[TheForge] uri hammer

Fri Nov 4 11:52:53 EST 2005

Hi, It is just my opinion however:
 I use a 2.5 pound and a 4 pound hammer. I have others but those are my
favorites. The 2.5 is a straight peen that I have ground to a blunter(is
that a word?) finish. The Face is very slightly crowned with a slight
relief of the sides of the face and the other parts of the face are
rounded off. The handle is oval,Varnished wood no tape. (no slip either) 
I do choke up on the handle for most everything cept when I am working
larger material and too lazy to pick up the 4 pounder.
    I left the handle the stock length so I could move the arc of my swing
out a bit to increase the velocity of the head therefore increasing
the Kinetic energy that is hopefully imparted to the work. Kinetic
Energy is equal to mass times the square of the velocity. Course
sometimes ya need a bigger hammer.
     Found out if I relaxed my death grip on the handle and let the handle
set in web tween the thumb and index with a just enough grip with the
index and middle finger my hammer handle moves in my palm whiping the
head through the last part of the stroke with no motion of the wrist.
I noticed immediatly that the Hammer felt lighter(came up easy) and
less vibration and my forearm was thankful.

Although I will probably spend a bunch of cash on one of them fancy
hammers oneday.
> Someone mentioned a hammer with a lot of mass near the wood so that it
> isn't
> as likely to twist as much.  Hmm.  That doesn't explain my question, but
> it
> does possibly explain why the Uri hammer/Chech (spelling) hammer is well
> liked.
>
> I agree with your accessment of the situation.
>
> Hammers I use/have
>
> 800 g Czech pattern	3/8" square and smaller, more recent acquisition
> 2.5 pound standard cross peen (all work)
> 3.5 pound standard cross peen (one I originally started with, don't use it
> much these days as I don't hammer but on 		weekends and the big
> hammer causes cramps after a couple of hours because I don't exercise the
> hammer arm during the 	week)
> 5 pound sledge (only for big stuff, usually have my apprentice use this
> one<G>)
> 12 pound sledge (only use to give to outsiders to hold for dramatic
> effect)<G>
>
> Odd assortment of smaller hammers for single purposes, like ball peens.
>
> Ok, back on subject.  I have self vulcanizing tape on my hammer handles.
> When I hammer hard, the hammer tends to work it's way out of my hand, as
> the
> handle slips.  So, the tape stops the hammer sliding.  As well, when I
> pick
> up the hammer, I always (pretty much anyway) pick it up in the same spot
> so
> there is little error in my first swings.  I have tape on all my handles
> at
> the same distance so I can easily go from hammer to hammer with little
> thought of grip.  Yes, there is about 2" of unused handle.  But sometimes,
> when I want to swing really hard, I will allow my hand to slip so that I
> am
> holding the tape in the middle of the hand to give me a more powerful
> swing
> due to a longer leverage arm due to additional hammer handle length.
>
> Also, side issue, the Czech pattern hammer has the side of the wood sanded
> down so that the sides are flat.  Other than feeling different, I can't
> prove it, but I suspect that the flat sides provide a bit more control
> than
> the oval shape of my standard cross peen.  How do others feel about this?
>
>
>
>>*>-----Original Message-----
>>*>From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
>>*>[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Dan Tull
>>*>Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 7:05 PM
>>*>To: Sponsored by ABANA
>>*>Subject: Re: [TheForge] uri hammer
>>*>
>>*>
>>*>Jeff,
>>*>Grover just said" equal weight".
>>*>
>>*>"Why cut it off, till you know how long you want it?"
>>*>Can you choke up on a long handle?
>>*>
>>*>
>>*>----- Original Message -----
>>*>From: "Jeffrey Polaski" <jpolaski at rgs.uci.edu>
>>*>To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>>*>Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 6:52 PM
>>*>Subject: RE: [TheForge] uri hammer
>>*>
>>*>
>>*>So would a lighter head... I'm not sure I see you point.
>>*>
>>*>I'm not an expert or anything, but, to get a conversation
>>*>going, please allow me to fish into my vast pool of
>>*>ignorance and pull out a couple of thoughts to flop about
>>*>the conversational deck...
>>*>
>>*>It seems to me that the important thing is that there's only so much
>>*>*power* a person can put into a swing, so it's really more a
>>*>question of
>>*>*balancing* at least the following:
>>*>hammer weight
>>*>face size and shape
>>*>speed of the blow
>>*>handle shape
>>*>
>>*>I think you need a hammer that lets you get a good,
>>*>*controllable* "snap" at the end, but isn't so light you
>>*>need to move it a light speed to deliver a powerful blow and
>>*>isn't so heavy that you tear up your joints and muscles
>>*>moving it around.
>>*>
>>*>Also the handle should swell out nicely where you usually
>>*>grip it, to make it easier to hold. A straight handle, I've
>>*>found, makes my hands tired.
>>*>
>>*>Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there is one
>>*>ultimate hammer that will do everything. Each smith will
>>*>settle on five or six that do what they want 95% of the time.
>>*>
>>*>The hammers I use the most are:
>>*>
>>*>1000 gram Swiss-pattern
>>*>~1000g. rounding-hammer
>>*>500g. French-pattern
>>*>1500g. French-pattern
>>*>Ball-pien for smacking other tools
>>*>
>>*>I like the long cross pien of the Swiss hammer because it
>>*>lets me get into the "nooks and crannies" of my work more
>>*>then a short pien does. I also use the long cross pien to
>>*>pry things apart, for example to bend out s-curves. I think
>>*>it might be improved by making the face a little smaller,
>>*>though. Or maybe adding a little more crown.
>>*>
>>*>Well, this is what I've figured out doing a limited amount
>>*>of smithing...
>>*>
>>*>
>>*>
>>*>Jeff Polaski
>>*>Research and Graduate Studies Webmaster
>>*>University of California, Irvine
>>*>http://www.rgs.uci.edu/
>>*>949.824.6363
>>*>
>>*>-----Original Message-----
>>*>From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
>>*>[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On >*>Behalf Of Dan
>>*>Tull
>>*>Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 3:09 PM
>>*>To: Sponsored by ABANA
>>*>Subject: Re: [TheForge] uri hammer
>>*>
>>*>A longer handle would generate more head speed.
>>*>
>>*>
>>*>----- Original Message -----
>>*>From: "Grover Richardson" <grover.richardson at gtri.gatech.edu>
>>*>To: "'Sponsored by ABANA'" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>>*>Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 4:58 PM
>>*>Subject: RE: [TheForge] uri hammer
>>*>
>>*>
>>*>I must ask the question.  Not trying to be a smart ###, but
>>*>I am curious. Why would a hammer of equal weight move more
>>*>metal if in a different design? Seems to me that the mass on
>>*>the end of the stick/handle is the same?
>>*>
>>*>
>
>
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