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  1. #1
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    Default Ball Pein Ecstasy

    I just happened to endup with a small collection of ball pein hammer (engineers' hammer if you prefer) heads. This was not deliberate and they probably came in boxes of rusty treasures that I accumulated years ago from clearing sales and the like. The truth is I have no idea where they came from. The other day I was sorting through a tin of little treasures looking for something completely different when I realised how many there were.

    I thought to myself that I should do something with these hammers. I grabbed five that were all different sizes and felt that was a start.

    P1040950 (Medium).JPGP1040951 (Medium).JPG

    As you can see, they were a little rusty, but most of them cleaned up acceptably with the possible exception of the largest hammer, which had a level of pitting that could not be removed.

    P1040952 (Medium).JPG

    The smallest was a 4oz Stanley (114g), the next size up said "Kelly " and "made in USA" so I guess it is a "Kelly" at 336g, then the no namers; one at 502g which did have the mark D/F and 500 (grams ? ) , 765g which has a stamp saying forging and the big one at 831g which said "2" and I am assuming was 2lbs.

    P1040954 (Medium).JPGP1040955 (Medium).JPG

    P1040957 (Medium).JPGP1040958 (Medium).JPGP1040959 (Medium).JPGP1040960 (Medium).JPG

    Then came the exciting bit. Oh alright, it was just mildly stimulating seeking out the test piece of Spotted Gum in my stack that has been drying for so many years I can hardly remember what it was destined for: Only to find that I must have used it elsewhere as it was not there! So with a heavy heart and a great deal of trepidation I went looking for another small piece. Luckily I found two pieces of 100 x 50 about 500mm long. Just the order!

    They were cut into five pieces the approximate size, but I am going to show this in the next post as things have a habit of disappearing on me (mainly the pix). So I am consolidating while the going is good.

    Regards
    Paul
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
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    Melbourne
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    Default

    Saws clamps hammer heads your on a roll Paul.
    Please don’t keep us waiting to long on the handles.

    Cheers Matt

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
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    Adelaide - outer south
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Bushmiller View Post
    ... a level of pitting that could not be removed.
    It's not the pitting you remove - it's everything around the pitting. You obviously need more acid!

    The're looking good Paul. I notice the middle one has a different shape - would it be for some specific purpose or do these things vary a lot? (The only thing I know about hammers is which end to hold them by.)
    Cheers, Bob the labrat

    Measure once and.... the phone rings!

  5. #4
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    Default The Handles

    Sorry about the delay for the second post. I was too slow with the typing and I was supposed to be cooking our tea on an open fire. The jacket potatoes were ready and the sausages had to be cooked:

    While Spotted Gum is not the only timber suitable for handles of impact tools it is the one that is commonly, and commercially for that matter, available. Besides which I am a self confessed fan of Spotted Gum. However, it is not without its problems when it comes to working with it. The main issue is that it is very hard.

    Initially I cut a very rough shape using a jigsaw, but although the Bosch blue is a reasonable device (in the limited performance of a jig saw that is; I am not a big fan of jig saws, but I concede they have their place; A small place) the small piece of timber was troublesome to hold even with a clamp and then I remembered I have a bandsaw. I thought the blade might have been too wide for this job, but I wasn't looking to cut tight curves and also I only needed to remove an amount to ease the next stage:

    P1040990 (Medium).JPG P1040986 (Medium).JPG

    The next stage involved four machines: Two angle grinders and two ROS. The 125mm angle grinder was armed with a 40g disc and the 100mm machines had a 120g disc. The 40g moves large amounts of material and you have to watch carefully so as not to go too quickly. After initial shaping the coarser marks are removed with the smaller grinder. Actually two 100mm grinders would have been better as they would have been more manageable, but I used what I had. The 125mm machines is not a super powerful beast so it is corresponding light. After this I went to 60g on the small orbital sander. On the first handle I tried to remove the sanding marks by going straight to 400g on the larger sander, but that was too much to ask. I ended up going 120g, 240g and then 400g which didn't remove any marks but left a nice smooth finish ready for varnishing.

    P1040987 (Medium).JPGP1040988 (Medium).JPG


    I made the kerf for the timber wedge with a back saw, but it was not wide enough. That was a bit of an issue as nothing I had opened it up. Then I remembered an old trick of placing more than one hacksaw blade together in the frame. I used 32ppi blades as I have lots of those, but I think 18ppi or even 12ppi would have been better. 32ppi is a little slow (Ok, I do get impatient) and the teeth have a tendency to clog in timber: Even timber as hard as Spotty.


    P1040991 (Medium).JPGP1040993 (Medium).JPG


    This next pic is there to illustrate how much material is removed by the angle grinder with the 40g sanding disc in a single pass. Admittedly it is an arriss, but it is still impressive.


    P1040994 (Medium).JPG

    So five hammers with non identical handles .

    P1040995 (Medium).JPGP1040996 (Medium).JPG

    They are currently enjoying the first coat of varnish and pretreatment for the metal parts prior to a second coat of satin varnish and a few dollops of strategically placed black paint around the hammer heads. maybe some finished pix tomorrow. I left this series a little late to post as I didn't want to detract from the last episode of Game of Thrones. I probably didn't need to worry as I heard it was a bit of a letdown.

    Regards
    Paul
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    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

  6. #5
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Simplicity View Post
    Please don’t keep us waiting to long on the handles.

    Cheers Matt
    Matt, Ahem!

    One hour and twenty four minutes by my calculation. Is that all right for you? You will have to wait until tomorrow for the finished product.



    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

  7. #6
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by labr@ View Post
    It's not the pitting you remove - it's everything around the pitting. You obviously need more acid!

    The're looking good Paul. I notice the middle one has a different shape - would it be for some specific purpose or do these things vary a lot? (The only thing I know about hammers is which end to hold them by.)
    Bob

    You got me on the pitting. Cannot be removed effectively by mechanical means. I probably would have had to soak the head in something or other. The products and possible processes that come to mind are electrolysis, citric acid, molasses, proprietary brands such as evaporust etc., but I just used a fibre wheel. All five heads done in less than 30 minutes.

    Yes one head was quite a different profile, almost squashed or truncated. I suspect it was just a particular manufacturing style. If it had a specific purpose I don't know it. At least you know which end to hold. I usually rely on a label at the correct end.

    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

  8. #7
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    Melbourne
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Bushmiller View Post
    Matt, Ahem!

    One hour and twenty four minutes by my calculation. Is that all right for you? You will have to wait until tomorrow for the finished product.



    Regards
    Paul
    Paul
    It’s a very fast past world today, one must keep up now,

    I will try to work on being more patient maybe you could take that conversation up with my partner in crime [emoji849].

    Cheers Matt,
    The hammers look bloody nice tho [emoji106]

  9. #8
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    Default

    Excellent results Paul.

    Ross

  10. #9
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    With the trouble you have gone through restoring these hammers you will now have a spiritual attachment to them and may find it hard to put them to work. The Spotty will be worth the effort you have has done too.

    When I bring back to life a hammer I stop after wire brushing but hand sand the face to a shiny shallow dome. But that's just me
    Just do it!

    Kind regards Rod

  11. #10
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    Default

    I had forgotten that varnish dries a little slower in the cooler weather. I did not get to do the second coat until this evening. However, to complete my undertaking to post pix and to ward off Simplicity's wrath ( ), here are some pix with the handles still wringing wet. A little bit of interesting grain, which has always been a feature of the Spotted Gum I get from my source.

    The groupie

    P1050006 (Medium).JPG

    A little bit of figure: Not that this is normally of prime importance with ball pein hammers or any other hammer for that matter: Straight grain is more highly prized.

    P1050007 (Medium).JPGP1050008 (Medium).JPG

    Better pix in the tender light of day tomorrow.

    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

  12. #11
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    Default

    Very nice effort Paul.
    Now I’ve just finished dinner so I’m in a happy mood lol.
    They really have come up nice love the finish but yes patients in winter is hard,
    I’m still looking for that perfect high gloss, but not plastic looking finish, that is perfect from the can and ready to use in four seconds from Application.
    Don’t think I’ve ever used spotted Gum, but I will be on the lookout for some now.

    With regards shaping the handle did you not shape carve grind a draw knife ages ago?
    I don’t own or have ever used a draw knife but from what I have seen it would work very well this is not to say your approach did not work well it worked extremely well.

    Cheers Matt,

  13. #12
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    ACT
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    Default

    nice work.

    that hammer marked "Forging" is a Cyclone made in Australia.

  14. #13
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    Default

    Nice, Paul, a good selection of hammers is a joy. If it don't fit, get a bigger hammer, or a bigger, or a bigger....

    For some reason I cannot think of hammers in metric units, I had to convert your figures to find out you have 4, 11, 18, 27, and 30 oz heads in that lot. But not an 8-ouncer (my favourite peening hammer for plane dovetails & rivets) to be seen!? .

    And you have some very nice balls, too ( ), that look like they'll be a pleasure to use on some ductile bit of metal. The things I see in hardware stores lately, called 'ball peen hammers' have flat, irregular balls that would have great trouble making a neat dent in anything struck. I worry that a newbie buying such a hammer & trying to use it might give up in disgust & blame their inexperience & lack of ability, when most of the blame belongs to the tool (for once)...

    You gotta get yerself a small wood lathe,sometime, it makes hammer-handle manufacture a doddle...

    Cheers,
    IW

  15. #14
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    Just a little site digression,while Sal is watching the Big game [emoji849] an it’s a bit cold outside(creative zone)
    I did some quick flick through on EBay
    Search,
    Old Hammers,

    Lordy lord Paul you could be sitting on a small fortune there forget the saws mate,
    Hammers some of the “asking prices” yes I know the asking and receiving can be huge but.
    As from that famous Oz movie the Castle,
    Tell them there dreaming.

    $20 + Au for just a hammer head with chips missing [emoji849][emoji849][emoji849].
    Just one small example!

    Cheers Matt

  16. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simplicity View Post

    With regards shaping the handle did you not shape carve grind a draw knife ages ago?
    I don’t own or have ever used a draw knife but from what I have seen it would work very well this is not to say your approach did not work well it worked extremely well.

    Cheers Matt,
    Matt

    I think you may be remembering the froes. However, years before that I did make up a draw knife, but it was for my son. Not quite sure where that is as he is overseas and I have many of his tools. I don't remember seeing it anywhere.

    Regards
    Paul.
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

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