Casting a Solid Brass Sledge Hammer in a Backyard Foundry

In this video I will be making a solid brass sledge hammer in my backyard foundry. I made pattern using fusion 360 and the 3d printed the patterns in a plastic called PLA. Then I made a sand mold with a sand called petrobond. I machined the casting on my milling machine and then mounted the sledge hammer head to a hickory handle.
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[@HellboundHarry]

It's official, you must begin making a hammer of every metal, and have the ultimate Smither's collection.

[@prateekkumar5667]

Uranium hammer. One time use only.

[@thereaper3444]

I fully agree

[@lnz971]

please gold 24k!

[@benjaminbrockway5998]

Gotta get his hands on some depleted uranium.

[@fitter70]

I would like to see a titanium hammer if it's possible.

[@EstOptimusNobis]

Good to see you wearing your half mask respirator with the multi gas/vapour cartridges. Many people don't realize the toxicity of brass gas/vapour when smelting.

[@aserta]

Yup. That stuff be super nasty.

[@Hard_Right]

🙄🤦🏻‍♂️ always the youtube safety experts in every damn video where anyone is doing anything ...

[@Lorenzo_G_C]

@@Hard_Right it's better to be safe and inconvenienced rather than being sick or dead.

[@Fusako8]

Fume fever is a thing. And annoyingly its symptoms are very similar to covid.

[@pseudomemes5267]

Zinc will do it. White fume fever

[@russdunn1256]

As a man who made a living swinging a sledge hammer in the dimension stone industry I can appreciate the aesthetics and enduring quality of the copper and brass hammers. You're a true craftsman.

[@gonelucid]

Guess they are used on boats cause they don't rust

[@secondhandlyon2603]

I've used a brass hammer a lot in refinery work. It won't spark and that's nice when you're working with flammable gasses floating around in the air.

[@CreepyChappy]

We use brass in oilfield when working with volatiles when we don’t want sparks that could cause explosions , nice job

[@j0hnf_uk]

Nice to see that you didn't overheat the molten brass and allow the zinc within to vaporise and create dangerous zinc oxide fumes. I had a few doubts concerning the wiggly sprew, but it worked out great.

[@johnjacobjingleheimer-schm8283]

When you're being gentle with placing things into the sand molds, do you ever think to yourself, "Jenga... Jenga..." lol

[@ssjronin3972]

Did you spray CO2 over the core or was just being exposed naturally enough to harden?

[@baldured8859]

boy just breathed on it really hard

[@-chancellor-]

KZbin frames your comment without me opening the section, leading me to assume you are top comment, and I'm surprised he hasn't answered yet because of that.. Regardless, I know next to nothing about this stuff, but he seems to outline steps pretty well if he thinks they are important and he didn't say, so likely he doesn't spray it... Just my guess.

[@jttnc]

It’ll harden on its own by just being exposed to the air, but you can also spray it to harden it faster

[@Ragingmarmot]

"There's nothin' like a nice piece of Hickory" ;)

[@kingnarothept6917]

Can't wait for the Mithril Hammer casting vid! :D

[@glenbrisebois8239]

Thanks for tapering the hole. That's a pet peeve of mine. :)

[@KevinGenus]

Earned another subscriber. Please keep the narration for people like me who just don't know. Also, the comments, were quite helpful. I didn't know how/where these tools were used but the comments certainly helped.

[@philmckenna5709]

Don't know if other people have commented, but brass tools including hammers are often used in industries where there's a risk of fires and explosions caused by various gases/vapours. I used to work on drill floors on rigs in North Sea and we kept a set of bronze tools, alongside the usual steel ones. Hammers, spanners/wrenches, etc. We'd only use them on occasions where there was an increased risk of gas escaping, and we'd have gas detectors all around the area.

[@erniescarano1522]

well both hammers are beautiful....it certainly is nice having all that great equipment.

[@lyleslaton3086]

5 pound sledge? Perfect for hanging pictures around the house.

[@wantafastz28]

It’s nice to see a little machine work done to make the casting look great

[@treysmith3170]

Why not just machine the whole thing is what I was wondering

[@wantafastz28]

@@treysmith3170 probably because he’s not a machinist?

[@blitzar8443]

Great cast

[@nikolaschilcote4031]

Talk about a "Brass Beast."

[@my1956effie]

That looks fantastic and came out of the sand looking real good.

[@DrCoomer150]

Wow this turned out amazing

[@Richie5480]

Love your little Jack Russell

[@alextilton2677]

Your videos have a wonderful calming quality to them.

[@DishwasherPotato]

He has mastered the force

[@TreasureIslandCasting]

You are one of the most skilled YT casting channels I know. Always looking forward to new videos from you. Kind regards from Treasure Island

[@gafrers]

Beautiful results

[@MrMarkRoads]

Beautiful hammer. I'm 60, and my grandfather taught me how to put handles on hammers. He would have the fit very tight. You couldn't quite get the handle in. He would start it then flip the hammer over and tap the end of the handle with a wooden mallet. This would drive the handle into the head. Over time the handle will absorb and lose water making the handle lose. He would seal the end of the handle with varnish.

[@tinachristensen2194]

Glad to see you’re using that skeleton hammer!

[@acomingextinction]

That was really impressive work with the sprue.

[@Trumplican]

i never would have thought that mold would work without a vent hole! Nicely done!

[@ripredowski1376]

Love your workmanship.

[@Charlielizard]

One word: Phenomenal! 👍👍👍 Just subscribed to the two links you provided. Brother's looks fascinating. Thank you.

[@ZoonCrypticon]

A fantastic artwork !

[@herberar]

I ' ve been keeping brass pieces and old keys with the idea of making a small bell some time. Thanks a lot!!!

[@michap.7909]

Piękny młotek i warsztat. Robi wrażenie, pozdrowienia z Polski.

[@backporchfoundryandforgeus900]

It’s good to see someone melting with a diy built furnace that came out very nice! Good video good melt and cast.

[@nickj2508]

The sprue is also pretty cool. 👌

[@erickim2025]

Beautiful work 👏

[@paulsheffler8146]

I like both the brass and copper hammers. This program is inspireing to me, to go make another casting project.

[@UnironicScrotumhat]

the hammer, fresh out of the mold without the excess cut off it, looked like some sort of wacky Dr. Seuss device

[@sovereignlivingsoul]

excellent job, it looks great

[@anthonyhitchings1051]

first time that I have seen liver of sulfur being used - thanks

[@Lucreaux]

Love to see the pup 🐶

[@alonzosanchez8577]

Well done

[@Thewatson77]

Great looking piece 👍🏼👍🏼

[@Orlosthedruid]

Just, damned awesome !! great job !!

[@jameswood9424]

Beautiful craftsmanship

[@IWasBornJackSloan]

Your videos are so calm and relaxing

[@apogeedata]

That came out beautiful

[@Linnecke]

Beautiful work! 👍🏻

[@Mark-qe9mr]

the only thing lacking is the correct grain on the hickory handle. The grain must be parallel to the direction of the hammer swing. The handle you chose has the grain perpendicular to the direction of the hammer swing. This is because the grain perpendicular to the swing is not nearly as strong as the grain parallel to the swing and will always end in a split handle and there goes your hours of work on the handle. The casting and polishing was great.

[@gaffyh1745]

Really cool, i had 2 thoughts that i think you should try. 1- Why don't you model up an item that can double as the sprue/pour hole for any item you want to cast. For example, the wavy line you carved could be a snake. Surely this way you can get 2 castings at once and have a "cheap" item sell on your site. 2- Because you don't need the integrity of a 3D model, it would save you print time and material if you hollowed out your 3D models hope this helps!

[@chadcuckproducer1037]

That is a very good idea. Could make all kinds of side items like custom mounding or parts for picture frames.

[@gonelucid]

It just gets melted back down anyway

[@garethbaus5471]

​@@gonelucid That is still an extra step that costs fuel and doesn't directly add value, the more value you can generate in single pour the better.

[@sirukin7849]

Very cool. A brass hammer is a very useful tool for working with metal since steel hammers will deform what you're working on. This is basically the metal equivalent of a rubber mallet.

[@odiesclips7621]

That was a most satisfying project to watch! Thank you.

[@KrakenCasting]

Nice! Brass can be a pain to work with, but it's worth it for the color.

[@BillyBob-si2db]

Excellent work, awesome video. Keep it up.

[@LeakyJAZZ]

you must do bronze! complete the trio!

[@villain1409]

Very nice finish.

[@GabyGibson]

You, sir, are a smith worthy of Mahal the Master Forger.

[@zzach6146]

Amazing work as always!!!

[@catthewondahokulea6515]

Hatch and Axe next? Also thank you for describing what you are doing, learning about this kind of stuff is fun.

[@jaredallen1149]

Perfection. Nicely done.

[@det6912]

That came out awesome. 👍🏼

[@sebastiendube9487]

You really have a good sense for color contrasts.

[@mikechu01]

that looks so good

[@jimcorbett3764]

Nice job. I know it takes a lot of specialized equipment, but it's still a good craftsman piece- good looking hammer.

[@michaelvenniro9682]

PRO WORK LUV THE DOG HE LOOKS UNIQUE

[@axelec]

A beautiful piece of work good show!!

[@drew856856]

Not sure if you've tried this or not but a brass or copper axe or maul would be awesome to see. Preferably one that can be used for splitting wood.

[@Habibulla.M]

Looking awesome

[@mrk1075]

The hammer looks professional!

[@steveshoemaker6347]

Looks amazing thanks Shoe🇺🇸

[@theone31man]

You are an excellent craftsman.

[@BinsonPaulMenachery]

That was indeed funny to see the fire coming up at the wave of hand. May the force be with you 🙂

[@jacksondoughty]

Fun parts of the edit. I dig it!

[@JamesWhite-nv2lu]

Great job well done

[@cheesefries7436]

Very cool! Any plans to make a silver one? The mirror finish would be incredible.

[@MedSou]

*Excellent work* 👍👍

[@doylerabjohn3435]

Looks great....Allways been interested in casting hammers.

[@stevenn110]

now i want one of those, it looks so good!

[@robevans841]

Stunning!

[@wanderingjew26]

Beautiful

[@tonydentonarms4112]

Great job

[@nickolasjones9212]

Absolutely Beautiful...

[@RevMikeBlack]

Nice work!

[@larryevans7669]

Nice work, thank you!

[@RestorationAustralia]

Very nice job.👍

[@10JJs_]

I love the editing style, it looks kinda like a video game. Lol

[@vincedibona4687]

Nice swing-press!

[@FinLaMort]

Very cool, nice job...

[@raymondsmith5832]

Just discovered your channel and I love it!

[@Matthews_Tools]

very impressive work!

[@mannymatta9547]

Nice work

[@rollingthunder277]

I watched a different channel today about making a framing hammer out of titanium. This was much easier...LOL. Great video.

[@wolverene84]

Fantastic video.

[@donaldredline975]

BEAUTIFUL

[@rescobar8572]

Bravo!! 👏🏼 Great to see a video!

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

You sure do nice work!

[@cravenmoorehead5636]

Nice vise. I'm envious.

[@carrestore]

Beautiful hammer

[@streametal]

Great work again my friend! really enjoying your videos!

[@onedeadsaint]

so cool that you're a wizard now!