_Cross peen hammer:_ The sketch shows the form and gives the dimensions
of this hammer.
_Stock:_ 7/8 in. square, 2-1/2 ins. long.
[Illustration: Cross peen hammer]
It is best to make this hammer on the end of a bar. In this way you
dispense with the handling of tongs, and you are able to get the best
control of your material. Mark with a centre-punch, the centre of the
2-1/2 in. piece. Through this, punch a hole with an eye punch. (See eye
punch in tool list.) The hole will be a little less than the finished
size. Draw the face end slightly tapering. Drive the four corners down
and make the face of hammer octagonal in shape. The sketch will show
just where to begin this knocking down. The hammer is now cut off and
the face squared up. The centre of the face should be a little higher
than the outer edges. Now drive into the eye a drift pin. This pin is
made of 3/4 × 3/8 × 4 in. steel. It is tapered for the whole length
down to 1/2 × 3/8 in., and oval in shape. It is driven into the hole.
This gives the real shape to the eye of the hammer. Take the pin out
and re-heat the hammer. Draw the cross peen out to a taper as you
would if you were making a cold chisel. Be careful to keep all within
the dimensions given. The hammer may now be filed and polished if one
wishes a bright hammer; otherwise, it needs only to be tempered: then
it is ready for use.
_To temper the hammer:_ Place the whole hammer in the fire and heat it
red hot. Grasp it with a pair of pick-up tongs through the eye. Dip
the face in water half way up to the eye, and hold it there until the
face is chilled off. Reverse by placing the peen end into the water.
While this is cooling dip up enough water with the hand to keep the
face of the hammer cold. Take it out and polish both ends with a piece
of emery cloth wrapped around a piece of wood. The colours now are
beginning to run from the middle toward the ends. When the purple
colour reaches either end plunge that end into water, holding it in the
water until the purple colour reaches the other end. Then plunge the
whole hammer in water. This tempering darkens the hammer if it has been
previously polished. Rubbing well with emery cloth again will restore
the brightness. The hammer is ready for the handle. A hammer of this
kind can be made without the help of a second person.
[Illustration: Processes in making peen hammer]
_Round peen hammer:_ The form and dimensions for this hammer are given
here.
[Illustration: Step in making hammer]
_Stock:_ A piece of 1-1/2-in. square tool steel. This hammer, too,
is best made on the end of a bar about 20 ins. in length. With a
centre-punch mark off 2 ins. from the end. This spot marks the centre
of the eye. Place this end in the fire. One inch from the end fuller
down on the four sides of the bar (1). This makes a neck one inch in
diameter and having eight sides. Place it back in the fire and heat
again. Now put the bar again on the fuller 2 ins. from the first fuller
(1). This time fuller only two sides, the two sides opposite the
centre-punch mark. Fuller so that the thickness measures 1-1/4 ins.
This means only 1/8 in. depression on the two sides. Put again into the
fire and draw the first end out so that it measures 1 in. octagonal,
any length. (See sketch 2.) Heat again, this time the whole body of the
piece. Punch a hole with the eye-punch where the centre-punch was made.
The hole will be a little less in size than the finished hole will be
(see sketch) to allow for the increase in size while working the metal
into shape. Put the drift pin into the hole. Drive it through until the
small end just shows through on the other side. Place a fuller over the
hole and work the metal out sidewise by striking on the top of the
fuller with a sledge hammer. This requires a helper to do the heavy
work. While the heavy work is being done the steel must be heated many
times, but always without the drift pin. Keep the drift pin in water
while the hammer is being heated, as the pin must always be cold when
driven into the eye. Drive it in a little farther each time, so that by
the time the centre is finished the hole will be the proper size (3).
The thickness of the metal around the eye should be about 1/8 in. on
the outer edges and 3/16 in. in the centre. This tapers a little from
the centre outward, as is shown in the drawings. Put the 3/4-in. bottom
fuller on the anvil and place the neck of the hammer on this and a top
fuller above that. Strike on the fuller and reduce the neck until it
measures about 3/4 in. in diameter, keeping the octagonal shape all the
while.
[Illustration]
Heat the hammer again where the face should be, and fuller down between
the body and the face so that this will measure about 1-1/8 in. square,
using the same large fullers as before and making it octagonal. This
finishes up completely the body of the hammer between the face and the
peen.
With a sharp chisel cut the hammer off an inch and a half from the
body. You will then have enough stock for the face of the hammer.
[Illustration]
The surplus stock on the peen allows for holding with the tongs, and
the face of the hammer is rounded up to about 1-5/8 in. in diameter.
Bevel the edges down 1/16 in. back of this face and, with a sharp
chisel, trim the face off flat or square with the axis of the hammer.
The centre of the face should be a little higher than the outside edges.
Grasp the face with the tongs and place the peen in the fire. Take
it out and cut it off 1 in. in length and make the edges rounding.
To shape the peen, place the neck on a large fuller and round up as
shown in the picture. Be careful each time to give it one eighth of a
turn so that the octagonal shape will not be lost. If the hammer has
been carefully forged it will require little finishing in the way of
filing, unless one wishes to make a fancy polished hammer. If such
a one is desired some draw filing and polishing must be done. This
makes the hammer look better, but it doesn't increase its efficiency.
The tempering is done in the same way as the tempering for the cross
peen hammer was done. However, this hammer is larger and heavier than
the cross peen hammer and is more difficult to temper. While the same
principle is involved in the tempering of both hammers, greater care
must be taken in tempering this one.
The handle is placed. You will find that the driving of the drift pin
into the eye, first on one side and then on the other, makes both
outside openings larger than the centre. This should be so, as it helps
to hold the handle firmly in place.