The Home Machinist!

We are always needing a good sized brass hammer at work so I decided to make one. It started out as a 1 3/4" 360 brass rod and 1 1/2" 6061 aluminum rod.

The head is 4 in. long and weighs in at 3 lbs 5oz. The handle is 14in. and has two knurled gripping areas so it can be used with one or both hands. Total weight is 4lbs 6 oz.

This was my first time working with brass and it was a real pleasure, I will be making many more things out of brass. I decided to polish it while it was on the lathe so I grabbed some old chrome polish I had and a paper towel and in less then 2 min had a nice luster that will make it hard for me to take that first swing with it.

I also did a little polishing on the aluminum just to see what it would look like.

I knew it would happen sooner or later and it did, I got my acid brush caught in the knurls and it ate that like it was paper. Luckly it didn't damage the knurling unless you really look close.

Here are some pics.

Nice job; it looks too nice to hit anything with.

Don Young

Did you use a pipe thread for the handle?

Richard W.

Richard_W wrote:Did you use a pipe thread for the handle?

Richard W.

No just regular 5/8x11 thread.

Pin it!

Or red Loctite.

I made mine and put a wood handle in it. Made two of them in fact.

Glenn Wegman wrote:Pin it!

Or red Loctite.

Yea I was thinking of pinning it or loctite but I am going to see how it does first. The threads are nice and tight all the way on and there is about 1 in of thread length so even if it loosens up there will be plenty of warning before it comes flying off. If it does want to loosen then I will probably just loctite it on for good.

Don't use a brush when knurling. Use an oil can and drop or dribble the
lub on. ( or squirt if you really want to flood it )
...lew...

Lew Hartswick wrote:Don't use a brush when knurling. Use an oil can and drop or dribble the
lub on. ( or squirt if you really want to flood it )
...lew...

I do use an oil can to drip oil on it but I also use a brush to brush any chips away so they dont get smashed back into the aluminum.

737mechanic wrote:
I do use an oil can to drip oil on it but I also use a brush to brush any chips away so they dont get smashed back into the aluminum.

If youre getting chips you have to much pressure on the knurls. The metal
is supposed to flow not come off in chips.
...lew...