Picking the right hammer/mallet for the job

[Mark]

I need some specific help on choosing a mallet for ring making, but i also thought that this would be a good place to go to for general hammer info.  I am looking at rawhide mallets for basic ring making.  I will be hammering sterling ring bands on a ring mandrel.  In my catalog i see rawhide mallets from size 0 to 4 and then lead filled ones from size 5 to 10.  What size do i need?

Mark

[Taogem]

Not usre if this will help or even applies to use of hammers for ring making..

I only have two hammers. One steel, and one rawhide.

It helps a lot if you ever so slightly dome the flat surface. I did on both of mine, using my SC belts.

[rickn]

You can make different size mallots cheaply using rawhide dog chew bones. Just cut to size with a hack saw and add a handle that fits you.

RickN

[Bentiron]

I have two five gallon buckets of hammers and mallets. I will recommend three hammers for you to purchase. First off I will suggest that you purchase a Goldsmiths Hammer. This is my workhorse for shaping metal for jewelry. I can forge just about any shape I need with this, it has a small cross peen on one end and a flat peen on the other. Dress these till smooth and on the flat peen dress it to a shallow dome on you lapidary wheels and polish both peens till you can see you face in them. This will save you considerable finishing work. Next I will suggest a planishing hammer of some weight, not a thunderously heave hammer but maybe an ounce heavier than you Goldsmith hammer. Here again a domed peen on one end and a flat peen on the other, both polished bright. Now I know you a hot to get a rawhide hammer and I have two but I found something that I like a whole lot better after thirty-five years. It is a yellow nylon hammer, cost about the same but it sure is a lot nicer in my opinion that the rawhide. First off the dogs never bother it and when you have as many dogs as I do that is a real plus, also nothing else chews it either. It is really nice, leaves NO marks at all and if I feel that the face is getting to marked up all have to do is sand it a little. Now I have another hammer I use for striking other tools and that is all that I use it for, nothing else, most folks use it to work metal but it just ain't made for that, it is a dome faced chasing hammer. I use this to hit my center punch, repousse tools, chasing tools, those kinds of tools. You don't want to strike steel tools with your Goldsmiths or planishing hammer, these two have highly polished peens that are meant to save you finishing work and if you are striking steel tools with these it will mar your silver work and create more finishing work for you in the end. Treat them well and they will be good to you.

[ScarlettoSara]

Good info BentIron and I think I saw a yellow nylon at Harbor Freight for reasonable price.

[milto]

Just picked up a really  "old" leather mallet at a garage sale for 50 cents.I'm happy!!

[Bentiron]

One of the worst possible tasks is "breaking" in a leather mallet. First off that rawhide is as hard as can be so beat the crap out of lots of stuff to soften it up before you apply it to anything important to you in the way of silver work otherwise it will leave as many marks as a steel faced hammer. It's an interesting spiral pattern but who needs that ?

[Mark]

Do you have to break in the yellow plastic head mallets?  Do  i need a deadblow mallet or just a regular one for making rings?

Mark

[skystone]

I use a nylon hammer. One with a harder head on one side & a softer one on the other. I also use a small wooden malet that I've had for years. I use it primarily for flatening shhet silver after cutting with the sheers. The edges get curled sometimes & need to be flatened. It's pretty much a matter of personal likes or being used to using. I've never really used a rawhide mallet for silver much. I have a couple that I use for other things. But I've just gotten used to having my wood or nylon ones handy. I have a couple of different weight steel hammers for use with stamps. But that's a different thing all together than bending rings. Wood, nylon or rawhide doesn't really matter to much (lead is too soft). Just get one that feels good to you (no you don't need a dead blow) & doesn't dent the silver like a steel one would. It really doesn't take a heavy one.
Mike

[metalartz]

you need a steel one for marking or stamping metal,  chasing or just a ball pein,     Steel will leave marks on your metal, do you want them?

I prefer a nylon hammer over rawhide. 
the weight rawhide hammer has a lot of push for the size of hammer.  will really move metal.

wood is great.  and you can make your own, any good hard wood will work. 
Good use for base ball bats, and you get a bracelet mandrel

[Bentiron]

I use baseball and softball bats for bracelet mandrels and whenever I find one at a yard sale I pick up those little souvenir bats, cut the end off and use them for ring mandrels or hammer  handles, cheap at twenty-five or fifty cents and the big bats for a dollar or two. You can make a real nice forming mallet out one baseball bat, use the thick end for the mallet heat and the grip end of the bat for the handle. Drill two holes close together, using a rasp make the hole fit the end of the bat grip for the mallet handle. I usually shape one end of the mallet head like a cross peen and the other end rounded. These are good for working heavy copper sheet into bowls or light gauge steel for those of you who want to form armour to be a knight in shining armour.
If you buy one of the inexpensive yellow hammers at Harbor Freight I suggest that you cut off one end square to so you have one flat face. If I remember right on these both faces are dome shaped. Also last week when I was at HF the had this nifty little two faced hammer with nylon faces for around $7 and the inserts were replaceable. A couple of weeks before that I had been over to a jewelry supply store that had the same hammer for near $20 both made in India. Sometimes it not what you buy but where you buy it.