[Date] Adil

Contents
Process Plan for Manufacturing of Hammer..........................................................................................1
Design.........................................................................................................................................................1
Raw material..............................................................................................................................................1
The manufacturing process......................................................................................................................2
Forming the head...................................................................................................................................3
Forming the handle...............................................................................................................................4
Assembling the hammer............................................................................................................................4
Quality control...........................................................................................................................................5

1
 Process Plan for Manufacturing of Hammer

Design
The two major components of a hammer are the head and the handle. The design
of these two components depends on the specific application, but all hammers have
many common features.
The striking surface of the head is called the face. It may be flat, called plain faced,
or slightly convex, called bell faced. A bell-faced hammer is less likely to bend a
nail if the nail is struck at an angle. Another face design is called a checkered face.
It has crosshatched grooves cut into the surface to prevent the hammer from
glancing off the nail head. Because it leaves a checkered impression on the wood,
it is usually only found on framing hammers used for rough construction.
The surface of the head around the face is called the poll. The poll is connected to
the main portion of the head by the slightly tapered neck. The hole where the
handle fits into the head is called the adze (adz) eye. The side of the head next to
the adze eye is called the cheek.
On the opposite end of the head, there may be a claw, a pick, a semi-spherical ball
peen, or a tapered cross peen depending on the type of hammer. There may also be
a second face, as in a double-faced sledgehammer.
Hammers are classified by the weight of the head and the length of the handle. The
common curved claw hammer has a 7-20 oz (0.2-0.6 kg) head and a 12-13 in
(30.5-33.0 cm) handle. A framing hammer, which normally drives much larger
nails, has a 16-28 oz (0.5-0.8 kg) head and a 12-18 in (30.5-45.5 cm) handle.

Raw material
Hammer heads are made of high carbon, heat-treated steel for strength and
durability. The heat treatment helps prevent chipping or cracking caused by
repeated blows against other metal objects. Certain specialty hammers may have
heads made of copper, brass, babbet metal, and other materials. Dead-blow
hammers have a hollow head filled with small steel shot to give maximum impact
with little or no rebound.
The handles may be made from wood, steel, or a composite material. Wood
handles are usually made of straight-grained ash or hickory. These two woods have
good cross-sectional strength, excellent durability, and a certain degree of
resilience to absorb the shock of repeated blows. Steel handles are stronger and
stiffer than wood, but they also transmit more shock to the user and are subject to

2
rust. Composite handles may be made from fiberglass or graphite fiber-reinforced
epoxy. These handles offer a blend of stiffness, light weight, and durability.
Steel and composite handles usually have a contoured grip made of a synthetic
rubber or other elastomer. Wood handles do not have a separate grip. Steel and
composite handles may also be encased in a high-impact polycarbonate resin. The
addition of this material around the handle increases shock absorption, improves
chemical resistance, and offers protection against accidental overstrikes. An
overstrike is when the hammer head misses the nail and the handle takes the
impact instead. This is a common cause of handle failure.
There are several materials and methods used to attach the head to the handle.
Wood handle hammers use a single thin wood wedge driven diagonally into the
upper end

The head is made by a process called hot forging. A length of steel bar is heated to about 2,200-2,350° F (1,200-
1,300° C) and then die cut in the shape of the hammer head. Once cut, the hammer head is heat treated to harden the
steel.

of the handle, with two steel wedges driven through the wood wedge at right
angles to secure it in place.

The manufacturing process

The manufacturing process varies from one company to another depending on the
company's production capacity and proprietary methods. Some companies make
their own handles, while others purchase the handles from outside suppliers.
Here is a typical sequence of operations for making a claw hammer.

3
Forming the head

 1 The head is made by a process called hot forging. A length of steel bar is
heated to about 2,200-2,350° F (1,200-1,300° C). This may be done with
open flame torches or by passing the bar through a high-power electrical
induction coil.
 2 The hot bar may then be cut into shorter lengths, called blanks, or it may
be fed continuously into a hot forge. The bar or blanks are positioned
between two formed cavities, called dies, within the forge. One die is held in
a fixed position, and the other is attached to a movable ram. The ram forces
the two dies together under great pressure, squeezing the hot steel into the
shape of the two cavities. This process is repeated several times using
different shaped dies to gradually form the hammer head. The forging
process aligns the internal grain structure of the steel and provides much
stronger and more durable piece.
 3 During this process, some of the hot steel squeezes out around the edges of
the die cavities to form flash, which must be removed. As a final step the
head is placed between two trimming dies, which are forced together to cut
off any protruding flash. The head is then cooled, and any rough spots are
ground smooth.

4 In order to prevent chipping and cracking of the hammer head in service,

the face, poll, and claws are heat treated to harden them. This is done by
heating those 

In order to make a wooden handle, the wood is cut to the desired length and then shaped into a handle on a
lathe.

4
 areas, either with a flame or an induction coil, and then quickly cooling
them. This causes the steel near the surface to form a different grain
structure that is much harder than the rest of the head.

 5 The heads are cleaned with a stream of air containing small steel particles.
this process is called shot blasting. The head may then be painted.
 6 The face, poll, claws, and cheeks are polished smooth. This removes the
paint in those areas. As part of this operation, the V-shaped slot in the claws
is smoothed using an abrasive disc.

Forming the handle

 7 If the hammer has a wood handle, it is formed on a lathe. A piece of wood

is cut to the desired length and secured at each end in the lathe. As the wood
spins around the long axis of the handle, a cutting tool moves in and out
rapidly to cut the handle profile. The position of the cutting tool is driven by
a cam that has the same shape as the finished handle. As the cutting tool
moves down the length of the handle, it follows the shape of the cam and
cuts the handle to match it. The finished handle is clamped in a holding
device and a slot is cut diagonally across the top of the handle. The handle is
then sanded to give it a smooth surface.
 8 If the hammer has a steel-core handle, the core is formed by heating a bar
of steel, until it becomes plastic, and forcing it through an opening that has
the desired cross-sectional shape. This process is called extrusion. If the
hammer has a graphite fiber-reinforced core, the core is formed by gathering
together a bundle of graphite fibers and pulling them through an opening
that has the desired cross-sectional shape while epoxy resin is forced through
the opening at the same time. This process is called pultrusion. In either
case, the core may then have a protective plastic jacket molded around it.

Assembling the hammer

 9 If the hammer has a wood handle, the handle is inserted up through the
adze eye of the head. A wood wedge is tapped down into the diagonal slot
on the top of the handle to force the two halves outward to press against the
head. This provides sufficient friction to hold the head on the handle. The
wood wedge is secured in place with two smaller steel wedges driven
through it crossways. The handle may then be stenciled with ink or labeled
with an adhesive sticker to show the manufacturer, brand name, or other
information.
5
  10 If the hammer has a steel or graphite fiber-reinforced core, the handle is
inserted up through the adze eye of the head. Liquid epoxy resin is then
poured through the top of the hole to bond the handle in place. The handle is
placed in a hollow die and a rubber grip is molded around its lower portion.
The handle may then be labeled with an adhesive sticker to show the
manufacturer, brand name, or other information.

Quality control

In addition to the normal visual inspections and dimensional measurements,

various steps in the manufacturing process are monitored. Probably the most
important step is the heat treatment used to harden portions of the head. The
temperatures and rate of heating and cooling are critical in forming the proper
hardness, and the entire operation is closely controlled

The future
Having survived for thousands of years, it is unlikely that the hammer will
disappear from civilization's toolbox anytime soon. It does have some serious
competition though. The most formidable competitor is the gas-driven nail gun.
This device uses a compressed gas, usually air, to drive a nail into wood with a
single shot. Although nail guns are heavier and more expensive than hammers,
they are also significantly faster. This is especially true in repetitive nailing
operations such as installing floor or roof sheathing for new home construction.
Nail guns are also favored in areas where noise is a concern. Because a nail gun
can drive a nail in a single shot, it produces much less over-all noise than the five
or six hammer blows it takes to drive a nail.