"Ed Huntress" wrote:
"rigger" wrote in message
...

But the "handle pocket" is not straight sided and don't forget the
heat treating; VERY important for this type of hammer.

I'd think that the heat treating was actually not very important at all for
a 4oz hammer. A hammer of that size is just going to be used for light
taping I would think. What am I missing?

The socket is tapered in both directions, with the longer taper on top.
And the face is hardened and tempered overall to a medium-high hardness.
Then the outer edge of the face is tempered to dark blue, using an "iron"
that has a cone-shaped socket, which is heated to red heat, into which
the hammer face is pushed for a few seconds to transfer heat to just the
peripheral edge.

It's a little tricky if you're trying to make a high-quality hammer,
particularly if you need a polished face. I have three raising hammers
that were custom-made that way by an expert, in the 1930s.

Very cool.

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Curt Welch http://CurtWelch.Com/
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