Guide To Jewellery Hammers For Beginners

There’s a whole host of jewelry making tools out there that you may not have heard of yet, and jewelry hammers will undoubtedly take center stage on that list. With the sheer number of hammers professional jewelers use, it can be quite a task to remember what they’re called, let alone how to use them effectively! Whatever jewelry making skill you’re trying to master, using specially made jewelry hammers will undoubtedly play some part in the process.

That’s why we’ve put together an illustrated guide to jewelry hammer types for beginners, helping you identify the best jewelry hammer to use depending on the project.

Basic Jewellery Hammers

Ball pein hammer

This is one of the first jewelry hammers you should invest in as a beginner. It’s a great all-rounder, used for multiple tasks such as texturing metal, hammering doming punches and forming sheet metal.

Rawhide Mallet

Great for forming or resizing rings, the rawhide mallet won’t scratch or mar the metal you’re working with while still providing accurate results.

Stamping hammer

Sometimes known as a brass hammer. A kind of jewelry hammer is used with stamps or metal punches on metal stamping blanks. It is to make a creative imprint on the metal you’re using. It’s essential to use a soft brass mallet when using steel stamps. So that you don’t destroy the mark under the weight of a heavy steel hammer.

Intermediate Jewellery Hammers

Texturing hammer

Texturing hammers are used to create a texture on the metal you’re working with. Instead of a high shine finish, you can alternatively add a texturized finish to a set of earrings or a pendant for a unique, weathered look.

Chasing hammer

A chasing hammer looks a little different from your usual hammer and is sometimes referred to as a response hammer. The handle is built in a specific way – with a thin handle that migrates down to a thicker end; the handle is meant to give you balance. As a result, when you hammer with some force, you can balance it and strike down without causing it to tilt or slip. The chasing hammer also features a slightly domed face and a ball pein on the other side. This means that your chasing hammer can be used to form metal into intricate relief designs.

Advanced Jewellery Hammers

Planishing hammer

Planishing metal refers to the flattening of sheet metal, in this case, using a planishing hammer. You’ll often see these techniques used in the forming of more significant car body parts to finish the metal with a smooth surface. Even after you’ve formed a nicely curved piece of metal for your jewelry projects, it’s good to finish this work off with a planishing hammer to ensure a smooth, professional finish.

Riveting hammer

The riveting hammer has one flat round face and one wedge-shaped end and is primarily used for riveting as well as creating bark-like textures on sheet metal.

Raising hammer

Raising hammers feature a cross pein instead of a ball pein. This allows you to compress the metal, creating a convex shape without stretching it out too much. When used with a stake, you can use a raising hammer. To successfully form more significant pieces of sheet metal into bangles, cuffs or more complex pendants.

Embossing hammer

Never heard of embossing? Embossing is the stretching of metal with the use of a hammer. A typical embossing hammer features two ball pins of different sizes at each end. Each end can be used to add dramatic textures to your metalwork. To help you create a collection of jewelry pieces with a unique finish.

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