the start of a pattern welded billet using cable.  It could be more or less frustrating than stacking and folding.  I don't actually know.

 

                A hammer is the most basic piece of equipment necessary for moving metal.  There's a physics thing going on there.  A hammer is basically a stick with a weight on the end.  You swing it and it gives you great power.  Ask Thor.  Actually I don't know anything about Thor.  Norse god with hammer.  That's all I know and even that could be wrong.  Then I went off and looked up Thor on Wikipedia (which I know could be totally wrong too) and found our Thursday is named after Thor.  Also he used his hammer to "smash mountains".  That is an insane use for a hammer.  Hammers used properly are tools of creation not tools of destruction.  Plus, I like mountains.  They break up the monotony of not mountains, and help the directionally challenged know which way they are headed.  Unless, of course, they are all around.  Then maybe you have to smash one so you know which way is north.  I have other issues with Thor now that I have a deep Wikipedia understanding of him, but I will save that for another day.  

 

Ok. Seriously?  This is a toy Thor.  Why does he have wings on his head?  But also that hammer could only be used to smash mountains so now I get the mountain smashing thing. 

               

               I will say that making a hammer is a really cool thing.  Although, I will also say, it's a lot harder to do if you don't already have a hammer.  It's similar to trying to get your first job.  So very hard because you have never had a job before.  For this reason, I am going to suggest that you buy your first hammer.  Before you know it you will have a hammer problem just like mine.   Thanks to online shopping there are hundreds of places to buy hammers of every sort and every quality.  With a hammer, a pair of tongs, an anvil and a forge, you can work metal hot.  A hammer, a pitch bowl or a chunk of carpet, some chisels and you can work metal cold.  Eventually you will end up with a wall of hammers, four anvils, hundreds of tongs and several forges.  The proverbial slippery slope. 

There are times when I hate the internet and times when I love it.  

                 

                I can't really tell you how to find or chose an anvil.  They are heavy and expensive and if you are looking at used ones they can need a lot of repair which is a little complicated to do.  You can also use a chunk of railroad track in a pinch.  I've never tried this but I know it's done.  Tongs are easier.  They aren't too expensive or once you have a hammer, an anvil and a forge, you can pretty easily make a pair of tongs.  Or 20.  Or however many it takes for you to get totally comfortable with the skills necessary for tong making.  Ideally, you will need a punch to make tongs which you probably should have made, but you need tongs to make a punch so maybe just buy your first pair of tongs.  That was a fun circle.  You can also make a forge.  Purchasing a forge can be pretty pricey.  You don't really need much in the way of tools to make a forge.  I keep making new ones because I haven't found an ideal size.  Or a size that fits every project.  I use gas forges because coal is too complicated to deal with.  If you want to weld in a gas forge you need to add compressed air.  If you want do work in what is now considered the traditional way, make a coal forge.  If you want to be really traditional you will forego mineral coal and make your own charcoal.  And no, you can't just pick up a bag at the store.  It's not the same.  All of that is a distraction from moving metal though.  So just find an old drum or canister or something and make a nice little propane forge.  Add a compressed air valve if you really need to make pattern welded steel.  

I am in no way endorsing or recommending this plan because basically you can kill yourself if you aren't paying attention when you work with compressed flammable gas.  That's true whether you make your own propane forge or buy one.  At least it's a faster death than the one you will experience if you use a coal forge. 

 

                Lastly, get a hammer.  Or more than just one.  There are different types of smithing hammers that do different kinds of work.  Start with a rounder.  Maybe get a Swedish  pattern hammer or a French.  Those are just fancy cross pein hammers.  Go find some cheap ball pein or sledge hammers and modify them to do what you need.  Make a straight pein hammer from a ball pein hammer.  Finally or eventually, get a chunk of steel and make your own hammer.  That baby will feel so good in your hand that you will never want to put it down.  

This is a pretty inexpensive rounding hammer from The Hammer Source.  It's a pretty good place to start.  There are, naturally, much more expensive rounders and you can also make your own. 

                Guess what?  You now have a hammer problem and there are no support groups for that.

Get to work

j