Rant: I swore by my old rounding hammer for years until a clinic in Boise

Last month at a clinic in Boise, an old timer saw me struggling to shape a bar shoe and said, 'Kid, you're fighting that hammer.' He handed me his cross pein, and after just a few strikes, I realized the straight pein face gave me way more control for drawing out the metal. What's one tool you all switched to that made a big difference in your work?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_ben6d ago

Oh man, that's the classic blacksmith wake-up call. You get so used to wrestling with your favorite tool you don't even realize it's a bad match for the job. I did the same thing with a rounding hammer for years before someone finally told me to try a diagonal pein for bevels.

martinez.reese5d ago

Honestly, the hammer itself wasn't my big change, it was the handle. I was using a store-bought hickory handle that never felt right, just like @the_ben said about wrestling with the tool. I carved my own from ash to fit my grip exactly, and the weight and balance changed everything. It made me realize the tool is the whole package, not just the head. What length handle do you all find works best for drawing out?