New chasing hammer

[Mack]

The chasing hammer I have been using only has a 3/4" face on it. I want to try a hammer with a larger face so I made one today out of brass. There is no problem with hardness since my handles on all of my gravers are wood. The hammer seems a little heavy though. I am going to make a handle for it and then see how it goes. This one has a face that is 1 1/8". It came out ok so I guess if it is too heavy I will just file away some metal on the body of it. Mack

 

[DKanger]

While on the subject of hammers, would I be correct in assuming that both the face of the hammer and the back end of the graver handle should be somewhat rounded, so that every blow is concentrated. It seems this would compensate for non dead center hits while flat faced tools provide an angular surface prone to glancing blows.

Dave

 

[Mack]

That is sometimes true in wood carving as shown in the pic of the mallet below, but in engraving it is not that I am aware of. Here is a picture of a chasing hammer sold by GRS with a very flat face. Mack

 

[JCP]

That' a good looking hammer Mack. I made the only chasing hammer that I have from a piece of chrome-moly steel. I think the shape of the handle and balance is probably the most important thing. You might want to take a round file and file a little taper in the hole so the head doesn's fly off when you get real fast

Jack

 

[Mack]

Doubt I will ever get that fast at my age but I intend to taper the hole and oval it also. When I put the handle in I will also epoxy it.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

That looks a good hammer Mack, I show you mine, not a one I made of course.
Even not using it for engraving.
But I think the stalk is handy.

arnaud

 

[Charlie]

Hay,
now I can do that,
make a hammer that is.
I believe your distance from the face to the handle is too long.
Look at that GRS hammer.


If you need to make it lighter, you could take metal out of the neck and thin the face.

Here is a picture of one that I made.

 

[Mack]

Charlie: You have a good point there. I took the measurements from the little hammer that I have. I think if it is to heavy I will take the weight out of the neck first. Then if it is still too heavy I will take it out of the face. If it still doesn't work out I will spray the head with laquer to keep it bright and just hang it up. Mack

 

[Mack]

Weeell, It is pretty heavy. It is finished but I am going to take as much weight out of it as possible because it is top heavy. I thought brass might be heavy and now I know.

 

[me2cyclops]

I would take a bit off the face first and give it a bit of an angle.
when you hold the handle the face should be at the same slope as your lower 3 fingers as you hold it... hard to explain just pick it up and look at your fingers, that will be a more natural and ergonomic swing.

 

[Mack]

I took quite a bit off the neck and now it feels pretty good. I like it. Mack

 

[Tom Curran]

Mack, you can save the heavy hammer for the deep cuts, heavy metal removal, etc. Make a lighter one for delicate work.

Definitely ovalize the hole, otherwise the head will start to spin on the handle.