Metalshapers Shop Tours Tom Lipton

This picture shows my method of creating forming hammers. I have been buying replaceable face hammers of several weights and modifying the stock faces. The faces are available in about five or six different harnesses and are easily modified with a super shear file in the lathe. Special shapes are easily turned from almost any kind of hard plastic. I have used ABS, UHMW, and Delrin all with excellent results. These hammers can be purchased up to around four inches in diameter and down to I think 3/4 inch.

I started out making metal faces but they are more time consuming to shape and polish. The large hammer in the picture has a 1.5 aluminum extension I made to reach into deeper shapes. These hammers because of the slightly higher weight than hickory tinners mallets form metal much more rapidly. The faces are easier to shape than wood mallets because the faces unscrew.