Tried using a regular claw hammer to set a hot punch and it went about as well as you'd think

I was working on a leaf keychain last week and my punch kept slipping. My good ball peen was across the shop, so I grabbed a cheap hardware store claw hammer thinking 'a hammer is a hammer, right?' Wrong. The first hit glanced off and sent the hot punch flying into a bucket of water with a huge hiss. The second try, the hammer's face was so soft it left a dent in the punch. Switched back to my 2 lb ball peen and it set perfectly on the first tap. The difference was all in the hard, polished face versus that soft, rough one. Anyone else have a 'wrong tool' story that went hilariously bad?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_mason2mo ago

Honestly, that "soft, rough face" part is why I agree with wyatt_green.

hugo_jones21mo ago

My old framing hammer has a face like a waffle iron, so I learned wyatt_green's lesson the hard way trying to set a center punch. It just skidded off and put a nasty gouge in the workpiece. I keep a cheap little engineer's hammer with a smooth face at the bench now just for punch work. That one change made all the difference, no more chasing tools across the shop.

wyatt_green2mo agoMost Upvoted

That's the whole "right tool for the job" thing in a nutshell. You see it everywhere, people trying to make a cheap version work and it just makes more of a mess.