Get to Know Your Hand Tools – Texture Hammers

by Judy Ellis, Wirejewelry.com

Wire Jewelry Tip for June 9th, 2017

Get to Know Your Hand Tools – Texture Hammers

by Helen I. Driggs

There are lots of ways to directly texture metal, but one of the most fun ways is to use a hammer with a face that is specially designed to create patterns on metal. Some texture hammers have fixed faces — meaning each of the two faces on the hammer is carved with a different design, or interchangeable texture hammers, which feature a mounting bracket and either screw-on texture heads, or texture heads that insert into a screw on collet. I’ve seen interchangeable hammer sets with as many as 10 different design options.

What to look for when buying texture hammers

Any hammer will make marks or texture on metal, but when choosing a specialty texture hammer it is important to watch for sharply defined designs on the face, but smooth edges on the perimeter of the hammer face — otherwise, you’ll create dents right along with your texture. If you find a hammer you love that has edges that are too sharp, sand them — because what you are going for is texture, not dents.

Tips

1. Always use a steel bench block or anvil under the flat metal you are texturing to prevent it from curling or deforming.

2. Practice hammering with a texture hammer on scrap metal first — every hammer feels and behaves differently, so don’t unintentionally ruin your silver by jumping in too fast.

3. I texture metal in a specific path, across the annealed, dry sheet metal from right to left because I am right-handed and I hold the metal with my left hand. Then, I move down to the next “row,” which may seem a little obsessive, but this method makes it easy to get an even allover texture while avoiding work hardening the metal in random places and not in others.

4. Finally, think about it. There is no reason why you can’t use a texture hammer on wire…

HELEN I. DRIGGS is an experienced metalsmith, lapidary and studio jewelry instructor and has appeared in 6 instructional jewelry technique videos. Her book, The Jewelry Maker’s Field Guide was published in 2013.

Above are come of our Texturing Hammers that can be found on our website WireJewelry.com!

Happy Wrapping!

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