Wayne Goddard's hammer?

J

Jason Fry

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Jun 5, 2008
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I saw in a post earlier that someone mentioned Wayne Goddard using a square faced hammer that was made from a ball peen. Anyone got a picture of one? What's supposed to be the advantage of this kind of hammer? Can one be ground from a regular ball peen, and/or does it need to be re-heat treated after the grinding? I've got a copy of the $50 knife shop and there wasn't anything about hammers in there.
 
Thanks, Raymond. Forgot that thread had such a good picture. Any advantage to that kind of hammer over say a regular 3# cross peen?
 
I wouldn't say there's any advantage to a hammer of that style except for when you need a smaller hammer to do the finer finish work. Most the work can be done with a 3 pound hammer.
 
I forged my first blade ever this evening, using my 3# cross peen. I forged the blade from a 3 or 4 inch piece of a file that was about 3/16 thick. It's no beauty, and will require some stock removal to get the profile, but not to bad for my first blade, and I should be able to make it into a pretty good knife. Thanks for the help!
 
Yes I aked this question in the other thread but alas no response.
So the face is left as is and the sides are made square?
If this is right waht is the advantage?
Sorry for asking this but I am not quite getting it.
Cheers Ron.
 
i made one , not really magical or any thing, but it gets used from time to time

andrew
 
As much hand forging I have done over the years I have come to the conclusion that there really isn't a magical hammer. Its all about you controlling the hammer. The only way that happens is by doing it. You'll get better but don't expect it to happen over night.
 
Raymond Richard said:
As much hand forging I have done over the years I have come to the conclusion that there really isn't a magical hammer. Its all about you controlling the hammer. The only way that happens is by doing it. You'll get better but don't expect it to happen over night.
Click to expand...

while you have many yrs. more under your belt forging than i do. i was gonna say the same thing but didn't wanna sound like a know it all.

andrew
 
The advantages can only be appreciated if you either use one, or examine things like how a hammer face moves hot steel and the angles involved in forging a blade.

A round faced hammer moves steel out 360 degrees.

A square faced hammer tends to move it out up/down, left/right, but not a complete 360 degrees like a round face.

This is why there are so many different kinds of peins on hammers.

A straight pein moves the steel out laterally, to the left and right of the pein with very little movement above/below it.

A cross pein does the same thing, but at 90 degrees... so a lot of movement top/bottom with little movement out to the sides.

The BIGGEST REASON I LIKE THE SQUARED FACE BALL PEIN is because when refining the bevels you can get very close (even over) the edge of the steel and not bang into the anvil itself.
 
nick i agree i just dont think that hammer is the only one capable of performing the things it's used to do. i have a flat faced hammer very similar looking to the one i made from a ball pien and they both work the same.

andrew
 
I agree with you on that Very much so Nick, square face is much handier than round for that reason, you cover more surface when getting down at an acute angle. A round face will do the same but the amount of hammer touching the steel then is not as much as the square face.

I just can't stand a ball pein though for moving metal, If I want to move metal in all directions I will use the face, I like my cross pein for control, but sure want to try one of those diagonal peins soon.
 
You can forge a blade with a rock if you want to, I just showed the hammer in that other thread and said I like them and who I got the idea from.

It's better to understand the basic physics behind moving hot steel than it is to have a bunch of fancy hammers. Once you understand the type of stuff I was poorly trying to explain about steel movement, you can accomplish it in all sorts of ways.

Many guys with experience could do all that same type of movement using just a single hammer... by varying the angles and by adjusting just how much of the hammer face, or corners of the face, they use.

I have a video of Bill Moran forging a big bowie very close to shape with nothing but an ugly, old, beat-up ~3 lb. cross pein with a fairly round face.


If somewhere along the lines I started telling everyone the way I do things is the only way and the tools I use are the only way to go, then I guess I don't remember that.
 
Thank you for all the info. I have been useing a 3lb square, almost flat face hammer %99 of the time and a cross pien for drawing out the tangs.
Cheers Ron.
 
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