New Hammer by Michael Chmielewski

[Shaw Blades]

I've been forging for a little over a year. I took some blacksmithing classes and really want to make more art pieces but lately I've been just forging blades. The first thing I did was go and buy a nice expensive new Hofi style hammer by a popular company. The hammer was very nice, well made, but just didn't work for me. I used a hammer by Mike at the Metal Museum and loved the feel so I ordered one.

Everyone has different tastes but this hammer has instantly helped my technique. It has a longer handle than I had been using and he puts a nice dip at the bottom of the handle that helps your hand get oriented. The finish on the hammer is great. You can see how he does a flowing polish around the head, nice touch. The hammer face has a nice pillow that is rounded just enough to where you can't blame it for any unwanted hammer marks (user error!).

If anyone is looking for a nice quality hammer made by a true craftsman I would highly recommend contacted Michael. He also makes some pretty fantastic human powered machines. (www.mlchmielewski.com) His email address is powerhammer6@gmail.com

Hammer head is 4140 steel

First big knife I've forged, edge is actually centered. Forged tip (no pre-form) Still have a lot of work to do.

 

[elementfe]

Nice!
I've been using a square head hammer since I discovered em twelve years ago- in my case the Peddinghaus French pattern. You get a lot of options by having that head profile. You've got that thing nicely dressed on the face, too!
Then Peter Ross schooled me on proper technique: Hold it at the natural pivot point, about 1/3 of the handle length, much closer to the head than the handle end, and grip it just tightly enough to keep it from bouncing off the wall.
You can always spot a beginner, they think they get more power from gripping the handle at the end. Not so.

 

[Shaw Blades]

Nice!
I've been using a square head hammer since I discovered em twelve years ago- in my case the Peddinghaus French pattern. You get a lot of options by having that head profile. You've got that thing nicely dressed on the face, too!
Then Peter Ross schooled me on proper technique: Hold it at the natural pivot point, about 1/3 of the handle length, much closer to the head than the handle end, and grip it just tightly enough to keep it from bouncing off the wall.
You can always spot a beginner, they think they get more power from gripping the handle at the end. Not so.

Yeah man this hammer feels good at the sweet spot. It also feels really good to work down at handle end when you are forging the point. Best of both worlds in my opinion.

The face came perfectly dressed like that.