My late latest DIY project

[kevin gilmore]

So this is the time of the year from thanksgiving to new years where i have

the time to do extraordinary projects. This year is no exception.

So i delivered the hydrogen torch preamp prototype to a person in chicago that

happens to own a ctc blowtorch with great success. (hearafter just refered to as

just hydrogen)(a hydrogen torch is at least twice the temperature of a blowtorch)

But this year i wanted to do something extremely over the top just for me.

And while it is not done yet, enough of it is done for a couple of pictures.

So I hereby present the $5000 hammer. (in fact its going to cost way more than that)

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/hammer1.jpg

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/hammer2.jpg

Handle and head machined from a solid piece of titanium. Handle drilled out for perfect

balance. Standard taper on the handle. Shown with 24k gold and phosphor bronze

hammerheads. Also shown with black and white delrin and stainless steel replacement

hammerheads.

Still have to finish the pure platinum, pure silver, lead, copper and lignum vitae hammerheads.

As well as the (probably burlwood) wood insert for the presentation case. Going shopping

tomorrow for the burlwood.

Still don't have enough rhodium to make a hammerhead (or anything else) and

research safety has decided that i will not be allowed to machine up the chunk

of beryllium that i have due to possible exposure to beryllium dust.

I'm almost done making a chunk of my very own damascus steel, which i'm going

to machine into a chisel that goes with the hammer.

Maybe at the next meet in chicago i'll bring it along and attempt a couple of love taps

to the extremely hard head of my good friend ray.

Happy holidays.

[hYdrociTy]

Your hammer is epic.

[fierce_freak]

Wow

[luvdunhill]

just don't get that thing near the blowtorch!

[Augsburger]

How many times did you fold the steel? Do you have a Rockwell hardness rating estimate on the chisel?

[yuujin]

WoW!

Level 75 Tier 6 Epic Hammer.

The Kevin Gilmore Hammer.

[guzziguy]

Who cares about the hammer. I want to see pictures of the Hydrogen Torch! Ok, the hammer is pretty spectacular, still ...

[kevin gilmore]

How many times did you fold the steel? Do you have a Rockwell hardness rating estimate on the chisel?

This is the first, and probably the last time i'm going to try something

like this. I have absolutely no idea what the final steel is going to look like.

I started with 25 layers of various scrap steel. All cut to 3 inches wide

and 10 inches long. Stacked as flat as i could get them, about 2.5 inches

thick, then i arc welded the sides in 4 places each to get one big hunk

of stuff. Then melted the piss out of it, and used a 10 ton press to bang

the crap out of it, then heat it up again, and use the press again with

a cutting head to cut through most of it, then bend it and heat it again

then beat the crap out of it again. I did this 4 times. No way was i

going to pound on this stuff with a hammer for 8 hours. The last time

i did something that stupid i had tennis elbow for almost 2 years.

I'm probably through heating and banging it. I want the finished piece

to be 1 inch wide at the head, and the shaft about .5 inches in diameter,

so i'll have plenty left. No idea of hardness. I envy the guys in japan

that make those presentation swords. Then again for the prices they

charge...

[Spiug31]

beautiful, crazy, a little disturbing but definitely beautiful

looking forward to pics of the damascus steel - I like its waves

[Spiug31]

--Edit--

Any plans to make a blued steel head ?

[philodox]

Way too cool Kevin. How much damascus steel do you figure you will have left over?

[hYdrociTy]

i want a damascus bookmark

[DigiPete]

wow! never realized uranium was that had to refine

[Augsburger]

Kevin,

I think a damscus volume knob or tube bases would look pretty cool....hint, hint.

[Edwood]

On a scale of 1-10, I give KG's Hammer a 1 for design and styling, and an 9 for the patented KG Overkill.

[Augsburger]

On a scale of 1-10, I give KG's Hammer a 1 for design and styling, and an 9 for the patented KG Overkill.

Nah, that's not overkill. Now a Damascus toothpick, now that would be overkill.

[kevin gilmore]

On a scale of 1-10, I give KG's Hammer a 1 for design and styling, and an 9 for the patented KG Overkill.

Maybe you have never played with a real jewelers hammer. The design was specifically

for the function of perfect use. Perfect balance... There is 30 hours of machining time

in that hammer at the moment. Guess i wll have to try harder. What do i have to

do to get that 9 turned into a 10?? Maybe your opinion will change once it is finished.

I have OH so many uses for that chunk of damascus. More uses than i have steel.

For the knob, it would have to be cut out of the side, because you clearly want the

lines going across the face of the knob as well as the sides of the knob. That

eats up a lot more of the material. And if i want the chisel to have lines all over

the main face, i have to cut it from a chunk at something like a 20 degree angle.

So the material is going to be used up quite quickly. I can certainly make

a damascus toothpick, but i think it would be a real bad idea to ever actually use it.

If anyone actually knows where to buy raw chunks of damascus, i would be very

interested, and i really don't care how much it costs. Once is fine as a joke, but

i really don't want to burn most of the hair off my arms again.

[aerius]

If anyone actually knows where to buy raw chunks of damascus, i would be very

interested, and i really don't care how much it costs. Once is fine as a joke, but

i really don't want to burn most of the hair off my arms again.

http://www.damasteel.com/

Michael Walker is the US distributor, comes in many sizes and patterns.

[kevin gilmore]

That is great for knives, might work for a chisel. Not nearly thick

enough for knobs. Will contact him and see if he can supply what

i need as raw material. Price is certainly reaasonable.

[Edwood]

Maybe you have never played with a real jewelers hammer. The design was specifically

for the function of perfect use.

Exactly how an engineer approaches Design.

Perfect balance... There is 30 hours of machining time

in that hammer at the moment. Guess i wll have to try harder. What do i have to

do to get that 9 turned into a 10?? Maybe your opinion will change once it is finished.

Exactly why I gave it 9 out of 10. Looking foward to you making it an 11.

[kevin gilmore]

a bit more work

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/hammer3.jpg

[Augsburger]

I never in my wildest dreams ever imagined I would say that a hammer was a thing of beauty but .....that is impressive. How does it sound?

[JBLoudG20]

I love the madness of your projects.

[Augsburger]

A Damascus chisel would be a real nice complement.....

[dc]

that's really cool and i appreciate the complete overkill factor of this project

but what's the hammer going to be used for exactly? like, are there performance benefits?