Alan McDaniel

I’ve got a truck load of tools. I’m wearing out my own hammers. That one is to show my sons and grandsons and perhaps give them insight into the level of HARD WORK that their predecessors endured just to make a living. To make a hammer look like that one I suppose takes getting up early and going to bed late and swinging that sucker every hour in between... Alan Regarding gravity… I have found that it is extra strong directly under my Lazy Boy…. Sometimes I have to pry myself out of it... Alan

I leaned about chips of hammer steel when I was ten. I had my dad’s claw hammer an was chipping at some concrete. He walked by and told me that I was going to chip the hammer and walked off (which was uncharacteristic since I didn’t have a new knot on the back of my head)… I kept chipping away and then felt something sting the knuckle of the ring finger on my right hand. I looked at it and there was indeed some of the red stuff coming out. I put the hammer back in the tool box and tried my best not to leave a blood trail (that sort of thing was all to common for my mom and dad not to notice)… 50+ years went by and I broke a bone in my hand and had to get an e-ray… Dr. asked what the spot on the x-ray was and my memory started coming back. It was a chip. At first I thought it might be a piece of rock but I tried one of those little magnets and it stuck. I have that hammer too (I don’t use it) and the missing chip can be seen on the bottom edge. Alan

I’m going to leave it as is. It represents a lot of very hard work and will serve as a reminder of just how easy we have things these days. It didn’t get worn like that because it was someone’s hobby tool. It was worn out by necessity in making tools and other items needed for everyday life. When I hold these old tools in my hand I think about all the people who held it in theirs. Hopefully my sons will feel the same about all the things that are passed on to them. My grandmother told me once, “You don’t know where you’re going until you know where you came from”. Alan

My FIL died in 2020. He grew up in very rural North Louisiana and was likely skilled in a multitude of manly arts. This hammer was in his attic. It appears to have forged some iron in its day. Alan

I'm not a Blacksmith and never will be, but I've taken an interest in learning how to forge knives and some of my woodworking tools. I can't find a bowl adze down here so I suppose I'll have to learn how to make one. I'll likely mostly read here but I do have some questions from time to time. I hope you guys will indulge and old guy. Alan