dogs head hammer

jdm61

jdm61

itinerant metal pounder
Joined
Aug 12, 2005
Messages
47,357
What are the inherent advantages of a Japanese dogs head hammer or a similar western saw filers hammer? Is the 90 degree handle of the Japanese hammer or the offset handle of the western ones better?
 
They're accurate for finishing. They want to point down. Straight 90 degree handle on mine. I like it.
 
What Kuraki said. Probably my favorite finishing hammer. The handle isn't a perfect 90, but is pretty close.
 
Do you have square or octagon faced hammers?
 
They are great for finish forging bevels.
Mine are square faced.
I have an angled one and several 90° ones. I like the 90°.
 
Where did you guys get yours? I see that USA Knifemaker now has square head Japanese style hammers and the tapered western style octagonal ones but with a straight handle. What weight hammer did you buy?
 
I made mine from a pick axe. I cut the tine off to forge into a drift and what was left looked like it'd make a good hammer, so I stuck a handle in it and cleaned it up a bit. I think it weighs about 2 lbs.

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I like square faced with 90° handle. It's great for finishing work.
Plan to make few new ones :)
 
I make them from any hammer type tool that has one end that can be cut off. This can range from a machinist hammer, to a small sledge/maul. Sonce they are generally a finishing tool, #2 is a good range for weight.

If you are forging one from a cut down hammer or a block of steel ( anything from 4140 to 1080), the angle is easily added. If just cutting down and grinding, it will be 90 degrees.
 
I use 30x30mm 1045 bar, and cut 135mm long piece. It gives 2lb hammer head.
I use fly press for the eye, and finish it by the hand using hammer eye drift.
 
So I remembered that I had a "free" sacrificial tool to experiment with. When I bought my nice hammers like 10 years ago, I bought a flatter in the 3-3.5 pound range and have never used it. So, I cut off the wide end and ended up with a hammer that feels like it weighs pretty close to my 1000 gram French pattern hammer. In hindsight, I should have left another 1/4 to 3/8 of meat on the blunt end, but I still have a good 3/8 of "web" behind the eye. It feels kind of odd in the hand just holding it until you swing it and then it lines right up.
IMG_0710.jpg
 
And made or bought the tools to make the hammers. I am not rigged out either physically or mechanically to make tools like that. I could not begin to make even a properly size drift for such a project, so I would have to buy one. A flatter may sell for a lot new these days, but I didn't pay anything like that in 2006. What would I get for it "used?" Are rusty flatters a hot item on eBay these days? The steel would have to be ordered. What would it cost to ship? What would I pay to ship the flatter? Probably more than it would sell for. So I chose to defile one tool to make another one. Problem solved. ;)
JMJones said:
you could have sold the flatter and bought enough steel to make half a dozen hammers...
Click to expand...
 
Sure Somalia. Hickory is abundant. They just hijack a hickory ship, & Labour rates are what, .50$ per day??
 
I was just fooling around, but it looks like they sell between 35 and 85 bucks on ebay. I make dogs head hammers and sell them on here on occasion. I drill and mill the eye slot but a friend is storing some punches and drifts at my place so I will give that a try soon.
 
Most flatters I have bought cost very little .... but they were well used. I also don't recall ever using a flatter ... well, at least not for what it was made to do. I would bet most are used like big flat headed hammers.

I am one who enjoys finding things to repurpose or change to have a new and better life. An unused flatter cut into a useful forging hammer is a win for me.

Set those old flatters free and let them enjoy life as a loved dog's head hammer.
 
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