blazerbud Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 I read an article in Hot Iron News Winter 2000. Nahum Hersom made hammer handles from old pallets. I have access to some of those. I have had trouble with hand cramp pain, he mentioned using an octagonal faceted handle. I think he is right, the flatter sides put less psi on my hand than an oval or rounded handle, and the octagonal facets feel good, and keep the blood flowing, and allow easy indexing and alignment. I combined this with the Hofi technique of a conical shape or tapered handle so that a loose grip will keep the hammer secure due to the fatter wedge at the end of the handle. I tried all this out on an old 32oz Ball Peen. I used white oak from a section of pallet, and shaped it using a sand paper wheel on an angle grinder. I purposely left it a little irregular, the uneveness feels really good, like walking on a loose brick floor, no fatigue. I used linseed oil to install the handle and grinded my own steel wedge and ground barbs on the face of it, then rammed it home and cut it off and ground it nearly flush. I coated it in linseed oil. It is shown on my Wife's dining room table. She doesn't know I took photos in there. I am going to make some more this was my first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazerbud Posted March 25, 2009 Author Share Posted March 25, 2009 You can see the Red Sox and Yankees in the Background Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
781 Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 thanks for including all the pictures I have been converting all my pallet wood into charcoal for the forge. Have several pails of nails I sort out with a magnet. Might weld some onto sheet iron to make some bowls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Looks pretty good. I bought a hickory plank and make my handles from it. Mine are rectangular in cross section and wedge shaped longitudinally. Feels good in my hand. Cause I made it that way. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazerbud Posted March 25, 2009 Author Share Posted March 25, 2009 I like hickory too. Once I get a little better at it and have some real hammer time using handles of my own creation, I'll convert some of my better hammers to custom handles and I'd like to find some hickory that is suitable for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 I bought mine at a specialty wood seller locally. I told him what I wanted on the phone and he laid some nice straight grained boards aside for me to choose from. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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