Ergonomic tooling by Christoph Kühlinger

As a blacksmith you make a lot of the same movements, especially with your shoulder, arm and wrist joints. Especially when you're hammering. (This work has become easier when the spring-hammer and air-hammer have been introduced in most forges. We'll talk about that another time). Christoph talked about this and introduced us to a few basic principles for the use of the hand hammer.

Ergonomics is the science that focuses on tailoring aids and conditions to human characteristics so that people can function optimally. Ergonomics therefore makes an important contribution to the safe and healthy design of a workplace. With good ergonomics you prevent - or at least limit - physical, environmental and psychological stress.

A few practical tips:

• The layout of the workshop follows the sequence of the production process
• Avoid long walking distances
• The anvil must be adjusted to the correct height. The flat of the hand on the anvil with the arm extended is a good starting point
• The hand hammer usually has a weight of 0.5 to 2.0 kg. Sledgehammers (usually weigh 3.0 to 8.0 kg)
• The weight of the hammer should be as much as possible in the center of the hammer head
• The handle length corresponds to the length of the forearm when you hold the hammer head in your fist
• Important: When forging with two people at an anvil, never stand face to face.

Types of hammers

There are a number of models of hand hammers in use, namely

• Cross peen hammer
• Straight peen hammer
• Rounding hammer. Widely used by farriers because the round head makes it easy to work on the inside of the horseshoe
• Mixtures between the above mentioned (rounding/peen)
• Dogheadhammer or Japanesehammer

Experimentally you can determine that the hammer head functions best with a hardness of 48-54 HRC (Hardness Rockwell C scale). The steel types C45, C45U -very workable- and C45E are suitable for making a hammer. For chisels it is best to use C60 or C75.

Use of the hand hammer

Every blacksmith must decide for himself which hammer weight suits him or her best. If the hammer feels too heavy during work, switch to using a lighter one. Here too: less is more! Also remember that certain tasks require a different hammer. For example, when riveting 10 mm rivets, a narrow hammer can provide more feeling during work.

The hammer handle

Most common wood types are ash or hickory. In Belgium, the dogwood (Kornoelje) stem is famous. Hazelnut wood is also easy to use thanks to its enormous resilience and flexibility, it is usually used for handled top tooling. The handle thickness is a personal choice. Try yourself what gives comfort.

Christoph found 9 very engaged listeners from 4 countries with whom he shared his experiences and answered just as many questions.

The next Treff is on Oktober 16 with Anna Neubauer.
Start: 19.00 CEST
Room Open: 18.40 CEST