Diagonal pein hammer on eBay

[Branson]

Found this on eBay, and remembered there was some interest in diagonal peins:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Antique-Blacksmith-Farrier-36-Oz-Hammer-diagonal-Cross-Pein-Old-Tool-/151484387483?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23452c509b

[gibsontool]

I think will try for that,I'ts the first one I have ever seen.

[oldgoaly]

ahhh that's cross-eyed smithy hammer!

I heard that, I'm much too dull to think them up own my own...

[Chillylulu]

That's a cool hammer. Are you still in it Gibby?  And do you strike lefty?

new they are ~$90-$120

Chilly

[gibsontool]

Yup, I'm still in. Thanks for the info on the new price, I wouldn't have thought they'd be that much. I'm right handed, mostly.I bat left handed and deal cards left handed but I'm sure if I swung a hammer left handed I'd hurt myself, or others.
     Jim

[Twilight Fenrir]

Yup, I'm still in. Thanks for the info on the new price, I wouldn't have thought they'd be that much. I'm right handed, mostly.I bat left handed and deal cards left handed but I'm sure if I swung a hammer left handed I'd hurt myself, or others.
     Jim

Well.... that's a left-handed diagonal pein hammer...

[leg17]

Yup, I'm still in. Thanks for the info on the new price, I wouldn't have thought they'd be that much. I'm right handed, mostly.I bat left handed and deal cards left handed but I'm sure if I swung a hammer left handed I'd hurt myself, or others.
     Jim

Well.... that's a left-handed diagonal pein hammer...

???

[gibsontool]

I want this mainly for a collection of hammers, not necessarily to use, but the way it was explained to me by an old smithy you had a right and a left and this allowed for less movement or positioning of the piece you were working on, a big plus with a heavy  or awkward piece. He also said it helped a bit with being able to see the work piece better. Whats the opinion from some of you guys?

[Twilight Fenrir]

Yup, I'm still in. Thanks for the info on the new price, I wouldn't have thought they'd be that much. I'm right handed, mostly.I bat left handed and deal cards left handed but I'm sure if I swung a hammer left handed I'd hurt myself, or others.
     Jim

Well.... that's a left-handed diagonal pein hammer...

???

Diagonal pein hammers, are the only ones I know of that have a handing... They are diagonal, so you can hold your piece, and your hammer at a comfortable angle, rather than straight 90s, which are unnatural. So, one that is angled like this \ is a right handed. Because you're holding your work in your left hand at a slight angle. Whereas one that is angled like this / is for a left hander, because you are holding the work in your right hand instead.

[gibsontool]

Twilight. Thanks for your response, thinking about it a bit, that makes more sense than what I was told years ago. Unfortunately I can't talk to my old buddy as he passed on years ago.

[Chillylulu]

That's why I brought it up -I'd hate for you to buy a user, then just be frustrated when using it.  The diagonal peins aren't just handed, the technique for their use is slightly different often. They are supposed to be very ergonomic when used a certain way.  I would guess that, if you surveyed smith's who have actually used one correctly for a while, 25% wouldn't care for them.

Being a silversmith, I am just guessing, and never having swung a diagonal pein myself.  But, being a silversmith who believes that my material takes the shape of my form, I get into a lot if weird places. Especially with synclastic forms.  I think that, even though I am tapping instead of whomping, the swing and feel is similar. Especially after several hours. 

Chilly

[john k]

A good smith would have 15-25 hammers at the ready, in a tong and hammer rack.   Definitely need a straight and diagonal peen hammers, and use them often.   More so than a cross peen.   Probably more needful today in all the artistic work that is done.  The guys I have noticed what made one for themselves, make use of them often. 

[Chillylulu]

A little different for silversmith. On my post of my bench hammers I had ~49, but that is half the equation. I have a lot of stakes also. Weird shapes. My material works cold, but constant annealing is needed.

What I was getting at before is that I have heard that a lot of blacksmiths who have been at it for some time before using a diagonal, when taught to use it in some weird, Norwegion or Swedish ergonomically correct position do not like or feel comfortable doing it. 

[keykeeper]

This is right handed, I thought??? But really, depends on what you want that pein to do....draw or fan across the width of the piece. Argument can be made that both can be used by a right hander.

[Chillylulu]

They sell for righties and lefties. Twilight had a good description above.

Chilly