On Sat, 08 Nov 2014 08:58:45 +0700, John B. Slocomb
wrote:

snip
Some people argue that a lead hammer is better for setting things in a
vice as it is said to be a "dead blow" whereas the steel hammer has a
certain amount of bounce back.

/snip Back in the late 50s when I started working in a
machine shop, several of the old timers had babbitt hammers
for this that they swore by. Seemed to be even softer than
lead. Every so often they would melt and recast their
hammer. Big complaint was that it was getting hard to find
babbitt. I just checked and new tin babbitt is available,
but is expensive
http://tinyurl.com/mcs42jt
http://tinyurl.com/pncyah2

IIRC the aerospace industry does not allow the use of
lead/babbitt hammers as this contaminates the metal. They
have special soft aluminum mallets. Anyone know if this is
true?


--
Unka' George

"Gold is the money of kings,
silver is the money of gentlemen,
barter is the money of peasants,
but debt is the money of slaves"

-Norm Franz, "Money and Wealth in the New Millenium"