I've been doing this for 30+ years, and in the last couple of decades, presses have become more prevalent than ever. I'm going to take a moment and jump on my soapbox when it comes to presses. So depending on where you live, that might be a major consideration.įinally, availability, cost, and personal safety need to be considered too. A press, while some are indeed somewhat loud, are generally quieter. If you live in an area with neighbors close, a hammer can cause problems with disturbing them. Now, let's talk about some other aspects. A press can be used with any dies a person can think of, or build.allowing for very specific/precision operations. A hammer offers the ability to use either different types/style of dies and "spring fullers" or other hand held tooling to assist in what the individual wishes to do. With a hammer, you can do a lot of things quickly, but not always with the same level of control that a press affords. What this means is that although it might take a trained eye to see, there is a marked difference in a given damascus pattern, based on whether it was built/forged with a hammer or a press. Because the heat isn't "sucked" out of the core/middle of a billet, the core gets manipulated more than the exterior. What this means when working damascus, is that the exterior of a patterned billet will realize more distortion than the interior, all the way down to the finished size/thickness.Ĭonversely, a press, due to the dies contacting the hot steel, with "suck" the heat out of the exterior, cooling them, and reducing the manipulation of the exterior. Hammer dies actually add heat by virtue of the friction the dies create when striking the steel. The surface/exterior of the steel is "worked" more than the interior. To explain, the dies of a hammer, striking hot steel works the steel from the outside in. A hammer forges steel from the outside in. A press forges steel from the inside out. Each machine forges steel in a different manner.
I call my Press "My Precision", and my Air Hammer "My speed". The reasons? Simply put, there are things that I can do with my Say-Mak air hammer, that I can't do with my Press, and vise-versa.Īlthough some simply look at each as a way to "squash" hot steel, there's much more to it. OK, that being said, I have had both for many years, and I simply could not do without either one. This is a question that I've been asked many times, and the answer will eventually boil down to each individuals situation, and in some cases even where they live (Rural or suburban)
My question is this, if you had your choice between a power hammer and hydraulic press, which would you choose? Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing at Texarkana College.
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