Hammer recommendations for wire wrapping & hammering

The back of a notepad? The cardboard makes an OK strop, just less long lasting than leather (and has a bit less give).

I've no befores on hand now! Just so long as you've rounded the sharp edge a bit, it will leave less awkward dents in the metal - that's all you're really looking for.

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Originally Posted by ps_bond

Sorry for being obtuse! A hammer face as supplied usually has a sharp bevel edge around the face; this will put sharp dings in work with a less-than-perfect strike. To dress the edge, you need to round the sharp edges off - a file if it will cut, or abrasive papers if not (I use a linisher, a bit like a belt sander). Then you want to work progressively through the grits to make the hammer face & pein shiny, trying to make it as reflective as a mirror. A final polish with something like Tripoli, Dialux green or one of the Abramax polishes gets it the rest of the way. Now if you get an iffy hit in, it will put a rounded ding in which is much easier to remove.

It may seem like a lot of work on a cheap tool, but it needs doing to the expensive ones too - and they all get repolished periodically.

Woe betide anyone who even *thinks* of knocking nails in with your newly specialised hammer!!!

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Well, my hammer (& some other goodies) is in the cookies freepost! So, Peter, are you going to show us some piccies of yours all nice and shiney then???

If you really want...! Won't be for a couple of days though. I might do a quick buff on them before photographing.

The hammers I'm just in the process of finishing aren't shiny and never will be - they're Tufnol raising hammers, similar to the Bakelite raising hammers in Finegold & Seitz. However, they still have the sharp edges removed for the same reasons.

That's great P. I'll look forward to the piccies then! I expect they'll be lots of 'who's got the shiniest hammer' comparisons once you've posted them - its something for me to aim for!

cheers


BTW, You're into horses then? I Haven't ridden for a few years now, but used to ride every Saturday morning, usually nursing a hangover from working in a large Ealing winebar on the Friday! Always loved it - nothing like a good canter/gallop to get rid of that muggy head feeling...