Lies and hammers...And in that order, too!

So, you want to be an armorer?  Great!  The tools are cheap, it's really easy, you'll never break a sweat, and, best of all, chicks dig it!  The previous statement is a horrible lie, so, if the exact opposite of all that sounds good to you then, by all means, read on!

Let's start with the first part of my opening fairy tale: The tools.  The sad part is the tools aint cheap at all and, believe me, I wish it weren't so.  The upside of expensive is the fact that you get what you pay for and having the right tool not only makes a difficult job safer and easier but can sometimes be a deciding factor between success and failure.

The first "right tool" to use is your brain.  If something seems like a bad idea, it probably is.  Case in point: I once tried to bend a short piece of bar stock by placing it in a shallow metal dish and striking it squarely with a ball peen hammer with nothing more holding it in place than good intentions.  To my amazement, the part flew out of the dish and disappeared.  I looked around for about 15 minutes or so and finally gave up and cut a new piece.  For whatever reason, I later chanced to look up at the 12 foot ceiling of the shop I was in.  There was my missing piece of bar stock, embedded in the foam insulation on the ceiling to nearly half its length.  I was very thankful that it hadn't hit me in the face.  Though it might have been an improvement in some ways, I was pretty used to where my eyes and teeth were situated.  Remember, there is no more important shop safety rule than to wear you shop safety glasses.  (That one was for you, Norm!)

Anyway, let's talk about some tools you may not already have, starting with the hammers.

From left to right, these are: ball peen hammer, Peddinghaus hammer I've forgotten the name of, embossing/Dishing hammer, large, round-faced planishing hammer (Peddinghaus), raising/forming hammer (Peddinghaus), raising hammer purchased from Iron Monger, small-faced planisher (Peddinghaus), large Garland rawhide mallet, small #2 Garland rawhide mallet.

To an armorer, a good hammer is almost worth its weight in gold and the right hammer for the job makes all the difference in the world.

The ball peen hammer is easy enough to find at Lowe's or you local hardware store and will probably run you in the neighborhood of $8-10.  I use the ball peen for closing rivets and the other face for some bouging, some planishing, at certain stages of rolling edges, and as a starter hammer for flatting the ends of bar stock.  In short, it's just a good all-around hammer to have on hand.  Keep in mind that the hemispherical head of the ball peen pushes the metal in ALL DIRECTIONS, making small, hemispherical dings.  This is precisely why I like it for closing rivets.

The Peddinhaus-hammer-I've-forgotten-the-name-of looks like it has a cross peen on one end, I hardly ever use it and I honestly can't remember why I bought it in the first place...huh.  I think it was on sale...maybe?

The third hammer in the picture I do use for dishing though, honestly, it winds up in my vise and is more often than not used for a small ball stake.  I think I paid about $20-30 for it several years ago.

The next hammer is a large, round-faced planisher.  I usually prefer this one for planishing.  It is a Peddinghaus and will run you around $35-40.  You can find similar hammers for cheaper.  When planishing, the large, flat face of this hammer is good for creating small facets on a piece to make the surface more uniform (Like the polygon faces on a 3D model).  Later, these faces will be ground smooth producing a smooth, uniform surface or contour.  (Like adding a mesh-smooth modifier in 3D Studio Max ;)

The next hammer is my favorite.  It's a Peddinghaus raising/chasing hammer and I use it for all kinds of forming operations.  I paid around $40 for this one and it's been worth every penny.  It's true that Peddinghaus hammers are more expensive but I'm a believer in their quality.  Raising is a process that I'll cover in depth later but, for now, think of it like stretching the metal over a stake (positive form) kind of like when you try to poke your finger through a plastic bag or wrapper only to find out than it was stronger than you thought and just stretches to conform to your finger.  Instead of poking the metal with our finger, we're going to hit it with a hammer.  Don't worry, I'm kinda confused too but it'll be OK.

The sixth in the line up is another raising hammer, this one a little larger.  I also purchased this one from Iron Monger and it is very useful and also a quality tool.

After that we have the small, round-faced planisher. You can't see it in this picture but the face on one of the ends is slightly convex.  I often use this to help pop out dents from the inside of a piece.  Again, another $30-40 hammer.

The last two are made by the Garland Manufacturing Co. and are replaceable-face, rawhide hammers, not mallets (There is a difference).  These are wonderful things, friends.  I use them to start dishing helmet halves and sometimes to start rolling an edge without marring the metal.  The small hammer was about $20 and I think I paid $40 for the big one.

Closing remarks: Common sense, safety glasses, the right tool for the job, some of these hammers are really friggin' expensive!  G'night folks!