How's your hammer hanging?

I keep a variety of hammers near my welding/fab table for various uses. In my previous shop, I used pegboard. This time around, I used plywood, so a rack to keep some of my hammers handy was created.

It is made of steel 16 gage sheet metal, and the 1-3/8 holes were made with a unibit in a 1/2" hand drill, with the metal clamped in a vise. Used a bandsaw to cut the slots out, then the brake for bending. To keep the ball peen hammers hanging straight, a piece of 1/4" keystock was drilled and tapped, then attached to the rack with 6-32 screws, to act as shims under the narrow part of the peen.

The rack is tapered from right to left as viewed in the pics, and that was to more closely match the various widths of the hammer heads. Metal was bead blasted, then a coat of sail blue Rustoleum was used for color. My shop is being set up for point-of-usage, so nearby racks are the better solution for me.

You are lucky, the only hammers I can hang like that are decoys, have to hide the good ones, never should have put the washer/dryer in the garage.


Nice work btw.

Nice work!

Sweet, once again. You do nice work.

Great work as usual. I am going to have to make some stuff to hold my tools. I get tired of looking through boxes . Anyway on the holders They have a lip on the end to keep the hammer on it correct? I think I see it,does it keep them in so they don't slide. I had wondered if you made that lip longer if it would make it a pain to get the hammer out. The way you made it with the lenghts and such looks perfect. You need to patent and sell these holders you have been making.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the positive comments. The front lip on the hammer rack is 3/8", and is bent upwards at a 45 degree angle. I have found this to work fine with most everything to hold it into place, but also allow easy use of the rack.

As far as patents, I am sharing this with you all in hopes of sparking someone's interest in fabrication. When I retire, I may make a few to sell, but I'd rather see some young person get all revved up to make his own. We are rapidly losing our technical expertise as a society, and something to spark off interest in the mechanicals field is worth doing. I also purposely use different techniques in the making of things, although I have most anything I may need at my disposal.

You will note how I drilled the large holes by hand with a unibit, when I have a Bridgeport mill in my shop. This is to keep people from thinking that only the "big boys" can do these things. also, a patent is worth only the patent holder's monetary ability to protect it. I have seen this first hand. Build some tool racks, guys!

question for OccupantRj....

do you notice that hammer handle and head attachements get loose by hanging like that?...
i am just wondering...i used to keep my hammers like that but then after a while, i noticed that handles would be little bit loose....the pull of gravity on the handle seems to loosen them up...

i have similar set up like that, it is awesome for grab and go....

I think what you are seeing is the contraction and expansion differences of the wood handle and a metal head. That's why framing nails are generally coated with an adhesive. If not, exposure to the sun will walk the nails right out of the wood. Humidity and temperature swings likely have a lot to do with that.

As far as hanging hammers or storing flat, I've not noticed any appreciable difference in the methods. Good observation, though. I find that after a wood handle hammer has not been used for quite a while in our NC environment, I have to slam the handle **** first on a steel table to tighten the head, then punch the wedge in a little.