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I Forge Iron

Mystery Hammer


Leland Stone

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Hello Anvil Clangers!

A good friend in Kentucky sent me a hammer for my birthday and neither of us have any idea who made it or its purpose. We're both former farriers and guess the hammer to be a form of rounding hammer (the raised portion on one cheek looks like it COULD be intended for starting clips on shoes), and the cross peen, well, just looks awkward.

There are no maker's marks, and the handle is attached with a 'safety' wedge (which, if original to the hammer, makes it a fairly late vintage tool). The tool was originally painted, and I've wirebrushed most of the paint away. I'm uploading a pic, and if you can offer any info, thanks in advance. :)

 

 

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I had a bit of difficulty with the pics. Having once shod horses, I got an old English tool catalog once, and in it was your "clipping up" hammer with "side pane." I've heard it called a cat's head, but there was also an American cat's head which is quite different. My problem in looking at the catalog was figuring out how to draw a clip while working blind, so to speak. I thought it would be difficult to see where the side pane (peen) was hitting.

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  • 8 months later...

its a whitehead rounding hammer commonly called a catshead  first hammer I used as an apprentice good hammers once you'd worked on the faces as they were usually the same profile near enough and often to hard you clipped up with either of the piens some even drew the clip with the broad one 

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