Hammer and axe steel

[trout #2]

Does anyone know what kind of steel and what hardness is used in Estwing hammers and axes? If that's too specific, is there a general range of steels and hardness used for hardware store-type striking tools? Just curious, thanks.

 

[GarageBoy]

I know S7 is one of the more popular ones. Sorry can't help you more

 

[valleytinworks]

trout.... i was trying to talk jerry into making me a busse hammer and prybar.... but it didnt pan out...

i was wondering if infi would work well as a hammer head...

 

[Bronco]

...i was wondering if infi would work well as a hammer head...

In truth, and as much as I love all of my Busse blades, probably not as well as S7. You could possibly come up with a heat treating/annealing schedule for INFI that would work adequately, but how can you beat the performance and affordability of S7 where a hammer is concerned?

 

[mete]

I have no idea but I have a few Estwing tools and I'm very happy with them. For those who are making hammers and axes I usually recommend 5160 or 4140.They don't need to be any harder than 50-55 HRc.