Welded eye hammer

Noellaflamme

Noellaflamme

Well-Known Member
So, I am planning on forging up a new doghead hammer, and was thinking that instead of punching and drifting the eye out, why not do a welded eye. either done with the entire body from wrought iron with a steel face, or wrought iron sides and eye with the body/ face being steel

Has anyone tried this?
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Very interesting idea. I am drawn to the second design because it only has one weld if you made the whole thing out of a medium carbon steel. I wonder how a hammer with multiple weld points would hold up when used in blacksmith work. You do not hit as hard in most blade work...so maybe. I think its a cool experiment please post pics if you attempt it. If I were dead set on making it with the use of a bit I would more than likely attempt design one because there is more surface area to the weld. No bit, I would try number two.
I have seen shake froes made by wrapping and forge welding the eye but I have also seen them fail too and you do not strike anything with a froe.
 
Chris Railey said:
Very interesting idea. I am drawn to the second design because it only has one weld if you made the whole thing out of a medium carbon steel. I wonder how a hammer with multiple weld points would hold up when used in blacksmith work. You do not hit as hard in most blade work...so maybe. I think its a cool experiment please post pics if you attempt it.
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i definitely will, and i mean if the welds go well, there shouldn't be any issue. it also will mostly be used for beveling work and shaping, not moving huge amounts of steel, just need to find the right steel to either use as the face or the body
 
It's certainly doable.....but is it worth the time and effort? Just throwing that out there. Unless you make your own handle(s), it would need to be drifted.
 
EdCaffreyMS said:
It's certainly doable.....but is it worth the time and effort? Just throwing that out there. Unless you make your own handle(s), it would need to be drifted.
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My guess would be the OP does all work alone by hand and does not have a press or a power hammer. If I wanted to make a hammer I would much rather wrap and forge weld than punch and drift a piece of steel that big by hand. If I was working with a striker then punching and drifting by hand is a little more doable and preferable to me. Eventual weld failure would be my main concern with the project above. Now I may have to try it...dang that’s just what I needed, another project. Lol
 
Chris Railey said:
My guess would be the OP does all work alone by hand and does not have a press or a power hammer. If I wanted to make a hammer I would much rather wrap and forge weld than punch and drift a piece of steel that big by hand. If I was working with a striker then punching and drifting by hand is a little more doable and preferable to me. Eventual weld failure would be my main concern with the project above. Now I may have to try it...dang that’s just what I needed, another project. Lol
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Yep, all my forging is done alone, I do have a power hammer, but after trying to drift a hammer eye on it... well for my safety I'm not trying that with that hammer anymore haha.
Yeah, I wonder what the best way to minimize weld failure would be? Although axes have been made this way for a while so maybe that means it can hold up decently?
 
Noellaflamme said:
Yes I am sure it is wrought iron, and I just gotna new bar of it at a hammer in, why?
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just curious, Did you happen to ask what it was before it got turned into the bar you purchased? How did the wrought iron forge? Did it tend to come apart when you hammered it?
 
Raymond Richard said:
just curious, Did you happen to ask what it was before it got turned into the bar you purchased? How did the wrought iron forge? Did it tend to come apart when you hammered it?
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the new bar i got was used i think as some sort of tension bar in the beams of an old factory or something like that. I havent used this one yet, just got it this weekend, but the guy i got it from said that this batch forges very well and doesn't split apart. apparently it was a more refined grade of wrought iron
 
Noellaflamme said:
the new bar i got was used i think as some sort of tension bar in the beams of an old factory or something like that. I havent used this one yet, just got it this weekend, but the guy i got it from said that this batch forges very well and doesn't split apart. apparently it was a more refined grade of wrought iron
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Do you know how to test it? What does the spark look like if you grind it?
 
Raymond Richard said:
Do you know how to test it? What does the spark look like if you grind it?
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ive tested it and its definitely wrought, long sparks that don't explode like a carbon steel, and you can see the grain(maybe not the best word) of it on the more oxidized parts. im going to cut a chunk and etch it when i get home tonight though, already doing that with the nut on it
 
Noellaflamme said:
ive tested it and its definitely wrought, long sparks that don't explode like a carbon steel, and you can see the grain(maybe not the best word) of it on the more oxidized parts. im going to cut a chunk and etch it when i get home tonight though, already doing that with the nut on it
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You don't need to etch it. Make your cut about 7/8 of the way through and then bend it where you made the cut. When you bend it it will look fibrous were you stopped the cut if its wrought iron.
 
Raymond Richard said:
You don't need to etch it. Make your cut about 7/8 of the way through and then bend it where you made the cut. When you bend it it will look fibrous were you stopped the cut if its wrought iron.
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Ok I'll do that, like 99% sure its wrought iron though, I trust the person I got it from
 
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