hi Anne,
I made my own brass hammer because they were mostly out of stock apart from the expensive ones.
it helps to have a heavy hammer when punching large or thick pieces so the punch penetrates with one whack helping with a clean cut.

brass hammers come into their own in lots of ways ... hitting a steel hammer with a brass one is less of a concern. where as hitting 2 steel Hamas together may cause them to shatter or chip.

i use brass on my dapping blocks and punches to keep them free of marks and blemishes so they can be used in a variety of other ways like bending mandrels and shapers.

A steel lump hammer can be faced with brass copper or bronze ... you just need a friendly welder to help.

Nick

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_L...rf9BHtKU4lFUhQ