Outstanding Quality in Polished Stainless Steel-You'll Love These Hammers!
Fretz Jewelers Hammers are the original hammers made by Fretz, and still by far the most popular hammer in the growing line of Fretz hammers. Fretz Precisionsmith hammers are smaller than these Jewelers hammers, and Fretz Silversmithing hammers are larger, so for many people,
Fretz Jewelers hammers are “just right”.
This is the Fretz planishing hammer HMR-1 with a handle length of 220mm and a hammer head length of 70mm The hardened stainless steel heads are polished to perfection, and the handles have a special finish that feels just right. The balance is perfect, and the polished stainless steel surface is exceptional.
Fretz hammers are remarkable for two primary features:
The Handles
Made from African Padauk, a type of Rosewood, the Fretz handle has a marvelous feel, smooth and perfectly balanced. Each weight of hammer has an appropriate sized handle, the heavier the head, the heavier the handle.
Handles are usually a dark brown color although some will have a lighter color as Fretz will occasionally source a lighter shaded recycled Asian Padauk. No matter what the shade is, you won’t find a better handle on any hammer made today.
The Heads
Fretz casts the hammer heads in 420 stainless steel and then hardens them to 50Rc. They are highly polished and available in a variety of shapes and profiles for every metalsmithing technique.
Here is what Bill Fretz has to say about
Planishing:
Planishing is smoothing metal against a stake by making the blows overlap. This is a stretching technique, which also forms the metal to the underlying stake. The planishing hammer is for smoothing metal. The round side is used if the metal has previous raising hammer marks and these need to be smoothed out. The flat side will refine the hammer marks from the rounded side of the planishing hammer to a nearly smooth finish. This hammer is also used to size rings, form bezels and general forming of metal against mandrels and stakes. This is the most used hammer and by far the most popular style to have.
| Aspect |
Specification |
| Brand |
Fretz |
| Face Shape |
Flat/Dome |
| Face Sizes |
20mm dia. |
| Overall Length |
220mm |
| Head Length |
70mm |
| Head Type |
Planishing |
| Head Weight |
3.1 oz. (88g) |
| Country of Origin |
Vietnam |
