Drako11 Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 HELP HEEEELP!! Almost all of the heads on my ball pien hammers have fallen off....more then once. It's actually gotten kinda dangerous never know when a head will go flying. Does anyone know how to keep these on? Most of them have that little metal wedge in the handle and they still won't stay on. Someone mentioned to me about putting a screw or two in the top to widen it or something like that, does that work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNewman Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Do not put a screw in the end !!!!!!!!!!!!! You need take the steel wedge out and make sure the handle fits snug so there is not a lot of slop. You may have to trim the handle so the head goes on further to acheive this. If there is not already a slot cut in the end of the handle saw cut one aligned with the hammer head. Drive a WOODEN wedge into the slot. Now drive in one or two steel wedges perpendicular to the wooden wedge. Trim the wedges and handle flush. Do not get the handles soaking wet this swells the wood crushes the fibers in the wood then when they dry they will be loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayco Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Drako11, funny you should mentions loose handles........I had exactly the same problem about a year ago. I asked almost the same question you asked, and got a lot of good answers and information. Here's a link to our discussion:http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f11/loose-handles-7549/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Hofi uses Sika glue to glue the hammer heads to the handle. You can purchase Sika through IForgeIron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNewman Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 (edited) I am not a big fan of trusting glue to hold a hammer head on. I have a Hofi type hammer made by Tom Clark. About a year ago the glue over the end of the handle fell out and the handle came a little loose. I think there was a steel wedge in there under the glue if not I made one, I tapped it in a little further and have not had any problem since. The problem with only using glue is that if it fails proper wedging fails slowly, when glue joints fail they tend to happen all at once. Edited August 2, 2009 by mod07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 in my humble opinion......the best way to fit hammer handles is to shape the end so it fits very tightly into the hammer eye.....then put in a wood wedge inline with the length of the hammer head and then put in a steel wedge 45 degrees offset from the wood wedge....you can buy steel wedges a lot cheaper and easier than making them yourself, but whatever works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Couple of things, make sure your handles are very dry when you set them. make sure the handle is very tight in the eye before the wedge gets drive in, also if you have to shave the handle down, make sure it is even, not tapered. ( the end where the wedge starts is not smaller than the base where the hammer sits)Tapered end in the eye and not even the best wedging will hold it. It will slide off, and go flying! I found these out the hard way, I might try the Sika glue the next time I have to re handle, but I hope that years away!! good luck, Cliff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Jr Strasil suggests leaving 3/16 to 1/4 inches of the end of the handle stick through the hammer head and NOT cutting it flush with the metal. This then flairs a bit and also holds the head to the handle. Why not use the best of all, that is a properly fitted handle, wood wedge, steel wedge, and glue everything together. Be sure not to cut the wood flush with the hammer handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 I do a LOT of things to make my hammers work well. I start with discarding the old handles. Then I reforge, redrift/taper and reharden the hammer heads. Next I temper the heads to blue. Now I start from scratch and make a new handle from ash or hickory. I fit the handle to the head very carefully and install two to three hardwood wedges (glued and driven tight). Now I let the glue dry and then hammer in two metal wedges (I usually just cold forge them of mild steel... takes maybe 3 minutes). After all of this I use a ball peen to drive the metal wedges in to the level of the hammer head surface and mushroom the end of the handle over the wedges and the edges of the hammer eye. Done this way I have been able to use my hammers for as heavy a pounding as my arms can deliver month after month with no loosening whatever, in most cases (where there has been loosening I did one or more of these steps incorrectly). It does sound like lots of work... but my hammers are superior as a result (as well as having securely attached handles). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Ameling Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 (edited) Yes, the eye on most hammer heads tapers in from BOTH sides. So when you tap in the wedge on top, it flares out the handle a bit to hold tight in the eye. NEVER soak a hammer in water to ... tighten up the handle! The water soaks into the wood and expands the fibers - which does tighten it up in the eye. But it also CRUSHES more wood cells/fibers when doing that. So when it dries back out it will be looser that before! And each time you "soak" that handle and let it dry back out increases the cycle. Tom Clark down in Missouri would fit his hammer handles properly, then mix up JB Weld and slather that all over the handle/eye when he put the handle in. And then he wedged them and let them set up. It worked for him. But he also would saw the wood wedge slot in the handle much farther down the handle - an inch or two past the eye area. He said it helped cut down on the vibration transmitted through the handle to your hand. He also recommended slightly squaring up the handle where your grip it instead of leaving it as a rounded oval. Just flatten the sides a bit while leaving the corners rounded. This helps you grip the handle better, and keeps it orientated right in your hand. And be sure to remove that "varnish" coating. That slick coating hurts your gripping of the handle. Mikey - who needs to re-handle a couple hammers that I have been putting off for too long Edited August 2, 2009 by Mike Ameling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drako11 Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 Thanks for all the tips guys! I know why my handles are loose now lol. Left them out one day when I was in a hurry and it didn't look like it was going to rain, well surprise surprise it did so thats why they're loose from whay you guys have stated. I thought maybe they were just old or I had been hitting to hard. Anyways I got some wedges and I'll be fixing them all today. : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meinhoutexas Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 wow i have been puting my hammers in the quench tank as they get loose. well looks like ill be puting new handles in soon. Any one ever soak there heads in diesel? workd for a trucking outfit that soaked sledge ahmmers in a barrel of the stuff never got loose that i remeber. and no not the whole thing just like two inches past the head Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Diesel, antifreeze, linseed oil; all things to replace and keep water from being absorbed and lost from handles. Note that antifreeze is deadly to animals and so having a tray around to soak hammerheads in can result in family tragedies. Out here in the desert I use linseed oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rentaratchet Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Several years ago, I read about a smith who always put his hammers in quench oil when he wasn't using them. Claimed he never had to replace handles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt87 Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Out here in the desert I use linseed oil. As do I out here in the wilds of... my back yard in an urban wet temperate zone... Linseed oil also of course gives the handles a great finish as well as keeping things snug. Looks amazing on ash or hickory; starts off a soft golden colour and gradually darkens over the years. Thin it with a little turpentine and it gives a pretty good coating for ironwork. You can also make paint with it, make oilcloth... a very useful sunstance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjh66 Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I think one of the best way to keep a head on a handle is to fit it right to start with. I have had 1 of my hammers stay to gether for quite a while with out any wedges in it (hadnt got round to it got interupted when fitting it & forgot about it) I see people trying to drive the handle into the head aganist somthing. The best way I have found is tap it lightly in like that then hold the end of the handle with head hanging down in the air hammer the end of the handle which will pull the head up thight on the handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithgartner Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I have arthuritis and I was putting an eyebrow in metal (or wood), on the left side of hammer blow. It was tiring and painful, to change my wrist angle, so I started shaving my handles to move the hammer axis about 3 or 4 degrees to the right, by taking off material, at 8 and 2 o'clock, hammer head down looking at bottom of handle. I now hit squarely with my natural swing. I have also done this with coushined grip hammers. I have used, drawknives, planes, belt sander, angle grinde w/flap wheel, to shave handle, they all work for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 You sir are the proud culmination of over 1 million years of tool using primates! Modify the tools for your considerations rather than vice versa! One of the problems I have with new students is teaching them that the store bought tools are not the *best* design; rather the *cheapest* design the manufacturer thought they could get away with and it's quite right and prioper to modify them to suit yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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