Trying to Make a "War Hammer"

[ToolCrazyDude]

Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to make a celtic/Lord of the Rings type war hammer for my brother who is really into the whole Lord of the Rings culture. I grabbed a block of steel from the junkyard and was able to get a 1.5" hole drilled for a handle. I'm pretty confident I can do some cool celtic type engraving on the wood handle but I'm not sure how I can do engraving on the hammer head itself.

It turns out the block of steel is hardened which makes the task a bit more challenging. I'd appreciate any advice about how to get it to look something similar to the other hammers I've posted. Can I do this with an electric dremmel? Maybe a pneumatic die grinder? Worst case scenario I think I'll strip it down to bare metal and paint it with a stencil, but I'd like to get as close to the "authentic" look as possible. I don't have any engraving tools and would like to keep new tool purchases below $150 total if possible.

 

[MoonRise]

You can carve your design into the steel with a rotary tool (electric or pneumatic) and diamond or carbide burrs.

You can actually engrave the design with hand gravers (the tool you use to do engraving).

https://www.knifemaking.com/category-s/1917.htm

https://contenti.com/engraving-tools

https://www.riogrande.com/category/tools-and-equipment/engraving

You can apply a "resist" to the steel, carve off or otherwise remove the "resist" in your desired design/pattern, and then acid etch the pattern into the steel.

Multiple ways to get there.

 

[ToolCrazyDude]

Thank you for the links! I called the people at the knife making link you left and I was told that for engraving hardened steel I would either have to use an electric dremmel, pneumatic type dremmel or an "electrochem etcher". I've never heard of an etcher before but I'll take a look at some youtube videos.

If I used a dremmel type tool for engraving, any ideas on a good stencil type to ensure I make crisp lines? Any suggestions on good bits? Thanks for all the help!

 

[dogdog]

they are referring to electrolysis type, some what of a reverse electrolysis I think.. basically you print out your pattern, masked it to the steel object and connect the DC power supply leads to the object and the other lead to a wad of cotton ball soaked with table salt solutions or a conductive solutions... plenty of youtube on this... I don't remember the polarity... a vinyl cutter would be nice to have... or a steady hand and some vinyl masking tape.. exacto knife.

There was a guy here that makes Thor hammers here from 1/4 plate steels from PA or something that have done this with a miller tig welder as power supply for the etching... basically any DC power supply would do, you'll have to experiment

 

[dogdog]

this thread might of be interest to you...

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=410265&highlight=hammer

 

[dr_clyde]

How did you get the hole in it if it's hardened?

I bet its not as hard as you think, unless they cut that hole with a wire EDM or a waterjet. Even if it is something like 4140 PH or something, most common carbide tools will cut it.

If it is in fact actually hard (can a file cut it or just skate across it?), you can anneal it and it will be workable with regular engraving tools like you would use on a gun or something. Just toss it in a nice hot fire and cool it slow in some hot sand. That should anneal it enough for a prop hammer.

A carbide ball burr in a pneumatic pencil grinder would be my weapon of choice if it was me.