man with drill
A ball peen hammer has two ends, one ball-shaped and the other more cylindrical. It can have a metal, fiberglass or wood handle. A ball-peen hammer is a variety of hammer used for shaping and striking metal, including punches and chisels, in metal fabrication.
The ball-peen hammer’s domed or rounded edge works metal smoothly without leaving marks. The spherical part can straighten, smooth and expand the metal into the desired shape. The other, straighter end of the hammer can be used for tapping and chiselling. The chisel is a steel cutter that cuts through sheet metal, rivets, screws, and even plaster. Punches mark metal or wood for hole placement and a ball-peen hammer is used to tap the punch when an automatic punch is not used.
Actual shot peening is not used in most metal fabrication operations today, but it was the original use of shot peening hammers. Shot blasting is metal that is welded or riveted to make it as flexible as the rest of the metal in an object. The result of peening is a strain hardening property added to the metal.
Hammering hammers include the cross and straight as well as the ball peen hammer. The straight point hammer is shaped like a wedge rather than a ball-shaped head. The head is straight on a straight point hammer, while the cross point hammer features a wedge-shaped head at a lateral angle. Peen hammers, spelled pein or pien in the United Kingdom (UK), have a steel head that has been hardened to prevent splintering during striking.
Percussion hammers are also called engineer’s hammers or machinist’s hammers and come in many different weights, usually from 2 ounces (56.7 g) to 48 ounces (1.3608 kg). This hammer can be used to form the general shape of the metal object and can be used to make knife and sword blades. Newly formed sheet metal may first be coarsely filed before being properly shaped with a ball peen hammer.