sage52•1d ago

Serious question, does anyone actually use a power hammer for forge welding?

I've been forging for 8 years and always hand-hammered my welds, but last month I borrowed a 25lb power hammer from a buddy in Denver and the welds came out cleaner in half the time... couldn't get the heat to stay even with the machine though, ended up with cold shuts on two billets. Has anyone else had trouble switching from hand to power for welding, or is it just me?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade2711d ago

Yeah, that's a real thing. I think it connects to a bigger pattern in life, where the tool does the work but you lose the feel. Hand hammering you feel the weld closing, the heat bleeding out. With a power hammer it's all force and speed, you're not sensing the steel the same way. It's like learning to drive stick shift then getting a flappy-paddle car, you can do it but you're just reacting not driving. You gotta retrain your timing and your eyes for the machine. Once you get it though, it's hard to go back.

lisa_grant1d ago

You're romanticizing the old ways too much. "Lose the feel" is just code for being stubborn about progress. A power hammer gives you consistent results every time, not some mystical "feel" that changes depending on how hungover you are that morning. I'd rather trust a machine that does the same thing at 8am as it does at 5pm. Get good enough with the tool and you learn the timing just fine, you're not missing anything important.