Hammers and Mallets

Over the last few months I have been thinking a lot about the tools that I need and the ways in which I can innovatively use the 3D printing process whilst not spending more money than I would to just buy a tool.  I have gone through quite a few different ideas and developed my tooling to where I feel happy to now start testing prototypes.

The mallet handle progressed from just directly 3D printing a mallet to breaking it down and looking at each part.  The first idea, was to CNC mill a multifunctional handle which could be used by screwing on and off mallet heads which could be printed or milled from different materials such as wood or hard resin.

I designed a handle which had a nice form and would have looked great in wood.  Before the chance came to mill this I had developed the idea further, which I was glad for.  I decided that I could go even further with the design of the tool and develop it specifically for my own use.  I took clay imprints of my handprints as I would be holding certain tools.  I then 3D scanned these to develop into handles for my tools.

I have also been developing various hammers in CAD and testing the cost of them to 3D print against the cost to buy from reputable jewellery suppliers.  The average cost of a jewellers hammer is around £15-£30 depending on the use.  There are some more expensive hammers around £60-£80 with changeable heads.

I kept developing and changing my hammer to make it affordable to print.  I managed to get the cost down to £24.02 to be printed in steel.  One advantage to 3D printing this was that I was able to customise the hammer head with my hallmark.  I will make a separate handle for this hammer to the mallet as it is much smaller.  I may either carve one in wood using my 3D printed chisel or CNC mill another handle with my handprint engrained.

 

3D Printed Chisel

Whilst writing my proposal a few months ago I decided I would try and 3D print some tools that I might need.  I wanted to test how durable and feasible it would be to direct laser sinter in steel.  This is my first piece made by sintered steel and the handle is a stick found in my allotment.  I put holes in the piece to take the cost down but made them hexagonal to hopefully keep some strength in the piece.  It cost about 20 euros to print and the end result is very sharp after I filed and polished the tip.