What Kind of Hammer is This?

[sometoyotaguy]

It's like a small sledge, but I don't know what it was originally for.

 

[55bigblockcid]

A maul for splitting fire wood.

 

[sometoyotaguy]

It's pretty small for that. Kindling maybe. It only weighs a couple of pounds.

 

[woody 73]

I would venture a small blacksmith hammer.

 

[Outlawmws]

Splitting hatchet, (small splitting maul) for making kindling.

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

For Zombies. Big side for quick sudden reaction, pointy side gives less spatter when you have a second or so for precision aim.

 

[5lima30]

Old cedar shake/ shingle hatchet would be my guess. BTW, a oval handle hole is generally means it was machine made vs. a blacksmith made implement which will have a retangular handle hole. JMHO.

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Old cedar shake/ shingle hatchet would be my guess. BTW, a oval handle hole is generally means it was machine made vs. a blacksmith made implement which will have a retangular handle hole. JMHO.

A shingle froe doesn't come close to looking like that. I think it might be used for splitting kindling but not making shingles.

 

[Captain-Matt]

Could be a blacksmiths hot cut chisel.

The smith would hold the workpiece, and the handle of this tool, with the bladed end on the desired cutting place, and a striker would hit the flat end.

 

[metaldad]

For Zombies. Big side for quick sudden reaction, pointy side gives less spatter when you have a second or so for precision aim.

 

[lbgradwell]

I'm inclined to think it's for kindling too.

I don't know much about blacksmithing, but I would not have expected so slender and sharp an edge for working metal...

 

[Lotek]

I'm inclined to think it's for kindling too.

I don't know much about blacksmithing, but I would not have expected so slender and sharp an edge for working metal...

A hot cut chisel is very thin and sharp, looks a lot like that.

 

[Outlawmws]

Old cedar shake/ shingle hatchet would be my guess. BTW, a oval handle hole is generally means it was machine made vs. a blacksmith made implement which will have a retangular handle hole. JMHO.

A shingle froe doesn't come close to looking like that. I think it might be used for splitting kindling but not making shingles.

here is a Froe (granted its a small one, about 8" blade 10" handle), and they were also used for splitting out raw stock and making things that exactly matched the grain. Used to be they would split handles out of hickory, then shave split them to rough shape before final shaping. (I wish I had a source for hickory myself... good handles are getting harder and harder to find...)

Note the hole is round? Smiths don't have a problem making any shape eye they desire, for example, the classic hatchet head tear drop eye was originally an easy shape for them to deal with...:

Could be a blacksmiths hot cut chisel.

The smith would hold the workpiece, and the handle of this tool, with the bladed end on the desired cutting place, and a striker would hit the flat end.

I don't think so for two reasons: The mass of the head would reduce the impact of the blow, and the head itself is not mushroomed at all, so if it was for that it was rarely/never used.

I have a couple of splitting hatchets. thick steep angle like a splitting wedge, that one is different, but it still widens out for good splitting.

 

[Captain-Matt]

A fair point about the mushrooming. I can't work out the scale of this thing, it could be for marking out decorative lines, but again shows little usage.
I work for a blacksmiths, so I've seen a load of the stuff we have that could be similar to this.

Either that or its simpley a cross-pein hammer with the pein vertical instead of horizontal.

OP, a pic of it next to a ruler perhaps?

 

[Outlawmws]

The last pic has it next to a mason jar, so not huge.

 

[Captain-Matt]

How big is that?
Sorry, from the UK so not familiar with that type/brand.

 

[Outlawmws]

A mason jar is maybe 6-7 inches high, and the lid is maybe 3" or so?

 

[rsanter]

Home defense hammer.
You decide wether you want to split their skull or just knock them out for the police to deal with

Bob

 

[sometoyotaguy]

Thanks guys. I'll get some pics with a ruler. It's about 6" long and the hammer is about 1.5" dia.

 

[trboxman]

I'm reasonably sure it's a hot cut chisel.

 

[woody 73]

I told you it was a blacksmith hammer!

 

[bgott]

It's a blacksmith's hot cut chisel, as has been mentioned. It's not a hammer, you set the chisel on the red hot metal and then you beat on the other end with a hammer.

 

[Outlawmws]

It's a blacksmith's hot cut chisel, as has been mentioned. It's not a hammer, you set the chisel on the red hot metal and then you beat on the other end with a hammer.

Sounds like you need three hands to accomplish this. The Hardy hole Hot Chisel makes far more sense...

 

[lbgradwell]

How often would such a thing need to be sharpened?

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

Not Three hands, an apprentice! Often a very large part of the work was based on apprentice muscle, not just three handed jobs. Blacksmith could direct heavy hammering by smacking the right place with his own hammer, then the apprentice pounded hell out of that place until blacksmith hit another spot.

Apprentice was practically a slave during his term in early days...his pay was learning a job that would support him a few years down the road when his apprenticeship ended.
Cutting metal was a big deal with lots of techniques before there were hacksaws, oxygenated torches, powered tools, etc.

 

[sometoyotaguy]

It looks like a Hot Set Chisel.

http://www.autonopedia.org/crafts_and_technology/Metal_work/The_Blacksmith/TheBlacksmithsTools.html

Thanks guys. I'll add it to my collection of tools when I dabble with Blacksmithing. I have a piece of RR track for a makeshift anvil, but no forge as of yet.

 

[woody 73]

Ok I will give a little on this one

It is a Hot set Chisel USED BY A BLACKSMITH; you guys are tough now I need one for my hammer collection

 

[bgott]

How often would such a thing need to be sharpened?

Not often, as long as you don't drive it into the hardened surface of the anvil. The chisel is high carbon hardened steel and the material to be cut is pretty soft at a red hot heat. If you look at a lot of well used wrought iron anvils the horn and the flat spot between the horn and the hardened steel plate on top of the anvil is seriously cut up from hot cutting. The wrought iron is pretty soft. If I use my hot cut set tool instead of my hot cut hardy I lay a piece of channel iron on top of the anvil to protect both the tool and the top plate.