[TheForge] Hammer heat treating/stainless coloration

[Grant Marcoux]

Bruce:  Shear forces are not limited to 45 degree angles.  Forge welded
hammer faces were once common, the technique was once called jump welding,
and involved forging a set of shallow recesses into the iron hammer body at
the joint.  This weld really had to be done right in order for the weld to
hold in long use.  Metal bearing fluxes were often used. The tempering was
fairly straightforward..expose the rear of the hammer to heat until the
previously brightened hard face of the hammer reached  your preferred color.
I have usually preferred full dark blue.

Axes and hatchets are a cinch in comparison, you have a bird's mouth weld,
either in the tool steel bit (overcoat construction) or the more common
clefted construction.  I have done these welds using, most commonly, W-1
tool steel bits forged from drill rod.  Full dark blue temper so you can
sharpen with a file.   Grant

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Bruce Freeman
Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 8:24 AM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Hammer heat treating/stainless coloration


Frosty,

Okay, I'm not metallurgist or mech.E., but my
understanding of shear failure is that it is at a
45-degree angle to the shear forces.  W/ Re: hammer
face, this would mean that a (HARD) half-faced blow
might pop off a corner of the face, leaving a bevel.
Okay, it wouldn't be a perfect bevel, but roughly so.

Now, if the hammer face was tool steel, faggot-welded
to a mild steel center (which would look like a stubby
hammer before the faces were added), then this
45-degee shear plane would not correspond at all to
the forge weld, but would cross it.

Accordingly, I don't see how the presence of a forge
weld would add a failure mode (unless, perhaps, it
were a REALLY poor forge welk, like mine... :^)

For an analogy, consider a cast iron anvil.  Yes, you
sometimes see a failure between the steel face and the
cast iron body, but really not very often.

I wonder, though, because I've read about axes made
with tool steel bits, but I don't recall reading about
hammers with tool steel faces.

Mind you, I certainly don't fault you for using solid
tool steel.  Once the tempering technique is learned,
it's probably a lot easier.  Why look for trouble?
Just tossing ideas around.

Or how 'bout a "pattern welded" hammer head.  Layer
metals ranging from 1010 at the eye to whatever tool
steel is needed at the face.  Start with, 1" cubes,
and upset them down (and broader) during the welding
process till they're about 1.3" wide and 1/2" thick.
Next, twist them (gawdonlyknowshow) to prove the
welds.

Hey, I gotta get all these sword-fixated smiths onto
something more peaceful-like!

Bruce
NJ


--- Jerry Frost <frosty at customcpu.com> wrote:

> There are a number of people who do just that but
> mostly in the name of tradition or period methods.
>
> My take is it's adding a couple failure modes (Two
> largish forge welds that'll be under constant stress
> in
> use) to the project without additional benefit.
> Unless
> I was commissioned to do so, I'd rather make a
> second
> hammer from modern steel in case one breaks.
>
> Frosty
> -------------------------------
> If it ain't forged
> it ain't real.
> Wrought iron is.
> The FrostWorks
>
> Meadow Lakes, AK.
>
> http://www.artmetalradio.com/
>
>
> From: "Bruce Freeman" <freemab222 at yahoo.com>
>
>
> > How 'bout oven tempering and getting your
> > "progressive
> > temper" (or toughness, actually) from layered
> steels:
> > mild around the eye, with tool steel faces.  A
> > variant
> > of the approach used in colonial times for putting
> a
> > bit (cutting edge) in a wrought iron axe head.
> > Bruce
> > NJ
> >
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