New collection: a taxonomy of hammers

[Outlawmws]

How many times did you smash fingers/thumbs?

 

[Old Radar]

My neighbor picked up this little hammer recently. I'm thinking it's a jeweler's hammer, but could be swayed. The mark is a double stamping of a V over S or, more likely a single stamp of SWS. There is a B stamped on the other side. Does anyone recognize these marks?

 

[RTM]

The mark is a double stamping of a V over S or, more likely a single stamp of SWS.

SSW, SS White dental tools.

Catalog linked here prior. Gimme a minute to find it.

My post

Unknown plier markings

I found a few needles nose pliers today with a bunch of wire gauge high speed drills and a few other very small machinists items. Is anyone familiar with the markings inside the handle on these? To me it looks like a paw with claws and a monogram with a "W" and two "S's". They are US made...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Outlawmws]

The "B" I'm thinking owner's mark. Type I'm thinking more silver smith?

 

[Outlawmws]

Interesting RTM, definitely the early logo after looking at the catalog's history page. No hammers sold today, but I'm still thinking light metal work, so bridges and dentures perhaps?

 

[RTM]

Interesting RTM, definitely the early logo after looking at the catalog's history page. No hammers sold today, but I'm still thinking light metal work, so bridges and dentures perhaps?

Another vintage SSW catalog was a few posts down

Unknown plier markings

I found a few needles nose pliers today with a bunch of wire gauge high speed drills and a few other very small machinists items. Is anyone familiar with the markings inside the handle on these? To me it looks like a paw with claws and a monogram with a "W" and two "S's". They are US made...

www.garagejournal.com

Looks like it has hammers here

Catalogue of dental materials, furniture, instruments, etc. : S.S. White Dental Manufacturing Company (Philadelphia, Pa.) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

archive.org

Another at

Catalogue of dental materials, furniture, instruments, etc. : for sale by Samuel S. White, manufacturer, importer and wholesale dealer in all articles appertaining to dentistry / by Samuel S. White. : Samuel S. White. : Free Download, Borrow, and Str

archive.org

Same view of hammers

Catalogue of dental materials, furniture, instruments, etc. : for sale by Samuel S. White, manufacturer, importer and wholesale dealer in all articles appertaining to dentistry / by Samuel S. White. : Samuel S. White. : Free Download, Borrow, and Str

archive.org

Here it is, the B hammer, made for Riveting. From a 1911 catalog.

Instruments, appliances, etc. for crown-, bridge- and metal work : Hollingsworth system of crown- and bridge-work. Various methods of setting Logan crowns / S.S. White Dental Manufacturing Co : S.S. White Dental Manufacturing Company : Free Download,

Cover title

archive.org

 

[Old Radar]

Thanks @RTM! I'll let him know!

 

[Outlawmws]

So the "B" WAS a factory model no! Interesting.

The Horn mallet next to it in the 1911 catalog gives a clue to the small horn mallet I found some years back, and some other catalog pages showed some scraping burrs I have with "medical look" metal handles.

 

[RTM]

, but I'm still thinking light metal work, so bridges and dentures perhaps?

the B hammer, made for Riveting

Yikes riveting stuff to go in your mouth, some serious bridgework back then.

 

[Old Radar]

 

[four.cycle]

^ and Novocaine didn't exist until 1905.

 

[Old Radar]

^ But nitrous oxide came into use in the mid 1800s and is still in use today in "sedation dentistry".

But even in modern times, in remote regions without ready access to analgesics, they still use the old tried-and-true method of an ice skate and a rock...

 

[Outlawmws]

^ and Novocaine didn't exist until 1905.

^ But nitrous oxide came into use in the mid 1800s and is still in use today in "sedation dentistry".

Ether was in use for a long time (1846). and just getting them really drunk...

 

[four.cycle]

^ I've found that the smaall 90-degree needle-nose pliers are a much better choice than ice skates (or 10-inch slip-joints.)
YMMV

 

[Beerhippie]

^ I've found that the smaall 90-degree needle-nose pliers are a much better choice than ice skates (or 10-inch slip-joints.)
YMMV

My father used a weighty tome and a piece of string. Tie about five feet of string to the tome and the tooth, seat child in chair, toss tome over an open door.

I'm pretty sure they used an excavator when I had my wisdom teeth out.

 

[RTM]

I'm pretty sure they used an excavator when I had my wisdom teeth out

They used so much sedative for mine that I was out most of the day. Mom drove, was first in, and second to last out that day.

 

[Outlawmws]

I only had one wisdom tooth and it was half size and had somehow broken. I complained I could feel something kinda sharp back there. my dentist - who usually farmed extractions out - said "Yep broken wisdom tooth!" Look ed at the ex-rays and said "this ones easy - straight root, want it out now?" I said sure, and an hour later I was on my way home.

Had 3 taken out since, 2 in the last year or so, and the two lower molars, one on each side, get a bridge/denture right after the new year.

 

[genog]

My Wisdom teeth were impacted.
Darn Oral Surgeon had to take out part of my jaw to get them out

This was the late 1970's, I wonder if the same happens today

 

[snapmom]

Stampings on the heads of body hammers. Like 153G. Martin, Fairmount, Blue Point, Cornwell, and maybe others use these stampings on the head, so what does this mean, could be, type or maybe weight in Grams, . Also pictured are two Blue Point with 837 stamped on the heads, both different models, and the 837 is not a BP model number. All pictured are Blue Point.

 

[Outlawmws]

I think the 837 and 153G are model numbers of the head style. I have never seen hammers listed in grams for weight (maybe in France?)

what is used is oz, generally, and for BP's in particular there was a "numbering system' than many used back in the day for a size indicator - You won't find this by Googling anymore -Google is too busy trying to sell you hammers, and even ChatGPT was ignorant of it. I can't believe all the flat-out misinformation out there today while trying to do a quick lookup...:


2 oz = 7/0
3 oz = 6/0?
4 oz = 5/0
6 oz = 4/0
8 oz = 3/0
12 oz = 2/0
16 oz = 0
20 oz = 1
24 oz = 2
28 oz = 3
32 oz = 4
40 oz = 6
48 oz = 8?

 

[Beerhippie]

I think the 837 and 153G are model numbers of the head style. I have never seen hammers listed in grams for weight (maybe in France?)

what is used is oz, generally, and for BP's in particular there was a "numbering system' than many used back in the day for a size indicator - You won't find this by Googling anymore -Google is too busy trying to sell you hammers, and even ChatGPT was ignorant of it. I can't believe all the flat-out misinformation out there today while trying to do a quick lookup...:


2 oz = 7/0
3 oz = 6/0?
4 oz = 5/0
6 oz = 4/0
8 oz = 3/0
12 oz = 2/0
16 oz = 0
20 oz = 1
24 oz = 2
28 oz = 3
32 oz = 4
40 oz = 6
48 oz = 8?

Well, that will be easy to remember, seeing as it doesn't seem to follow any pattern.

I tried Googling it. Google AI says it's a cat.

 

[Outlawmws]

Well, that will be easy to remember, seeing as it doesn't seem to follow any pattern.

Yeah, the 2 with question marks are my guess, as I know they exist, but the size was not listed. I should add 8/0 as I have a couple of 1 oz. BP's...

I tried Googling it. Google AI says it's a cat.

No doubt!!

 

[d42jeep]

I was initially excited to find this Heller Ball Pein hammer with the horse logo at yesterday’s estate sale because a 1 lb. one is in my WW2 Jeep‘s onboard toolset. This one turned out to be 1-1/4 lb. with the weight marked on the cheek of the hammer, probably indicating that it’s postwar. Still, I like the Heller horse logo.
-Don

 

[jake28]

@d42jeep nice of you to drop in. Hope you’re well:

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Elated to find this very early magnetic tack hammer head at the flea this morning.



It's an A.R. Robertson.







The backstory is very interesting. In 1886 he patented (and TM'ed) the first magnetized "horseshoe" style tack hammer.



I'm not sure it went anywhere. In 1894, he was on the board of directors of a railway company.



Eventually he must have struck out on his own. In 1902 he patented an improved version.



And in 1905 he was making and selling it under his own name.



I look forward to re-hafting it.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I searched GJ as well as I could and didn't find any other examples. It could be a FOAK for the site. 4.c has the company in his US Mfgrs List, but no links to any examples in any threads. I could be wrong. Especially if prior posts were not accompanied by any text for the search function to pick up.

 

[Beerhippie]

I've had the pleasure of demoing a lot of old lath-and-plaster walls. Under the three layers of plaster (IIRC, scratch, brown and color) is a layer of thin, cheese-cloth like material, tacked to the lath, which is nailed to the studs. There are approximately 10,000 of those (razor-sharp) tacks per square foot.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

10,00 maniacs. It's all Robertson's fault.

 

[Mintgrun]

I guess this one is the SOAK for the site : )





This one must be newer. Did you see any information about the company moving to Orange, Mass.?

It's pretty hefty, for a tack hammer. The head is almost 4-1/2" long, by 3/4" high and 7/8" at the widest point; with a handle that's 12" long. The magnet's dead on this one and won't even pick up a sewing pin; but it rings like a tuning fork with the slightest touch.

 

[Mintgrun]

I grabbed another tack hammer for comparison, while digging through the drawer.




It's a brand I've never heard of before. Searching the site for "SA RE" does not work. "SA RE hammer" got zero results. "SARE" brought up one short thread from 2017, where someone asked what type of hammer theirs was (tack hammer). Googling the brand brings up a lot of examples, so it is not as exotic as I'd imagined. It's still mysterious to me though.

Having the larger driving end be magnetized is a bit different and so is the claw. Most of the tack hammers I see resemble the Robertson design. The magnetism is still very strong on this one. I'll bet it's the original handle. The head is much lighter and a little longer, at 4-5/8" x 5/8" x 5/8", with another 12" handle.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That's huge! This one is normal size (3-1/2" L x 5/8" H x 5/8" W) and still magnetized. I didn't see a change in city address. In 1937, he was still in Boston. Different street, but Boston. Orange is in western Mass, north of Amherst. He was from Somerville, which is near Cambridge.

 

[RTM]

The magnet's dead on this one and won't even pick up a sewing pin; but it rings like a tuning fork with the slightest touch

You can remagnetize it, coil of wire and a DC power supply, I think. Been a few decades since I've seen someone do it. Not sure how those modern magnetizers work without power, might be less terrifying.

 

[four.cycle]

4.c has the company in his US Mfgrs List, but no links to any examples in any threads.

Because those are rather uncommon. I don't think we've seen one here. Maybe I forgot.

Robertson / Arthur R. Robertson, 144 Oliver St., Boston, MA (Somerville, Orange) / hammers / patent 352070 Nov 2 1886 & 710615 Oct 7 1902 Arthur R. Robertson /

 

[four.cycle]

@Mintgrun - your tack hammer was made by Sayre

Sayre / L.A. Sayre Co., Newark, NJ / est. 1884 dissolved 1944 / variety of products many sold through Shapleigh Hardware /

 

[SouthernIllinois]

1980's era Snap-On Pick and Dinging hammer

 

[Old Radar]

@Mintgrun - your tack hammer was made by Sayre

An example of a logo being a little too cute or subtle for its own good...

 

[d42jeep]

I found this Craftsman claw hammer on Friday at an estate sale. It’s marked Craftsman on one side and Sears on the other.
-Don

 

[Mintgrun]

I have a Craftsman hammer with the metal sleeve where the handle enters the head, but it doesn't have the mini staple-puller tip on one of the claws. That's unique! I wonder if it was user modified, or came that way.

 

[Outlawmws]

I have a Craftsman hammer with the metal sleeve where the handle enters the head, but it doesn't have the mini staple-puller tip on one of the claws. That's unique! I wonder if it was user modified, or came that way.

IIR my original craftsman fiberglass handled hammer had that feature. that was an early 70's model

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Super excited to run into this antique (ca. 1872) tack hammer/puller combination tool this morning at my flea market. Venerably old, well-made, and handsome - and vying for personal 'Find of the Year' honors for me.







My first research stop was DATAMP, where I plugged the first date marking ("DEC. 10. 1867") into the search field, revealing US Patent 71,986, for an Improvement in the Manufacture of Tack Hammers, awarded to Thomas Conklin. DATAMP page here.

The patent was not assigned to anyone else, but he lived in New Britain, CT, and, according to the DATAMP steward, the design - for a hammer made from a single cast piece of malleable iron with a hollowed area, was "incorporated" by Stanley into several different hammers.

The other date marking ("FEB. 13. 1869") is apparently a mistake. The Re-Issued Patent, RE3,308, was awarded on February 23, 1869.

Note that neither the patent or the reissued patent look like this hammer. More on that in the next post.

The brass rivets/pins showing about an 1/8th of an inch illustrates the depth of the wear on the wooden handle inserts over the years. This view also shows the solid but hollowed design and casting.