Hammer me this

[Lorien]

I got this sweet hammer from Jake James, (who has agreed to teach me some basic forging) and I'm trying to figure out what to hang it on

The material at the top looks to be canvas micarta, 2" thick, this middle piece is definitely hardwood- oily and heavy, and the light coloured wood is yew

Wondering if anyone has any thoughts regarding dimensions and the like, and would be grateful for any worthwhile opinions on the subject

 

[A.McPherson]

Hickory.

Of the ones you listed, id use the yew

 

[Lorien]

Hickory.

Of the ones you listed, id use the yew

it's my first choice, but I don't know if it would be long enough

 

[A.McPherson]

I guess it all depends on personal preference... I don't mind a short handle, because I like to choke up quite a bit.

 

[Lorien]

should've also said the hammer head is 1.5kg, if that makes any difference
unfortunately, I don't yet have any experience forging at all, so I don't have a preference- if I did, it would probably be wrong lol!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I like a shorter forging hammer - better control. In the beginning, just placing the blow where you want is the trick. Inertia and impulse aren't needed.

That piece of yew will work well. 10" is a good size. The micarta would also work, and look pretty cool.

After you learn forging, heavy heads and long handles are fine for moving lots of metal by hand.

 

[Lorien]

I like a shorter forging hammer - better control. In the beginning, just placing the blow where you want is the trick. Inertia and impulse aren't needed.

That piece of yew will work well. 10" is a good size. The micarta would also work, and look pretty cool.

After you learn forging, heavy heads and long handles are fine for moving lots of metal by hand.

I really want to yews this chunk of wood, so thank you so much for going out on a limb and offering your advice!

 

[weo]

(who has agreed to teach me some basic forging)

What a great opportunity, one not to miss, but one to be envious of. Jake is an extremely talented smith and from what I know, has a great life philosophy.

 

[weo]

I like a shorter forging hammer - better control.

While I agree 100% with the above, I'll warn that when forging larger chunks of metal, a longer handle is nice to keep the knuckles a little further from the hot steel. You can always choke up on a longer handle, but it's hard to lengthen a short one. I have an "older" Hofi style hammer that I really like the weight and face, but rarely use because my knuckles overheat too quickly as mentioned above.

 

[Lorien]

What a great opportunity, one not to miss, but one to be envious of. Jake is an extremely talented smith and from what I know, has a great life philosophy.

he's come by the bike shop a few times, so we've chatted here and there but I don't know him very well yet. His accomplice, Ryan Fogarty, I know a little better. In any event, I'm looking forward to getting to know them both. The smithy is just within bike range and I'll be heading over there next month, hopefully with my own hammer

 

[weo]

In the interest of full disclosure, I only know him through the NWBA and sitting around the campfire at various conferences. He probably has no idea who i am...
I do know he likes a clean shop and tools put back where they belong...

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

While I agree 100% with the above, I'll warn that when forging larger chunks of metal, a longer handle is nice to keep the knuckles a little further from the hot steel. You can always choke up on a longer handle, but it's hard to lengthen a short one. I have an "older" Hofi style hammer that I really like the weight and face, but rarely use because my knuckles overheat too quickly as mentioned above.

Use a forging glove. A lightweight TIG welding glove is a good hammer hand glove.

I use a glove with no fingertips similar to a baseball batting glove on my hammer hand. They make them for roadies, stagehands, and other workmen.
The Milwaukee "Job-site Armor" gloves are good.

I usually use a welding glove as my hot hand (bar/tongs) glove.

I always have unused left and right mates to the gloves I use to give away to any lefties I run into.

 

[weo]

Good idea for some, but I won't wear gloves while forging because i sweat a lot and have burned my fingers when the wet gloves get hot and if leather, it shrinks. It takes a couple of extra seconds to remove the glove, keeping the skin hot longer.
I also never liked having a glove on my hammer hand.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

These are almost like a second layer of thick skin. The open fingers make hammer control and feedback easier.

We all have made the mistake of getting a glove wet dunking a blade in the slack tank and then grabbing hot bar stock at least once .. some of us more than once.

I had a rock climbing friend drop me off a big bag of climbing chalk. I am going to try Rick's idea of chalking the hammer hand.

 

[Mecha]

I prefer a shorter handle on my 2.5-3 lb hammers, and think the yew would be awesome for yours.

One of my hammers has a longer handle, but it's a lighter hammer head - 1.75 lbs.

 

[Lorien]

hey, so once I have the tenon dialed in, do I want to soak it in something before installing the head?

 

[A.McPherson]

I've heard of people doing that, but I don't really think you need to. Yew is a pretty stable and dense wood, I'm not sure soaking it would do any good.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Just slot the tenon and when everything is done, drive in a wedge. Don't wedge the head on until you are finished with the handle completely.

 

[Lorien]

I found this video to be pretty helpful

 

[Lorien]

I don't know any better, but I was a little worried the piece of yew I hadn't would be just a little too short, so I extended the handle a bit with a bit of G10 and some lignum vitae that I had left over from the first two knives I ever made