Good vid on how to install a hammer handle the right way. with a bonus old USA made handle co.
- Thread starter jabberwoki
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Flyguy30263
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- Aug 30, 2012
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How funny you would post that today. Without seeing your post I watched that video today. Been on a hammer refurb kick lately. Great info in that video.
four.cycle
Well-known member
^ I know for sure that the next handle I have to replace will NOT be secured with a standard steel wedge.
rust in the eye
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Me too!
small world
Old tool guy
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He has a good series of videos. Two comments. He lengthened the depth of the slot but still had some wedge standing proud of the handle. Does that mean the slot wasn’t deep enough? Or wide enough?
And the gravel floor is practical, until you drop a small part. Maybe he’s in the 1% who never drops small parts.
And the gravel floor is practical, until you drop a small part. Maybe he’s in the 1% who never drops small parts.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
Use to love this guy but he's turned too commercial. Join Essential Craftsman this buy Essential Craftsman that. I guess once you start to make serious money from YouTube you just can't help yourself from turning into a *****.
Tynee
Well-known member
That's the blacksmith side of his shop. He's got concrete floor in the other half.He has a good series of videos. Two comments. He lengthened the depth of the slot but still had some wedge standing proud of the handle. Does that mean the slot wasn’t deep enough? Or wide enough?
And the gravel floor is practical, until you drop a small part. Maybe he’s in the 1% who never drops small parts.
rust in the eye
Well-known member
His videos are still good, why the "used to"? Selling your wares doesn't make you a *****. Nobody is twisting your arm to buy.
four.cycle
Well-known member
Maybe he's one of those enlightened types that doesn't worry about the small stuff.
Old tool guy
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Yeah right. In my shop (garage) the only small things that fall on the floor and bounce or roll to the furthest corner are the most critical parts.
Slowbuilder
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He said in the video that his wood wedge was 2" tall, and he cut the slot to 1.75" deep to leave the wedge 1/4" proud of the slot so that it could be mashed over. But it still didn't look like it seated all the way in (more than 1/4" proud).
Fatboy148!
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- Mar 11, 2023
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The hammer is a nice concept, but for me, not $250 nice.
RTM
Well-known member
Love me some House Handles, but having a punch for the eye that matches the shape of the House Handle? Now that is living good. Some of the vintage heads I rehang (rehaft, rehandle), I’m lucky if I can get the length I want and the eye to be close enough to trim down to fit, often off in one dimension that keeps perfection at bay.
GarageHobbyist
Well-known member
STOP! You're both right! (to the tune of a Dentene commercial). I've seen this from youtubers who start making more money on youtube than they do on the craft that's gotten people watching them. Eventually they almost stop making the stuff you dialed in to watch and spend all their time doing youtube videos but they just make things so they can make a video out of it. Maybe they're just getting too old to do blacksmithing.
I've been salvaging oak and other woods from thick shelving, baseball bats, chairs etc plus a tree I brought home so I've been making handles for all kinds of things from cant hooks to hammers to wood chisels and more. I make the wedges too. Today's tools make it easy (belt sander") but a lot is old fashioned hand tools like rasps, draw knives chisels etc. to get the job done.
I stopped watching when they were building that house. The carpentry was okay, but everything else about it was done to the standard of "can't see it from my house" and "I don't pay the utility bill", and it's all straight from the 90s. All typical builder stuff, but why does anyone want to watch "this is how you do it like a hack" videos? (People must, youtube is full of them.)
OP
jabberwoki
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neophyte
Well-known member
Why not trim the wedge to fit the end of the handle slot before installing the handle?
Push the wedge in, run a sharp knife down the overhang on both sides on both sides of the wedge, snap off the excess wood on the wood wedge, scrape to fine fit the wedge, then remove the wedge and glue as normal.
Also, one of the best wood hammer handle to head connections I’ve ever ran across had the head epoxied onto the handle.
I presume if you want to later replace the handle, then painting the inside of the hammer eye with a coating that can later be easily melted with a solvent would be advisable, but do that first, then fit the handle into the eye, then epoxy the handle into the pre-coated hammer eye, before wedging and steel edging the hammer head should provide an secure fit were the hammer head will not easily loosen.
Dehydrating the hammer end, (maybe with an old fashioned incandescent lightbulb in a fool lined box), before driving it on, should also provide a more secure fit, with less chance of dehydration in the wood making the hammer handle loose.
Push the wedge in, run a sharp knife down the overhang on both sides on both sides of the wedge, snap off the excess wood on the wood wedge, scrape to fine fit the wedge, then remove the wedge and glue as normal.
Also, one of the best wood hammer handle to head connections I’ve ever ran across had the head epoxied onto the handle.
I presume if you want to later replace the handle, then painting the inside of the hammer eye with a coating that can later be easily melted with a solvent would be advisable, but do that first, then fit the handle into the eye, then epoxy the handle into the pre-coated hammer eye, before wedging and steel edging the hammer head should provide an secure fit were the hammer head will not easily loosen.
Dehydrating the hammer end, (maybe with an old fashioned incandescent lightbulb in a fool lined box), before driving it on, should also provide a more secure fit, with less chance of dehydration in the wood making the hammer handle loose.