Did you know that there's no such thing as a used planishing hammer? Nor are there secondhand cross-peen hammers. In all the years of flea markets and antique stores, I have NEVER run across a single specimen of either. Perhaps the same people buy them that buy perfectly good used anvils and then use them as yard decorations. *sigh*Box Burner wrote:
When doing the final shaping of sheet metal use a planishing hammer. .
YES, I can buy 'em new...I just like the patina of the old ones, and the (literally) hand-polished wooden handles.
That surface- The one you're flattening your metal piece out on- Can be a piece of nice steel scrap...I found a wonderful billet of stainless while walking the train tracks a while back. For a round surface try an old bowling ball set in a round piece of wood or metal. (I use a steel ring from the brake on a railroad car wheel.) For tighter rounds, the safety cap from an acetylene cylinder is great, especially when stabilized by filling it with lead. My travel version is a lead-filled fencepost cap. This can be mounted for ease of use by drilling out and then screwing on a cast-iron floor flange. (Caution with high-speed drilling and drill cuttings- Sweep up and dispose of lead properly!)
