October 11, 201213 yr Over the weekend, my dad and I made a couple of small hammers. I made the smaller hammer on Saturday as practice, and the larger one was made Sunday. One face of the larger hammer was rounded in a small swage block that we have. The whole exercise was very good learning experience. I would highly recommend anyone who has thought about doing it. There are a few more pictures here; http://s1078.beta.photobucket.com/user/jaimechimie/library/ , if anyone is interested.
October 11, 201213 yr Author Thank you. This was the first time either of us had struck tools with a sledge hammer or done a project like this. Punching the hole took a few heats, but seemed to turn out ok. If we do another, I'm sure that we will do a better job.
October 11, 201213 yr Author The handle on the larger hammer does. The smaller handle was quickly roughed out of a piece of poplar with a hatchet, a rasp, and some 40 grit. It will be replaced. I made the larger handle out of a piece of cherry firewood that my parents had at their house. I will probably do another cherry handle for the small hammer, since I still have some laying around. A gentleman at the last monthly group meeting that, I attended, let me try his hammer with a similar handle. I sized this one to my hand. I admit, it is a much rougher version than his handle.
October 11, 201213 yr I like my handles to have a butt swell so I can grasp them more loosely yet not have them slide out of my hand. Cherry is generally too brittle for a good hammer handle, do you have any ash, pecan, hickory,... in the firewood pile?
October 11, 201213 yr Author Thank you for the suggestions. It was all oak(red and white), cherry, and poplar. I'll look keep an eye out for the woods you've suggested. Cherry was listed in another thread as a handle material, but making a handle is easy enough.
October 12, 201213 yr White oak will indeed make a servicable handle. I have one hammer that I handled with a piece of white oak from the firewood pile that is still going strong after 25 years.
October 12, 201213 yr How about *tomorrow*, a chunk of car axle, a punch or slitter and a drift and you are good to go!
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