Been told to oil my hammer faces for years, but my mentor says to keep them dry - who is right?

Old timer at the Oregon guild meetup said oil stops rust and makes the steel last, but my granddad swore dry faces give better control on hot iron and never had a hammer rust on him in 40 years. Any of you guys have a strong opinion on this or just do whatever your shop taught you?

2 comments

2 Comments

graytorres4d ago

...and here's what gets me about this whole argument - do you work mostly with striking tools or set-down hammers? Because I've noticed a BIG difference. My rounding hammer with a slightly oiled face feels fine for general forging, but try using an oiled cross peen on a hot set-down and the face slips off the tool head like it's greased up. Your granddad might have been onto something with that dry face control thing if he was doing a lot of precision work. But if you're just roughing out shapes all day, a little oil might not make a difference. What kind of work are you actually doing most of the time?

umasullivan3d ago

You been doing a lot of heavy striking or more follow-up work? Because that's where I see the real split on oiled faces. In my shop, I keep my rounding hammer dry for general forging but I've got an old cross peen I will sometimes hit with a LIGHT coat of WD-40 if I'm doing a long run of the same shape and need the face to slide off the tool without sticking. But you're absolutely right about slip on set-down work, that's a recipe for a busted knuckle or worse. I learned that the hard way when a hot set kicked sideways on me and sent a drift flying across the floor. For precision stuff like drifts or fullers, dry face gives me way more control and I never worry about losing the hit.