Need help identifying old ball pein hammer

1 1/2 lb ball pein hammer. German made. Probably for a bunch of resellers with their own logo stamped in the center. However, I cannot identify the gear logo.

Any idea who made this hammer and who it was made for?

I am presuming it was not made between 1945-1990 as it does not say West Germany. I also presume it was not made after 1990 as it looks too old. Thus, pre 1945 is my best guess.

laager said:

1 1/2 lb ball pein hammer. German made. Probably for a bunch of resellers with their own logo stamped in the center. However, I cannot identify the gear logo.

Any idea who made this hammer and who it was made for?

I am presuming it was not made between 1945-1990 as it does not say West Germany. I also presume it was not made after 1990 as it looks too old. Thus, pre 1945 is my best guess.

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Peddinghaus, made by them for themselves.

Not sure on the age of your hammer. It does not look "old" to me. Would a pre-1945 hammer have the weight listed on it and would that be in pounds? I have a lot of old hammers and they don't list the weight and if not rusted, they have that "brown" patina of age. I think 1990s or newer for export market.

They make very nice hammers. I have a creasing hammer made by them.

https://www.peddinghaus.de/en/products/peddinghaus/hammers

GJ hammer thread, you might ask over there too:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143435

It looks like a similar symbol as the Royal Canadian Electrical & Mechanical Engineers used during and after the second world war but that's probably just coincidental.

Until the wars end the German Mechanical Engineers used the symbol on the hat badge in the second pic.

I'm guessing that hammer is a product of post war production in Germany that had a lot of allied directed influence before the "West" prefix was universally used. Try researching Pendinghaus history.

I agree with laager's analysis, but S&A raises a point worth exploring more.

Most US prewar ball-pein hammers either had no size marking or markings that used a very early almost arcane standardized system, where "0" was 1 lb, and all other hammers went up or down in 4 oz increments from there. For example, "00" on a hammer indicated 12 ozs, whereas a "1" was 20 ozs. "000" was 8 ozs, "2" was 24 ozs. And so forth. I do have a "0000" hammer, but because of that and the even smaller "00000" 4 oz. hammer, makers started using "5-0" (as in "five 0's") or "5/0", and once they started doing that, even though "00" didn't take up any more space, you'd also see "2-0" or "2/0", etc.

As a wartime collector, size markings are usually considered iffy. Model numbers that embed the size (e.g., "BP-16") are definitely postwar.

But, I don't know anything about import hammers in that period, and it does look like an older hammer to me made for the English speaking (US/UK) export market.

What is on the flip side?

I know nothing about modern imports, either, but hammers made here in the US after the mid 1970's almost always have some form of an OSHA "WEAR SAFETY GOGGLES" warning. If I see that on the cheek of a hammer in a box of hammers at a flea, it's a quick, automatic pass. If it was made in the 1990's for the US market, wouldn't it also have to have the safety markings?

I looked at my hammer. Purchased at a jewelry tool supple store here in Denver. I bought it in around 2010.

The "wear safety glasses" was a sticker on the handle. Two painted logos with "Peddinghaus" between them on the handle.

The only markings on the head were the logo, "Germany" and the numbers "57" and "200".

From the website, I see that the "57" is part of the model number and the that the "200" is for 200 grams head weight.

I do notice that it has a round wedge in the head/handle not the classic "V" shaped wedge. Many newer hammers use the round wedge, it is supposed to be stronger and easier to use. I think it is just cheaper for manufacturing.

Private Lugnutz said:

What is on the flip side?

Click to expand...

There is a rough M S stamped, but it looks like your garden variety owner's stamp for identifying their own tools. If there were any other marks they are long gone, but it does not look like there ever were any.

One thing you'll often see on German goods is either DRGM or DBGM. This has to do with patents. DRGM is always pre-WWII and means Deutsches Reichs Gebrauchsmuster. DBGM is post-WWII and means Deutsches Bundes Gebrauchsmuster..

laager said:

There is a rough M S stamped...

Click to expand...

I guess it could also be an S W.