Is there something wrong with this ball pein hammer?

[zeb92]

I'm pretty new to jewellery making (and to this forum - hi all!) and rather clueless, so would appreciate some advice on ball pein hammers.

So I bought a couple of cheap ball pein hammers this year but wasn't getting the shiny results I got in my jewellery class. I read somewhere that the quality of the hammer may affect this - with poorer quality ones producing duller marks - so bit the bullet and got a more expensive one this week.

It arrived this week, and I'm not happy with it... It's got a very sharp tip and therefore doesn't produce nice hammering marks at all (pictures attached).
I don't know enough about jewellery tools to know if this is something I could return and ask a replacement for, or if this is normal for a ball pein hammer, so any advice would be appreciated! (Also any advice on how to get nice hammer marks would be helpful too ) Thanks!

EDIT: Mainly asking about the sharp tip - is this normal?


(marks made by new hammer on the right (test piece))

[ps_bond]

That does look fairly unfinished; I'd file it smooth & use abrasive papers (with a soft backing - dense packing foam for example) to get it to a mirror finish before attacking anything. Once you start reshaping these, you can create any pattern you want from the same start point.

[Dennis]

The truth is that if you are going to customise it, any inexpensive ballpein hammer will do.
So first return this one for re-fund. Then file, sand and polish the ones you already had, as suggested by Peter above. Dennis.

[china]

I'm not trying to be condescending, what do you call expensive that does not look like what I would think is a expensive hammer, if it is then quality is severely lacking so yes send it back.
just to clarify in Australia a quality/expensive hammer would be in the region of $60-120 each.

[Dennis]

Hi Bob,
People love expensive hammers and spend £££ on Fretz. For someone like me one from here, plus a little TLC will do the job for a lifetime:
https://www.google.com/search?client...ll+pein+hammer. Kind Regards, Dennis.

[china]

Yes I agree I was trying to make the point that I do not think that the hammer pictured was a expensive hammer

[Dennis]

Yes I agree I was trying to make the point that I do not think that the hammer pictured was a expensive hammer

Well this is the quote from Zeb92
[So I bought a couple of cheap ball pein hammers this year but wasn't getting the shiny results I got in my jewellery class. I read somewhere that the quality of the hammer may affect this - with poorer quality ones producing duller marks - so bit the bullet and got a more expensive one this week.]

He says it was expensive, but maybe for some other speciality, such a splitting rocks, or cracking nuts?

[Ruedeleglise]

Dennis, quite so. Refurbish your originals and then you will be proud to use them and get great satisfaction.

[Goldsmith]

Yes as others have said, use emery cloth to smooth out you hammer heads, then I would suggest investing in a polishing set up so that you can polish the hammer heads also, many of my hammers are cheap ones shaped and polished for many jobs.

These are some of my shaped cheap hammers.



James

[zeb92]

Thanks all! It hasn't crossed my mind that I could try polishing it, I gave that a go and it worked a treat!