Bob Engelhardt wrote:

I was browsing the MSC catalog and came across a page of soft hammers.
Brass, of course, but also copper, bronze, zinc, aluminum, lead, and
babbitt. I can see lead (the softest), copper (harder), and brass
(somewhat harder yet). But bronze and zinc are about the same hardness
as brass (?), and about the same density. What distinguishes these
three from each other, as far as their use in hammers?

It seems that lead and babbitt are even more similar and yet both are
offered. Why?

Thanks,
Bob

BTW - I've always believed that brass being softer than steel, you could
deliver "... a solid blow to the work without damaging it." (as MSC
puts it). Don't believe it! I recently mushroomed the end of a steel
shaft using a brass hammer. Fortunately it wasn't a big deal.

Having worked one summer in Plant Protection - I know a little about different
metals for tools.

Consider yourself in a paint room - this is a 5000 sq ft or so building / block house
that has a 100,000 gallon CARDOX tank outside. The Phone is larger than most
home printers. All tools are Bronze because they won't spark if dropped
or just used. Wrenches are Bronze..... Bronze is strong. It can be a soft
steel replacement. Copper is just to soft for real tools, but hammers that beat
copper might be copper so they don't import foreign materials into the surface.

Always a unique reason - medical or sparking or weight...

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

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