Question: Cutler's Hammer Face: Hardened or Normalized ??

feraldude

Active Member
Hello Gents,
I'm finishing up a Japanese Cutler's Hammer (Dog Face Hammer) and I've seen in the past where some people prefer a fully Normalized hammer face, and others a hardened face. :les:

Could anyone explain how I would go about choosing (I always thought hammers should be hardened). If so how hard should they be?
Any insight you boys could pass on would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.
 
Here's one consideration. If your hammer face is normalized, that's to say soft, it will still be considerably harder that red hot steel. However, it will still be softer than the face of your anvil and striking the face of your anvil will leave a bigger mark on the face of the hammer than the face of your anvil. Hammer faces are easier to redress than anvil faces.

Doug
 
I create all of my Angle Peen forging hammers from 4140, they are all fully hardened, but are tempered to be softer then the face of most anvils. The average anvil face is Rc 53-55. I always shoot for an Rc of 49-51 for the hammers. My logic is that its far easier to fix a ding/dent on a hammer face, then it is to fix a ding/dent in an anvil's face, should you make a mistake and strike the anvil face directly with the hammer.

As far as choosing between a hardened, and non-hardened hammer...I think its very much personal preference. Many of the long time established smiths in the Blacksmithing world choose to use "soft" hammers, however, those smiths rarely work anything other then "mild" steel. I have seen occassions where certain alloys that exhibit high "red hard" characteristics have literally chewed up a non-hardened hammer.
 
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