All About Pocket Knives

This knife journey has got me in areas I never dreamed of going. Now I am going through my old tools of 50 years looking for the proper bb hammer to use on pin work.
I have a True Temper 1504 or 4 oz hammer to start. I have read info from Dale suggesting to go to 2 oz. when peening those pins.
I see a Paschall 1301 ,1 oz, hammer that went for $50.00...pretty little hammer by the way so
what weight do you use and do you have a favorite manufacturer please?

Gary

A hammer is a hammer as far as brand goes. As long as it mashes pins and doesn't break you don't really need to ask anything more of it. The fairmount I use for most of my peening is 10 oz with the handle, I don't know how much the head weighs. For finer work I use a cross peen that is around 2 oz or so head.

I have a 4 oz. ball peen that I picked up at one of those off-shore tool sales that comes around in a trailer and sets up at VFW's and the like. It's not a name brand, but it whacks what I need it to. I've had it for years, it does the job. For all other work I use jewelers hammers.

muskrat man wrote:A hammer is a hammer as far as brand goes. As long as it mashes pins and doesn't break you don't really need to ask anything more of it. The fairmount I use for most of my peening is 10 oz with the handle, I don't know how much the head weighs. For finer work I use a cross peen that is around 2 oz or so head.

Very good, so I will guess the Fairmont head is about 6 oz. so that is pretty heavy so you must use it gingerly I am guessing. Stainless pins or Nickel silver?

thanks,
Gary

glennbad wrote:I have a 4 oz. ball peen that I picked up at one of those off-shore tool sales that comes around in a trailer and sets up at VFW's and the like. It's not a name brand, but it whacks what I need it to. I've had it for years, it does the job. For all other work I use jewelers hammers.

Is that total weight Glenn the 4 oz.? And the jewelers hammer probably is tiny with a head weight of 1 oz. or so?

Thanks,
Gary

Here is a picture of a Paschall 1302 , 2 oz head.
In 1936 Plomb catalog this hammer made in LA, Cal. listed for 0.75 cents.....
They are now $75.00 +. This little monster almost got me in trouble but I got smoked on the Bay thank goodness.

Gary

Glenn, you ever use the cross peen hammers? This is a couple I picked up off eBay back when I thought I might give knife repair a whirl. Nah. Not when I have you and all the other mechanics on AAPK.

I can't believe you guys don't collect hammers!

garyflorida wrote:

glennbad wrote:I have a 4 oz. ball peen that I picked up at one of those off-shore tool sales that comes around in a trailer and sets up at VFW's and the like. It's not a name brand, but it whacks what I need it to. I've had it for years, it does the job. For all other work I use jewelers hammers.

Is that total weight Glenn the 4 oz.? And the jewelers hammer probably is tiny with a head weight of 1 oz. or so?

Thanks,
Gary

I believe that is a 4 oz. head. I would estimate that the jeweler/cutler hammer I use most to be 2 oz. or less head weight.

FRJ wrote:I can't believe you guys don't collect hammers!

Wow, Joe, that is quite the nice collection. I do have more than a handful of hammers myself, but only use a few select ones.

garyflorida wrote:

muskrat man wrote:A hammer is a hammer as far as brand goes. As long as it mashes pins and doesn't break you don't really need to ask anything more of it. The fairmount I use for most of my peening is 10 oz with the handle, I don't know how much the head weighs. For finer work I use a cross peen that is around 2 oz or so head.

Very good, so I will guess the Fairmont head is about 6 oz. so that is pretty heavy so you must use it gingerly I am guessing. Stainless pins or Nickel silver?

thanks,
Gary

either, including mild steel and brass. there are times for gingerness, and believe it or not there are times for brute force you just have to know when to employ the proper one. If you watch some of my other YT videos you'll see I beat away on some of the pins.

This picture is from the Dewey and Lavona Ferguson book on the Romance of Collecting it is copyrighted in 1978. If it shouldn't be here please take it down. Shows the cutler's hammer after years of use. Sorry for the bad pic I had to scan it and the lid was open but I think you can see it well enough.