Hammer Maintance

[Forging Carver]

Hi,

I have been reading around on site and realized that most of you guys oil your hammers and then wipe the excess oil. I oiled my hammer about a week ago with vegetable oil, the head and handle, but never wiped any of the excess off. Is this going to be an issue? The handle absorbed all the oil. My hammer has a chared handle, so now I am guessing that it went from completely dry to pretty moist. Can someone tell me if I got a problem on my hands? Thanks

[NickOHH]

46 minutes ago, Forging Carver said:

Hi,

I have been reading around on site and realized that most of you guys oil your hammers and then wipe the excess oil. I oiled my hammer about a week ago with vegetable oil, the head and handle, but never wiped any of the excess off. Is this going to be an issue? The handle absorbed all the oil. My hammer has a chared handle, so now I am guessing that it went from completely dry to pretty moist. Can someone tell me if I got a problem on my hands? Thanks

I don't like veggie oils in the wood they go rancid after awhile and don't cure. I stick with boiled linseed oil, it has accelerators in it so it hardens once it absorbs but on metal if there is excess it can leave a gummy coatings if it's thick.  A little 3 in 1 machine oil is good too.

[Forging Carver]

Alright maybe I will go with linseed oil than. Thanks 

[Charlotte]

Linseed oil for short term Idle on metal like shovel blades.   LPS 3 ( a heavy nasty thick coating) for long term.  3 in 1 rag handy in reach to wipe any bright metal at the end of day.  (saw blades, punches etc).  Boiled linseed on wood any time.   veg cooking oil is not really good on wood.  Food items often get mineral oil from the drug store.   Normal handles for daily use hammers get nothing as skin oil and handling takes care of it.

 

[Forging Carver]

19 minutes ago, Charlotte said:

Linseed oil for short term Idle on metal like shovel blades.   LPS 3 ( a heavy nasty thick coating) for long term.  3 in 1 rag handy in reach to wipe any bright metal at the end of day.  (saw blades, punches etc).  Boiled linseed on wood any time.   veg cooking oil is not really good on wood.  Food items often get mineral oil from the drug store.   Normal handles for daily use hammers get nothing as skin oil and handling takes care of it.

 

Alright so I will go find the linseed oil in my basement. Do you think at my one application of vege oil will affect my handle at all? Also, do you use the linseed oil on the head too? Thank you very much.

[Bud in PA]

I would add some turps to the linseed oil. Helps it to dry a little quicker.

[rthibeau]

leave the metal alone......properly made/handled.......you should never need to worry about doing anything to the handle (except breaking it)/....

[Ethan the blacksmith]

Alec coats his handles in either canola oil or olive oil. Personally,I don't think it maters what kind of oil. Another advantage to charring a handle, it the water evaporates out, then you can replace the water with oil. That way your handles won't dry out, and the heads won't come lose. That's nice here in Alberta because in winter we have NO humidity, and my handles don't dry out because the swelling of the handle is upheld by oil not water. So if your handle soked in all the oil, in my experience, that's a good thing!

[Forging Carver]

10 hours ago, Ethan the blacksmith said:

Alec coats his handles in either canola oil or olive oil. Personally,I don't think it maters what kind of oil. Another advantage to charring a handle, it the water evaporates out, then you can replace the water with oil. That way your handles won't dry out, and the heads won't come lose. That's nice here in Alberta because in winter we have NO humidity, and my handles don't dry out because the swelling of the handle is upheld by oil not water. So if your handle soked in all the oil, in my experience, that's a good thing!

Yeah I asked Alec what I should do as far as maintance for my hammer and he said that you need to oil the entire thing with oil often. I was just curious becuase someone said that vege goes rancid and globby if you have excess, which actually I just looked at my hammer and you were completely right about the globby part and most likely about the rancid part. Thanks for the help.

[Glenn]

59 minutes ago, Forging Carver said:

Someone said that vege goes rancid.

 

 In the first answer to your post, it was NickOHH that said the veggie oil can go rancid.  7 posts back.

16 hours ago, NickOHH said:

I don't like veggie oils in the wood they go rancid after awhile and don't cure.

 

[notownkid]

15 hours ago, Charlotte said:

Linseed oil for short term Idle on metal like shovel blades

I hope my shovels don't read this I'll be getting a visit from the SPCS, Society to Prevent Cruelty to Shovels.  Never have oiled a shovel, sharpened yes.  Huh!  

[Glenn]

Much like the face of the anvil, WHEN USED a shovel should not show any signs of rust. (grin)

[ironwolfforgeca]

noto  if you have to sharpen youre shovels

In MY book that means you need to hire someone eles to use IT !! LOL

as for handles on them I have replaced all wood one's I brake all the time with EMT elec conduit a good coat of red oxide primer & there Done leave out in the rain all year

hammer handles lin seed oil & turp 3 to 1 if I remember right -- paint heads flat black with clear coat No rust looks good to

easy to redo when needed ! same trick for all the anvils to

[NickOHH]

1 hour ago, Glenn said:

Much like the face of the anvil, WHEN USED a shovel should not show any signs of rust. (grin)

I was gonna say if they start rusting you just need to use em more

[Charlotte]

I'm a little more rust preventative but then I live in an area where humidity below 60% is news!   Have days during the spring and fall where the dew point is higher that surface of any metal not in direct sunlight.   Had days at work where the floor of an elevated warehouse would say damp from 7 am to 5 pm. I've compared going out side on a summer morning to being greeted by the breath of a very large and over friendly dog. 

[John McPherson]

Plain old mineral oil, available from any drug store or Walmart, has kept some of my tools in good shape for 40+ years in an unheated shed. Never goes rancid, does not get moldy, repels insects. Easy to do a wipe down once a year with a rag on any wood or metal surface.

[SLAG]

Linseed oil is technically a vegetable oil. It is derived from the flaxseed plant. The same plant whose fiber is used in very sturdy cloth, & also paper. The resin & leaves, from certain varieties yields cannabis. (a.k.a. GASP!, marijuana). Flaxseed oil is the main binder in artists' oil paints. It will eventually dry (and oxidize ) to form a hard durable surface. The oil can dry more quickly if drying agents are added to the oil. (a.k.a. siccatives, like cobalt salts etc.) The boiled linseed oil, at the hardware store. usually has such drying agents in it. Never use such oils on food utensils, such as wooden spatulas, butcher blocks etc.) Mineral oil is not a vegetable oil. It is made from petroleum products. Therefor it will not become rancid. But it never really dries, so wipe it off if you feel that the surface feels oily. Use a rag for that.. Living in a very humid or coastal area enhances rust in steel (or iron tools).  A real problem. Varnishing the steel gives some protection for tools that are seldom used. Yes the varnished surface will wear or burn off. But  such tools  can easily be re-varnished. Tools in constant use are less likely to rust. SLAG.

[Charles R. Stevens]

I was unaware that flax and hemp were so closely related...

linseed oil becomes rubbery as it oxidizes (the process that causes oils to become rancid) this is the trait that makes it useful as a paint base, wood protectant and water proffer of linen canvass (use soy bean oil on cotton). 

I use a mixture of bee's wax, linseed oil and turpentine. Applied warm

[ThomasPowers]

          they aren't closely related at all: Linum usitatissimum is not related to Cannabis sativa any more that either are related to Urtica dioica or Boehmeria nivea other fiber producing plants.  Though hemp does produce a drying oil like linseed oil.

[SLAG]

Thomas you are correct and I was wrong. (a senior moment?) Flax yields linen fiber linseed oil. Hemp is another plant, as you pointed out, Sorry folks,  and especially Mr. Stevens. Hemp does yield a very strong fiber that was extensively used in the 1700' and 1800's. and was outlawed in the 1930's in the U.S.A. and most other developed countries. All that because some strains of the plant produce T.H.C. (tetrahydrocannabinol) the active ingredient of marijuana .Cheeers.   SLAG.

[matto]

Nebraska during ww1 had more hemp fields than corn fields.  They are also re-looking a the benefits of hemp. 

[JHCC]

Well, if we're experimenting with oils from rope-making materials, has anyone tried "...grease that's sweaten/From the murderer's gibbet throw"?

[Charles R. Stevens]

Slag, no apologies nessisary, my sarcasm was less helpful than Tommas's answer.

 

Indian hemp, or dogbane was used extensively by the American colonists as it was illigal to grow hemp 

[SmoothBore]

I was not aware that it was "illegal" to grow hemp in the United States, until quite recently.

Here in southern Pennsylvania, place names like Hempfield and Hempstead are very common.

Leading me to believe that these were common crops in Colonial times.

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But getting back to the original thread, ... I never put anything on wooden hammer handles, that will cause them to swell.

The old trick, of sticking an axe in a bucket of water overnight, to tighten up a loose head, is a patently bad idea.

( Note to self: just because grandpa did it that way, doesn't always make it right. )

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I notice certain "enthusiasts" on this board, and others, that take a good deal of pleasure in "obsessing" about their hammers.

To me, it's just a hammer.

Don't get me wrong, I like a high quality tool, and recognize that "good" hammers make your work go better.

I can get more carpentry type work done, faster and better, with my "Estwing" framing hammer, than with any other,

And I have several "favorites" that I use for Blacksmithing.

But still, they are means to an end, rather than the focus of my work.

 

I haven't made a study of the subject, ... but would guess that blacksmiths who routinely use power hammers, ... are less likely to be preoccupied with their hammer handles.

I don't think this makes them any more, or less, "discerning" than anyone else.

But I do think it demonstrates more of an interest in the "work", than in the "process".

Some might say they are "results oriented".

 

To me, it's all good.

.

[ThomasPowers]

George Washington grew hemp IIRC, industrial hemp doesn't do much in the way of THC; problem being there is no way to tell industrial from illegal without lab testing.  Still grows wild in some place in the USA from where it used to be raised.

Two non water based hammer methods: First re-set the handle snug. Next soak the head in either linseed oil or antifreeze (I use linseed oil as antifreeze is an attractive poison to pets and wildlife and kids!):  I use a small shallow baking tin  with about 3/8" of fluid in it and line up as many hammers as I can stand up in it.  I let soak for a week---generally I can see the oil wicking over the steel at that point. Take the proverbial grungy shop rag and wipe down the steel with the adherent linseed oil (helps prevent rust) and then wipe the handle down as well with the rag and throw it on the hammer rack to dry.  If done right the wood in the eye will no longer lose or gain water as the grain is now full of linseed oil and so stays snug. I burn my old rags in the forge as linseed oil soaked rags can self ignite!!!! (You Have Been Warned!)

When I moved from damp Ohio to dry New Mexico I had to reset 100 handled tools.   Now I'm just down to doing new finds and re-handles.