What is the best material for making hammers?

Answer 1

Most How-to's say to use tool steel and they are not wrong... However, if you need a hammer you can't find on-line or afford, then you might go traditional and forge one out what's in the scrap pile. I love going to the auto salvage yard and getting car or truck axles. They are very tough. A carbide drill bit will not go all the way through without annealing the material first. And the cool part is that other scroungers have often done the dirty work for you, disassembling stuff looking for their parts. Axles are often lying on the ground next to or piled inside some wreck. A pair of gloves, some cash and few minutes looking will often yield more usable material in the right size, than can be found at the metal supply store, cheaper too. Other car or truck parts are also made of high carbon steel. And don't forget fork-lifts and other abandoned or recycled machinery. Cheap, readily available material to make tools is all around us, happy hunting.