Little Hammer I made

The Hammer Handle

Todd Hughes

>Here's the hammers handle, made it out of some scrap curly maple. Shaped it with a draw knife and spoke shaves then used some rasps and files. Finished it with a burnisher made out of an old sheep bone. Stained it with a stain I made out of acid and some old rust dust and gave it a coat of wax for a finish..Was going to do some carving on it but figured I waisted enough time on the hammer already , [took me about 1 1/2 or so hours to make the head and handle]..Todd

I like it

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native in FL. Exile :~(

>Kind of an unusual handle design, but hey, it's still pretty cool!

Probably the only thing different I'd of done is to make a it a mini claw hammer so as to be able to pull small nails and such, but than again, I don't know the particular function of this design head.

Some day I'll get my forge up, coarse, by the time I do I won't be able to lift the hammers.

Yours will lighten up once you get to using them more often.

Todd O.

Nice work Todd!

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA

>Can you explain the handle? Heck, can you explain the head? Both look like it was made of a specific purpose. Care to elaborate?

Nice looking hammer!

Re: Hammer

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>Nice hammer Todd. Will it be coming up for auction? I sure don't know much about hammers but it looks like a rock hammer to me. The stain looks good, I might have to try that sometime. I suppose vinegar and rust would probably work, wouldn't it? Seems like someone who could do that kind of work in an hour and a half could make a pretty good living as a blacksmith, but it sure sounds like work to me ;)

Re: The Hammer Handle

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Very nice, Todd. I've been hoping that creative urge would overtake you again.

Pam

how is handle hole made?

bill tindall

>nice hammer.

Thats cool!

John in NM

>I love the shape of the head! How long did the forging take?

Very nice work.

John

Re: Little Hammer I made

Frank D. in Montreal

>It looks quite cool. Is that a Warrington (brad) hammer? The handle does look a bit odd but how it feels is what counts. Thanks for showing.

Re: Little Hammer I made

GolfSteve in Calgary

>Pretty cool, Todd. I like making stupid things also.

Re: Little Hammer I made

Thom D

>what is the source of the bolts, in other words if I was looking for wraught iron what kind of things are the bolts from?

Really nice job, what is it for?

Re: Little Hammer I made

Dave Thompson

>Very nice Todd, I like the chamfer details, and the segmentation ridges separating head tail and handle mount. I like the whole design...

Dead Horse Forge Lives!! Nice Todd.

Raymond in Trenton, NJ

>

Heres one I didn't make

Todd Hughes

>Here is an old hammer I picked up the other day [$2] which is simular to the one I made, though slightly larger.

I would guess this type of hammer would be called a cross pein jewelers or watch makers Hammer though other trades certainly used them as well. I see a good many that were hand made by Machinist like the one here most likely was. The cross pein end would be used to pein and tap small pins etc.Could be used to drive small tacks and brads to I guess.

...I made the handle on mine like I did because I wanted a thin whippy handle but needed to have it swell out so that you could hold it OK. Made like this your thumb sets right on the hump and makes for more accurate hitting I think. You often see these small chasing hammer handles done along these lines

...The eye is punched out hot using a small chisel I made out of a star drill. You punch it from both sides and meet in the center then use an steel eye drift "pin" to shap the eye. I made the one I used out of another star drill by the way. The bigger one I used for my axes I made out of an old buggy spring. Wrought iron can be a pain to punch esp. if it is of low quality and not punched with it hot enough as it can split out on you.This stuff wasn't to bad but I have seen some such as is used on fences that you could never make somthing like this out of.I used to [still do I guess!] always keep my eye open for good scrap wrought iron. After a while you sort of devolop a 6th sence for it.Is lighter then steel and often has a grain to it. If you spark it on a grinder the sparks are reddish and lack sparklers.Most times if you see something that is hand forged and doesn't have a cutting edge like a old bolt, wagon part, hinge, etc. can bet it is made out of wrought iron. With experance you can tell the difference soon as you hit it while forging as it is a good deal softer then steel.

Didn't make this hammer to sell, and am kind of surprised that anybody would want to buy it [but did have more then a couple people interested in it!], I don't think I will ever use it but will just try to put it someplace where I don't loose it. Guess I will have to make a little axe next.....Todd

Hey Todd

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native in FL. Exile :~(

>If you're gonna bang out another ax how's about beating out a mini double edged one for me to be the companion for the mini belt ax that you made for me several years ago? Man, I love that little ax. Never use it tho, just admire it.

Just a thought..........

T.O.