Tucking tool & hammer

[SS100]

I have been shaping metal for about 3 years. So far I have only worked in aluminum and would try something in steel. What I would like to know is what type of hammer you guys use to hammer the tucks when shrinking. What type of material is the hammer made of.

[SS100]

Thanks Dutch, I've been using a uhmw hammer on aluminum but I didn't know if it would work on steel. I'll give It a try soon.

[Dutch Comstock]

Jack, There are a lot of variations of what you can use for crushing tucks and making the metal shrink. They aer all variations of a cross pein hammer. You can use a steel hammer but if it hits wrong it will create stretch and mess up what you are doing. Another good method is to use a hard wood hammer head with flat edges or one shaped to a cross pein. The method a bunch of us have been using lately is a homemade hammer with plastic inserts of UHMW {ultra high molecular weight} cut into cross peins. Tom Lipton, a member of this site makes an example of this hammer that he sells that works well}.
The procedure is always the same starting at the small end of the tuck and closing the sides of the tuck alternately and this will cause the tuck area to flow into itself making this area thicker thus creating a shrink in this area. Sometimes you close the open end of the tuck first to help keep the tuck from going flat and losing the shrink.
It will take awhile to master by yourself but once it starts working you will be amazed at how simple it is. DUtch