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Looks like left to right back row: cheese fuller, 2 stone mason type hammers, chipping hammer, and a flatter. The two in the foreground look like (l to r) a dishing hammer and a cats head hammer.

You might want to auction the cat's head, I'd like a shot at it myself, if it's for sale.;) They are hard to find in good shape.

aaron c.

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OK I'll bite,

what is a Cat's head hammer?
(other than the obvious example above)
what are its faces like, weight, balance, typical handle length and usetechnique?


The cats head hammer, I have been told, by Frank Turley if I remember right, is a farrier's Turning hammer. It is a compact wide hammer with with a tight center of gravity, much like Master Hofi's hammer. The one I used was about 1 1/2 maybe 2 lbs on a short handle, it gave me good control on the small work I did for demo's and I could swing it all day. They are not real common, though the one in the picture above seems to a little rough on the hammer face.
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left to right clockwise, Boiler makers planishing or bob tool, cheese fuller, straight pein hand hammer, mile stone hammmer, looks like a vaughn chipping hammer, beautiful old flatter , center bottom coal hammer, does it have advertising on one side, flea mkts here they abound for $2 on up depending on advertising, is it cast iron.

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Irnrgn,
Mark sent me some additional photos of the Cats head hammer in an e-mail it is a Heller brothers hammer and appears to be steel, it has a few chips around the edges and not as beat up as I first thought

Mark
would you mind posting the additional links here?

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That Heller would bring pretty good bucks on eBay, even in that condition. I have seen several go on there for over $100 a pop. Many people collect the old Heller farrier tools, and they go crazy for cat's heads, rounding, and clipping hammers by that company. I had a pretty good set of old Heller farrier tools, but never did get any of those type hammers. Sold the lot for some decent cash, they were just in my way.

Kept the Heller fire tongs, though. Might have some use for them.

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I would say that the hammer that has been described as a flatter is probably a panel beater's or boiler maker's or some other sheet workers hammer. It almost certainly isn't a flatter. The hammer described as being a cat's head hammer is possibly a knapping hammer, for some sort of masonry work. It seems too small for a farrier's hammer, and a cat's head hammer really should have the appearance of a rounding hammer with clipping point on one side and cross peen on the other (giving the appearance of a cat's head, sort of). Whitehouse still make them, but in general they are rare because the addition of the clipping point and cross pein turned out to be a bit of a waste of time, i.e. ineffective.

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It's a Cat's Head. Have seen many of them over the past few years on eBay. They call it that because of the bulbous shape of it, I have been led to believe. A clipping hammer is as described, face on one side, cross pien on the other. Kind of squat looking, also.

If you don't want the "Cat's Head", I'll take it, no matter what anyone wants to call it. Trade you a nice Atha 1 and 1/2 inch hot cutter for it!

If I would have had a Heller Cat's Head in my collection of Heller Farrier Tools, I would have kept the collection. Just got tired of trying to find one.

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It's a Cat's Head. Have seen many of them over the past few years on eBay.


I'm not sure if I would necessarily recommend ebay as arbiter of what constitutes a cat's head hammer. I would accept that it might be a type of cat's head hammer, but it's not what I've always known as a cat's head.

A clipping hammer is as described, face on one side, cross pien on the other. Kind of squat looking, also.


My description was perhaps inadequate; I meant that a cat's head hammer has basically four faces, the two main ones being as per a rounding hammer, but with a clipping point and cross peen on the sides.
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Seems to me that a hammer with four faces would be called a quad pein, or something of that nature.

Never said that I accept eBay as an arbiter of ANYTHING. All I AM saying is that for the last FOUR years or so, I have regularly (AS IN At least once daily) did extensive searches on eBay for many farrier and blacksmith related tools by Heller, Atha, Champion, Diamond, Iron City, etc. using many different search functions and phrases. I have looked at hundreds, if not thousands of auctions in that time period.

I research ebay, as it IS a marketplace, on a SOMEWHAT global scale. Nice to know what items are bringing on the open market. I am in many places in my travels, and may run across something I can resell for a small profit or use in my shop (READ THAT AS ADD TO MY COLLECTION). Not to mention I have dabbled in the antiques market since I was a teenage, pimple faced kid. My mother was a good teacher.

The eBay marketplace and the internet has also been a good learning tool for me personally, and will remain to be one of my favorite places to go for reference on tools, antiques, etc.

OK, I won't post anymore on this thread, as it is apparent no one really cares about my opinion, anyway. I'm just another "NOOB" anyway.

Peace be with you.

-aaron c.

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