Machinist's hammer

I, also prefer lead hammers, but soft lead is too soft and will not hold up to use very well, I was told many years ago that wheel weight (antimonial) lead is the ideal temper for lead hammers, as pure mushes over too much, and that wheel weights are the best, because it resists deformation, but is not so hard that it spalls off. I have molds for two sizes of hammers, a small one that uses 1/2" conduit and a larger one that uses 1/2 black pipe for handles, When the hammer faces are damaged so as to not be safe to use, they may be remelted and recast, but the antimony oxidizes and the lead loses hardness with each melting, this can be made up by buying a high antimony alloy bar and adding enough to get the hardness back up to an acceptable level, I also use the alloy, which is 30% antimony, 70% lead to harden wheel weight metal for casting lead bullets to Lyman 2 alloy hardness,
 
sdelivery said:
It's just my opinion but in my experience this has worked best.
I can let the weight of the soft face do the work and rarely do I have to pound on a part to seat it. There is no bruising of the face of the part. I have several pretty brass hammers which bruise the face of the part. Something
Lead Mallet with Hickory Handle, 4-1/2 lbs.
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Drive chisels and strike work without damaging its surface. To avoid marring, choose a mallet with faces that are softer than your workpiece. Lighter weight mallets are good for tapping work into place and driving a chisel to make small cuts. Use heavier weight mallets when assembling joints, dislodging stuck parts, and making aggressive cuts with a chisel. Longer mallets allow for more powerful swings.

Lead faces are the softest metal faces we offer. They're for use on plastic and soft, nonferrous metal, such as copper and aluminum.

Hickory handles resist vibration
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Nice, I have never seen a lead headed hammer. I think pure lead would be too soft, but something like what lead wheel weights are made from might work, I think it has Antimony in it to harden it a bit.
 
benmychree said:
I, also prefer lead hammers, but soft lead is too soft and will not hold up to use very well, I was told many years ago that wheel weight (antimonial) lead is the ideal temper for lead hammers, as pure mushes over too much, and that wheel weights are the best, because it resists deformation, but is not so hard that it spalls off. I have molds for two sizes of hammers, a small one that uses 1/2" conduit and a larger one that uses 1/2 black pipe for handles, When the hammer faces are damaged so as to not be safe to use, they may be remelted and recast, but the antimony oxidizes and the lead loses hardness with each melting, this can be made up by buying a high antimony alloy bar and adding enough to get the hardness back up to an acceptable level, I also use the alloy, which is 30% antimony, 70% lead to harden wheel weight metal for casting lead bullets to Lyman 2 alloy hardness,
Click to expand...

I posted the reply above before I read this. Thanks for the confirmation of Antimony as the ingredient. :)
 
When I started in the trade in 1978 every machine had a soft faced lead hammer. Yes, the hammer is sacrificial and could be used on a finished part. They actually last a long time especially if you don't use the edge.
 
Many years ago this was my every day assembly hammer...until I watched my boss a man I really respected break the head off. Well all this talk of hammers got me thinking of it and with a little digging ( outright lie) I found it.
It's roughly 11 inches long and uses 1 3/4 dia. Heads.
The body reads, NEW TIP HAMMER
PATENT APPLIED FOR. 20230211_225204.jpg20230211_225334.jpg20230211_225505.jpg20230211_225346.jpg
 
Nylon and lead.....although I liked the copper side better than the brass side.
I am not sure on what kind of nylon.
 
I made my hammer with one end Delrin and the other is Aluminum covered with a copper cap from the plumbing department at the local hardware store.

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sdelivery said:
Nylon and lead.....although I liked the copper side better than the brass side.
I am not sure on what kind of nylon.
Click to expand...
I haven't made my mind up as to brass or copper for the other side. I was leaning towards brass for durability, but it isn't going to be used daily, and I doubt I'll live long enough to destroy a copper head.
 
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