overgripping the hammer - any solutions?

[jcornell]

My #1 bad habit it seems is gripping the hammer handle too hard (one of my teachers said I was choking it).  I can forge for a few hours, but the next day my arm hurts.

 

Is there any good trick to breaking this habit?

[Rich Hale]

It will resolve itself as soon as an injury occurs that prevents you from doing it or when you make a commitment to improving your work. I know that sounds harsh but you know the problem and have not made a change.

I wonder about other items,,like too large a handle or too heavy a hammer,,and that leaves out important things like body mechanics and postition at the anvil and how high that is.

Of course you could seek help from someone at a group meeting to observe you at work or attend lessons, clinics etc also.

[Bigred1o1]

wow rich that was less than helpful

i catch myself doing this when i am using a lathe and as i do not enjoy the side effects i loosen up as soon as i realize i am doing it but as he asked if there is a good trick to breaking this habit your response is about as much help as a poke in the eye

i know as i work i make a effort to relax my grip on the upswing on my hammer ( hope this helps you)

this bad habit of over gripping tools runs in my family(brother father and myself) and i am interested to see if anyone has any other tips for helping to break this habit

[Wayne]

Try swinging the hammer but have your little finger sticking out - a bit like how posh people drink tea.

I find I grip the shaft the shaft a lot easier this way as you do not get such a tight grip.

[EtownAndrew]

Choking up on the hammer also helps. If you are holding closer to the head your grip does not need to be so tight.

[Francis Trez Cole]

With new students that I teach the first thing I do is give them an hammer with a fiberglass handle if you make the mistake and grip it will help with arm pain. Slow your pace down and work on drawing out a bunch of stock. If you work with 3/4" stock and draw it down to 3/8" leaving 3" at one end and cutting it off at a length for tongs you will have a few tong blanks. slow down and pay attention for a while it will become second nature.

[ThomasPowers]

First modify the hammer handle to *FIT YOUR HAND*!  Too fat a handle promotes having to really grab it to use it.

 

Also use a handle with a terminal bulb---a thickening on the end so that you *know* that the handle can't slip out of your lose grip.

 

Applying a bit of beeswax and warming it before use can make a "tacky" grip that you don't feel the need to use a death grip on.

 

Note different things work for different people---most the smiths I know swear that fiberglass handles promote injuries compared to wooden ones but they are the Cat's Meow for Mr Cole

[dickb]

The idea of reducing the size of the handle works real good for me.

I find that a cross section of 7/8 inch by 1 1/4 inches in the area where you hold the handle is just right. I prefer a rectangular cross section best but rounding off the sharp corners makes it still more comfortable, and you won't need a gorilla's grip to hold it securely.


Might be a good idea to try this on cheap Harbor Freight hammer before carving up a more expensive hammer.

[Rich Hale]

Big red wot part of not helpful are you refering to? The part about this size of hammer and handle,,the part that he needs to commit to change or the part that I suggested he get some help?

[brianbrazealblacksmith]

I thought Rich Hale's response was the best advice. Learning how to forge will help more than anything.

[Larry H]

you didn't mention what size hammer you are using, and i'm not a fan of "choking up " holding near the head...if you have to do it, the hammer is to heavy, also try to " warm up" your arm with a light hammer on small things, make hooks or nails, it helps.

[Frank Turley]

You've gotta' be conscious and mindful. How about other things in your life, as in gripping the steering wheel tightly, tennis racket, baseball bat, disc sander? In tai chi, we say, "All joints unlocked." How so? One way is to stand at attention quite stiffly; then let go. You're still at attention, but in a more relaxed manner.

[son_of_bluegrass]

You'll ultimately have to find what works for you.  I see people recommending a smaller handle, I find I grip small handles harder than big handles.  You also may be trying to swing a bigger hammer than you should at this point.  You probably are trying to hit too hard and with the thought of really whaling on the steel you tend to grip hard and swing hard - that isn't a good way to hit hard.

 

Relax and work on swinging straight and true without gripping the hammer tight and the rest will follow.

 

ron

[EricJergensen]

Trying to teach or coach this is tricky, but here's a mental picture that worked for me: act like you're trying to bounce the hammer off of the work. For me, this picture instantly let me loosen up and take advantage of the hammer rebound. I went from sore every time I worked to being able to hammer for hours.

 

I think the root error I had was "follow thru", kinda like I would do in golf or baseball. Doing that on an anvil just fights the rebound. At the moment of impact, you shouldn't be pushing the hammer at all. This "follow thru" error is likely a side-effect of your issue as well, so maybe this picture will help you.

 

Eric

[Maillemaker]

you didn't mention what size hammer you are using, and i'm not a fan of "choking up " holding near the head...if you have to do it, the hammer is to heavy, also try to " warm up" your arm with a light hammer on small things, make hooks or nails, it helps.

 

I would say that it's his hammer, and that he can hold it wherever he pleases.  I mainly use a three pound cross pein, and depending on what I'm doing, my hand could be two inches from the head, or a hair's breadth from the end.  Whatever he's comfortable with.

[Larry H]

 maillemaker I'm almost at a loss  for words, I suppose with your vast experience, you have all the knowledge you need and it  would be no use to try tell you anything. Do whatever you please....its working for you. If you read his post, he's not comfortable with it

[Maillemaker]

I'm not claiming to have an inordinate amount of blacksmithing experience, and I will gladly take advice from more experienced members.

I was reminded of a section of Charles McRaven's The Blacksmith's Craft where an apprentice was holding a hammer about half way up the handle.  The older smith got angry that the younger "wasn't hammering right" and proceeded to cut off the part of the handle that wasn't being used.  If you have a copy, it's on page 60.

He said his issue was his deathgrip on the handle.  He said nothing about where he gripped the hammer, or what weight his hammer was.

Larry H, you are most definitely right about different hammer weights being used for different purposes.  I don't use my 8# sledge the same way I use my 24 oz ball peen, and hand placement makes a huge difference with the strength and accuracy of strokes.

 

We have all of the handle available to us, why should we not use it all, so long as we can do it safely?

[mike-hr]

I'm with Eric, after a while I developed a whip at the end of my swing, sort of a loose gripped, wrist activated, almost throwing the hammer down, than loosely catching it on the way back up, move. I just realized this is real hard to put into words...

[knots]

My #1 bad habit it seems is gripping the hammer handle too hard (one of my teachers said I was choking it). I can forge for a few hours, but the next day my arm hurts.

Is there any good trick to breaking this habit?

Think of it this way : If at the moment of impact between the hammer and anvil you have a firm grip on you hammer handle the result is that you are pushing the hammer into the anvil. In that case a portion of the reaction force is transferred into the anvil, the rest is transferred into your hand, wrist, and arm. This is a bad thing because: 1. The accumulation of that force transfer form many hammer strokes into your hand, wrist , and arm will cause tissue damage. 2. A tight grip at the moment of impact will restrict / dampen and reduce the benefit of hammer rebound.

Hammer rebound off of the anvil is an important part of managing a hammer strike cycle. If you use the rebound to quickly position the hammer above your hand on the up swing, you will reduce the stress on your wrist. Basically you can test this by lifting the hammer first with the hammer held so that it extends straight out, in alinement, with your arm. Then lifting, from/by the elbow, with the hammer positioned above your hand, @ 90Deg with your forearm. It should be easy to detect which position places more stress on your hand, wrist, and arm.

Finally, I believe that it is one of Hofi's principles/recommendations is to throw the hammed into the work piece. If you have ever played baseball you will know that you do not hold the ball with a "death grip" when throwing. So when hammering keep your grip just tight enough to control the strike and keep it from flying out of your hand.

[SmoothBore]

You've gotta' be conscious and mindful. How about other things in your life, as in gripping the steering wheel tightly, tennis racket, baseball bat, disc sander? In tai chi, we say, "All joints unlocked." How so? One way is to stand at attention quite stiffly; then let go. You're still at attention, but in a more relaxed manner.

 

 

I hear that, ... I often get a cramp in my hand while driving, and have to change the way I grip on the wheel .....

 

 

Many years ago, I spent a lot of time riding motorcycles, in "off road" events.

 

To minimize the pounding from racing over rough terrain, a light touch on the handlebars is desireable, ... but conversely, ... you also needed a firm grip on the throttle.

 

The best solution to this connundrum, was to use slightly oversize, hex shaped grips, rather than round ones.

 

When the hex shaped grips were oriented correctly on the handlebars, your finger joints match up with the "corners" of the hex, and you have excellent control, withing squeezing the grips at all.

 

They just FIT your hand better.

 

 

When gripping a hammer, some of the necessity for a tight grip, is to prevent the smooth, oval shaped handle, from rotating in your hand.

 

 

If you close your fingers to about the diameter of a hammer handle, and then look at the shape that's formed, ... it's not a rounded oval shape.

 

The natural shape your hand forms, is made up of straight lines, and angles, ... which more naturally accomodate a square, or rectangular shape.

 

A "square" handle need not be gripped as tightly to prevent rotation, ... and a square of equal cross section, will have abvout 30% more gripping surface, than a circular shape.

 

 

You can easily sand flats on the top and bottom of a common wood ( or plastic  :wacko:  ) hammer handle, ... thereby forming a more-or-less square, or rectangular shape, ... that will give you more control with less fatigue.

 

 

 

 

.

[Furnace1]

I have found two things that helped me some time ago with this type of problem. The first one as mentioned by several others here, is to make the handle fit your hand. If you have or know someone with a vertical or horizontal stationary belt sander, you can adjust your handle with very little effort. I prefer rounding mine on the top and bottom and flat on the sides with a slight tapering from the head back to the end. Finally making sure my fingers just touch my palm when closed around the handle. Lastly, the most important find to me was using pine tar that you can buy at sporting goods stores for baseball bats. The Adidas brand at Dick's worked the best for me.  You will be amazed at how much better you can hammer when the handle doesn't feel like it's slipping and needs to be gripped hard to control it. These two things have helped me work longer with less fatigue and all but eliminate the hand pain I was experiencing. 

[hildenmw]

I agree with Mr Turley. If you can find a experienced smith to coach you. What I imagine my body mechanics to be is not always the case. Look in to kettlebell work outs to help with muscle imbalance in the long run.
Marc

[John McPherson]

As has been noted in passing in this thread, there are two schools of thought on how to hold and use a hammer. I will refer to them as "A" and "B". (You know who you are.)

 

"A" proponents will swear that the "only right way" is with a light to moderate head weight on an oval cross section handle that is as long as the tip of your fingers to the inside of you elbow, gripped only at the end. The hammer is not tipped about it's axis, and is swung like an axe, with the weight at the end at a high terminal velocity. Common ball peen and machinist cross peen hammers come equipped this way.

 

"B" proponents are the exact opposite in that there is no one 'right' way. The handle is uniformly square or octagon, with little to no taper from end to end, so that it may be gripped at any point along its length. Head weights tend to be very high, and they can be tipped to produce the desired effect from the small section of face being used on the metal being forged. Speeds can be high or low, as needed to produce the desired results. This style hammer is known as variously as 'ergonomic', 'czech'  or other names.

[Larry H]

I just finished analyzing my hammering in my human face video and realized something about my self, all the techniques i've acquired from the other smiths i've had the honor of working with come into play.....I use two hammers, 2 1/2 # rounding, 1 1/2# straight peen, throughout the  video my hand placement varies, end of handle, middle of handle, 2" from the head, full wrap grip,

and thumb on top grip..... go figure. My point is this, after more than a few years at the craft your brain will store things that come out when you need them in your zen moments, you know, when you're in the "zone". Once you are less tense with the hammer in your hand, your grip will loosen, hold it often, flip it around, get used to it. try to tap something quickly, you can't do it if you death grip it, also loosen your wrist, otherwise you're just pounding. just my way...it works for me

[Colin Davies]

I'm fairly new to this and, like you, still have to consciously focus on hammer control from time to time. The things that I've found helpful are: standing close to the anvil; keeping my back straight; raising the hammer good and high; and adjusting my grip before I start swinging (to prevent blisters, mainly). Whenever I tighten up on the hammer, it tends to be because I'm compensating for doing one of the above things wrong.