When you weld any material, the workplace will soon become messy due to the substantial amount of slags during the welding project. On the one hand, the slags reduce your visibility and working efficiency and, on the other hand, increase accidental risks.
Thus, you must use a welding chipping hammer to remove and clean the slags. But this is a challenging task. Indeed, the cleaning process may be difficult and impossible unless you know how to use a welding chipping hammer accurately.
The welding chipping hammer is a tool built especially for welding jobs and should come with the welder package. In today's tutorial, we will discuss the building and user process of welding chipping hammers with step-by-step instructions.
For the safety and convenience of welders, we have included a user safety guideline for using the welding chipping hammer.
How to Use a Welding Chipping Hammer:
A welding chipping hammer is a simple welding tool. Its job is to gather and remove the slags generated during Arc Stick welding. It comes with two ends- one has a flat head, and the other features spikes.
The hammer handle is made of metal wood and might have a rubber grip for ergonomics. It reduces the shock during the welding and can be used in every welding environment. Honestly speaking, using the chipping hammer is way simpler than a DIY building project. Let's begin with the user guideline first.
- You must carefully swing and hit the welding material with the chipping hammer to remove the slags.
- The flat head of the chipping hammer is used to remove the spatter.
- The wide flat end collects and slides the removed spatters or slags along the surface in a fixed position.
- The tapered end is widely used to remove any imperfections on the welding material.
Remember that the chipping hammer is mostly essential for Arc welding. The typical MIG and TIG welding doesn't produce any slags while you weld the materials.
Now that we know how to use the chipping hammer, why not focus on building such a versatile tool at the workshop? This straightforward DIY project will save a lot if your welding package doesn't include the welding chipping hammer.
Step 1: Accumulating and cleaning the components
You won't have to invest heavily in a chipping hammer DIY project. You can use different workshop materials to manufacture a welding chipping hammer. First off, you will need two pieces of 12mm construction rebar.
Need to know what rebar is?
Rebar is a reinforced and heat-treated stainless steel. It is used mostly in concrete as a construction rod for stability.
Next, you must find a piece of steel or hardy wood to use as the hammer handle. Here, we will use an old handle from a previous hammer to give it a new life.
The rebar almost instantly would have rust on it. So, the next step is to remove the rust from it. So, place the rebar horizontally and locate the project's drill into the holder. After that, find the chunk and mount a wire brush to transform the entire piece into a portable benchtop grinder to remove the rust.
Now, use the wire brush, likewise a grinder, to remove the rust from the rebar top. As you scrap the rebar, it will start shining without the rust coating on it.
Step 2: Hammerhead fabrication
We will use another piece of 12mm rebar to build the hammerhead. Some people might use larger rebar or add weight to it to gain the extra force essential for the slagging chores. The length of the hammerhead is measured at 15 inches for this project.
- At first, from the larger rebar, cut one appropriate size.
- To use the factory-made line as a reference for the next cuts, place the rebar into the vise.
- Cut two angled pieces when you have the accurate line from the vise. These angled pieces would be from two sides of the newly created lines.
- Thus, one end of the hammerhead will become flat. It will look more like a flathead screwdriver.
- On the other side of the hammerhead, perform four angled cuts. The angles must be steeper and look like a pyramid.
- It will get hot when you perform the angle cuts to the manufacturer and shape the hammerhead. Thus, we recommend using water to keep the rebar cool.
Some experts say that cooling the hammerhead with water will harden it. But it has yet to be conclusively proved. However, rebar or reinforced stainless steel is hard enough for chipping jobs. So, you won't have to harden the hammerhead additionally, either.
Step 3: Sharpening the hammerhead
When you build the hammerhead from the rebar, it will be challenging and have rough edges. It would help if you smoothened the edges for safe use. Also, it would help if you sharpened the hammerhead to use it effectively. The aim is to build a cone on the pyramid-shaped side of the hammerhead.
For this, you will need an angle grinder. Please attach it to the workbench with a clamp. Then, put the hammerhead of the chipping hammer into the hand-drilling machine. The hand drill allows you to move the head when the grinder spins. This way, you will quickly get an even and smooth cone with the proper sharpness.
Step 4: Attaching the hammerhead and the handle
You have to weld to connect the hammerhead with the handle. The welding needs to be at a 90° angle. For this, position the handle in the vise not to move when you weld it. Then use one hand to securely hold the head with the grip at the right angle.
Then, turn on the welding machine and perform the first weld. Once you are assured that the handle can hold the head and won't fall off, you can remove the hand from it. Then, weld on each side of the hammerhead and head joining point.
The welding would make the connection firm and durable. When you weld the hammerhead and the handle for the 1st time, you might use a magnet to set the angle accurately. But even if you don't have the magnet, there're alternatives to it.
Once the 1st weld securely holds the two pieces together, adjust the angle at the 90° position. Then weld around the edges of the connecting point.
Step 5: Mounting the handle
Since we are using an existing handle of an older hammer, it needs little preparation. The preparation remains the same even if you plan to use a new handle.
- Cut the handle to your desired length for the new hammer.
- Then you must keep it in the ground and fix it into the vise.
- Inside the handle, there would be a hollow portion. Use some resin to fill the hollow part. It would harden the handle.
- A drill creates a simple 12mm hole through the hammer handle. You have to firmly hold the drill since digging through the hardened resin would feel like drilling concrete.
- If you want to add weight to the handle, add some glue to the hollow section. But it is nearly impossible since the resin material would fill the entire hollowness.
- Once you mount the handle with the hammerhead, check for gaps between the two components. If there's a gap, fill it using glue.
Step 6: Cleaning the entire setup
You must clean the entire chipping hammer setup once the handle is securely positioned with the head. For this, secure the hammer into the vise. Fix the wire brush into the hand drill. This way, you can reach all the angled grooves and welding points with the wire brush. Scrap the weld and other places to make the hammer and the handle as glowing as possible.
However, you must be okay with the polishing result since it is a simple tool. Also, you will be tossing it around the workshops. But if you have time, polish the hammer as much as you want.
Step 7: Prevent the rust buildup
The rebar will soon catch rust and start corroding if you don't treat it for rust prevention. Luckily, it is easy. Get a container of WD-40 and spray it on the entire hammer, head, and handle. It would create an oil coat on the hammer.
It prevents the water from getting into the metal components. Allow the coat to dry, and then apply a second layer of WD-40 oil coating to prevent rust. This oil-coating should make the chipping hammer rust and corrosion-proof for durability.
Your chipping hammer is ready for use.
Safety Features to Use Chipping Hammer and Welding Jobs:
- Whenever you weld, you must use a facemask and wear gloves.
- When you collect the slags, make sure it doesn't fly in the air.
- Collect the slags in a container or plastic bag to prevent them from flying.
- When you use the hammer to chip the slags from the welding material, make sure your fingers are at a safe distance.
- Always keep the hammer end sharp to quickly remove the slags from the material. A dull hammer would make your work harder only.
Final Words
A welding chipping hammer is a simple yet useful tool. It keeps the welding place neat and clean and makes the welding job comfortable. Thus, this guideline on using a welding chipping hammer would benefit you in keeping the workplace tidy.
We have described the user instructions and the DIY chipping hammer manufacturing project in this tutorial. Thus, it should be a good read for professional and DIY welders. Cheers!
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