Mini Machinist's Hammer

I think a machinists hammer is a great lesson to get someone into metal work. I've made a few things in the past, a couple of scribes, and that sort of think, but I wanted to make something a little more in-depth, so I though I'd make a hammer.

Materials

• Steel
• Brass
• Plastic

Tools

• Lathe
• Mill
• Tap & Die Set
• Metal Drill Bit Set

As with almost all of my projects, I started in Fusion 360 and started creating a design. I normally start by just creating something I like the look of, and then making alterations to actually make it manufacturable. In this case, I didn't want to buy any new material, and only use what I had on hand, so I had to size the hammer accordingly.

The head consist of three parts, two faces, made of brass and nylon, and a middle section, made of steel. The two faces and built in threaded rods, that screw into the middle steel section, making them replaceable, and interchangeable.

The handle is made up of two pieces, an upper and lower. This was solely because I didn't have any material on hand long enough to make it out of one piece.

I started off my making the lower handle. I chucked the piece in the lathe and started by turning down the rod, that would become the thread, down to 5mm. I then set the compound to 10°, and turned the tapered section. To get the correct diameter at the end, I set some callipers to 9.5mm and took small passes until the callipers just barely fit over the end.

Next I used a die to create the threads; in hindsight I should have done this at the end, as I need to use this section to hold the work, meaning I had to clamp down on the threads.

I then flipped the piece around, and faced and spot drilled the end ready for a centre from the tailstock. I then chucked the workpiece by the threads, and set the tailstock up, and then faced down the rest of the body down to 14.5mm.

Once I had it to diameter, I re-chucked it so the end was close to the stock and then I faced it down to length, and added a chamfer.

To make the upper handle I first faced one end and turned down what would be the threaded rod, which connects to the head. I then cut it down to about 5mm over the length using a hacksaw, and re-chucked it, and then spot drilled and then drilled out a hole for the thread to attach the lower handle.

Using this hole for the tailstock, I set the compound to a 1° angle, and face the tapered section until the end his the matching 9.5mm diameter of the lower handle.

I then used a tap and some tapping compound to make the threads, and did a test fit.

To make the middle section, I started by cutting my stock a bit overlength, however during the cut I realised I needed it longer to hold it in the chuck. Thankfully I hadn't got too far through and was still able to hold the material. I turned down the diameter to my target, and then could cut it down to length, plus 5mm or so.

I then turned the geometry on one end, and drilled the hole, and flipped it round, and did the same on the other side.

Moving over to the mill, I clamped it in the vice, then used a wiggler to locate the centre of the piece. I then spot drilled, and then used a 4.2mm drill bit and drilled it to final depth, I then used a 10mm endmill to create a recess for the upper handle to slot into.

I actually had to make this piece twice, as I accidentally used a 8mm endmill the first time, and when I when to redo the hole with a 10mm endmill, I didn't get it concentric.

These pieces were good fun to machine, and the brass and plastic are really soft, although this does present a bit of a challenge as to not mess up the surface when chucking (this instructable would be good to stop this).

I started by chucked the oversized piece of stock and turning down the various diameters, then cutting it down to length, and re-chucking and facing the end to length, and then adding some chamfers. I did the same with the brass.

Assembly is really straight forward. Just screwing all the pieces together, and it's done!

My main issue with the project is the surface finish of the handle. I think this comes down to two reasons, the first being the RPM I was running the machine at, I was at around 800 RPM for the handle, but for the head I went up to about 1400 RPM and the finish was much better.

The second issue is a little harder to fix, and then is the rigidity of my machine. One day I might do a full restoration, but not today.