Hammer time!
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Beerhippie
Well-known member
If you look closely, carpenter's hammers are also crowned. Not as pronounced as a peen, but still crowned. Maybe someone just got a little carried away?
A boss I worked for years ago told about how a kid he hired took a bunch of hammers home one night and "fixed" them on his bench grinder. He'd ground the faces perfectly flat. They slid off of nails like deer guts off a doorknob. He apparently spent the next month's pay replacing hammers.
I'm skeptical about the story still, as any man worth his tool bags never lets his hammer leave his sight, and touching another man's hammer... well, that just ain't done.
'Course, I'm not sure hammers are used on construction sites anymore.
A boss I worked for years ago told about how a kid he hired took a bunch of hammers home one night and "fixed" them on his bench grinder. He'd ground the faces perfectly flat. They slid off of nails like deer guts off a doorknob. He apparently spent the next month's pay replacing hammers.
I'm skeptical about the story still, as any man worth his tool bags never lets his hammer leave his sight, and touching another man's hammer... well, that just ain't done.
'Course, I'm not sure hammers are used on construction sites anymore.
woodkill
Member
four.cycle
Well-known member
^ I looked at everything and I'm stumped.
What did I miss?
What did I miss?
RTM
Well-known member
The only C in a Diamond I found was Cleveland Twist Drill, which is no where close to what those hammers have. Wonder if it’s a forge mark, instead of a makers mark.
I did find climbing hammers with that “logo” by description , but no pix. Choiunard. But the aspect ratio is wrong.
I did find climbing hammers with that “logo” by description , but no pix. Choiunard. But the aspect ratio is wrong.
woodkill
Member
four.cycle
Well-known member
great document. apparently one cannot download it.
and:
I'm at a loss here. This company started out making parts for bicycles and wagons in 1868, but it's a possibility.
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Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
I was elated to find this early C.S. Osborne French Upholsterers' Hammer, No. 2 (3/8" face), at the flea market this morning.
The claw is chipped, and it has some patina and pock marks, but the dark rosewood "Perfect Handle" type scales are as tight as the day they were riveted, and I love the way the through tang tapers to the end.
Marked "C.S. Osborne & Co.", "2", and "BEST STEEL" on one side of the head...
...and "[EST'D 1826]" on the other.
Catalog excerpt from 1911.
The claw is chipped, and it has some patina and pock marks, but the dark rosewood "Perfect Handle" type scales are as tight as the day they were riveted, and I love the way the through tang tapers to the end.
Marked "C.S. Osborne & Co.", "2", and "BEST STEEL" on one side of the head...
...and "[EST'D 1826]" on the other.
Catalog excerpt from 1911.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
$18 in 1911 would buy you a nice rifle!I was elated to find this early C.S. Osborne French Upholsterers' Hammer, No. 2 (3/8" face), at the flea market this morning.
The claw is chipped, and it has some patina and pock marks, but the dark rosewood "Perfect Handle" type scales are as tight as the day they were riveted, and I love the way the through tang tapers to the end.
Marked "C.S. Osborne & Co.", "2", and "BEST STEEL" on one side of the head...
...and "[EST'D 1826]" on the other.
Catalog excerpt from 1911.
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Well, it is French!
gatewaysysop
Well-known member
My modest assemblage of hammers. For me this has covered just about all my needs. The only ones not shown are a couple of claw hammers which live on the peg board and were left by the previous owner in the attic:
Left to right we have:
Left to right we have:
- ABC Hammers 3 lb. brass
- Grace 32 oz. copper
- Lixie 36 oz. bronze
- Impact Poly Hammers deadblows, including: 14, 20, 36, and 52 oz. and 6 lb. mini-sledge.
- Estwing ball peen hammers in about every size they offer.
- Estwing 4 lb. drilling hammer
- Estwing 48 oz. engineer's hammer
I saw that price and figured it was for a dozen of them. Catalogues back then seemed to have been given mainly (wholly?) to salesmen, jobbers, and hardware dealers for whom ordering a dozen would be the norm. Does the catalogue say anything abou t quantities?Well, it is French!
RTM
Well-known member
OK here is a hammer head that I am not certain of its true purpose or calling in life. Is it a hammer, axe, hatchet, geologists tool, etc? Or just a tool shaped toy, or tourists trap piece? Fancy body work hammer for special crevices? The top edge comes to a dull edge, could have been sharpened in a previous life, but no visible grinding marks.
It came in a box lot with an Adze head I wanted (and a leather handled Estwing missing the bottom plate). The casting seems a bit rough for an edge tool. This came out of the house of a collector, but of course this piece had no tag on it.
Weight is just under 6 oz, OAL is just over 5". (The fact that the Centerline doesn't run true makes me think toy or tourist item, what do they care?) Hole is pretty circular, larger on top than on the bottom.
It came in a box lot with an Adze head I wanted (and a leather handled Estwing missing the bottom plate). The casting seems a bit rough for an edge tool. This came out of the house of a collector, but of course this piece had no tag on it.
Weight is just under 6 oz, OAL is just over 5". (The fact that the Centerline doesn't run true makes me think toy or tourist item, what do they care?) Hole is pretty circular, larger on top than on the bottom.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
Tourist shop tomahawk?
Casting looks so crude, it gives crude a bad name!
Casting looks so crude, it gives crude a bad name!
PBCampbell
Well-known member
Toy or salesman sample?
RTM
Well-known member
That's what I feared it was. Something from the tacky tourist souvenir pile. Thanks
My hammer drawer. Just picked up the Vaughan chipping hammer. Have been slowly upgrading my hammers. The 16oz black Stanley dead blow ball pen is a great hammer. Still need to get a new small sledge/drilling hammer. Broke the fiberglass handle on my junk made in China one. Missing is my 22oz Estwing framing hammer that my son has.
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Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Yes, that was the price for a dozen. I meant to follow the French joke and forgot. $18 in 1911 had a value of ~$600 in 2024. It's a nice upholsterer's hammer and Osborne was pricey, but not that pricey!
Sorry for the delayed reply. I don't check this or any threads that aren't down on the Vintage Tools Discussion board as often as I should.dutchgray
Well-known member
Which still would have been a lot of money relative to a modern upholstery hammer.Yes, that was the price for a dozen. I meant to follow the French joke and forgot. $18 in 1911 had a value of ~$600 in 2024. It's a nice upholsterer's hammer and Osborne was pricey, but not that pricey!
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Indeed. About 30 bucks. Osborne was high end.
Lugz, I have an Osborne upholster's hammer which was in the household tool bin long ago enough that it has paint on the handle from a gas-powered model airplane I built back in, oh, 8th grade (?).
No, that model never had any upholstery on it — but the Osborne was a small hammer on the workbench just when I needed one...
No, that model never had any upholstery on it — but the Osborne was a small hammer on the workbench just when I needed one...
Here's a hammer haul I got with a blacksmith score recently. This stuff had been sitting for years but dry so just surface rust and really dry wood handles on everything. I always try to save the handles on old tools so the 1st thing I did was a BLO soak on the handles and wipe down of the steel after wire brushing.
Of the 9 we have 2 small sledge head only, on the left is a cut off tool and a flatter, both appear to be professionally made but no markings anywhere. There is a 3rd small sledge on a short handle there as well.
The 4 on the right are of particular interest to me.
Based on the stampings (which are scarce) I'm concluding these 4 are from the same maker mostly because the font and size of the font characters are the same. Also you'll note the eye size of just one of each type here is really small on the top side only. The eye size on the bottom of these hammers are normal sized. There must have been a heck of a taper on the hammer eye punch used to make these eyes of these 2 hammers. (the dong hammer is not as small as the one next to it but still quite small compared to the other side.)
The 2 on the right are the most unique. I've heard them called donkey dcyks, dog heads, ... but I call them dongs as in the sound of your door bell. Some hammers go ding when striking and others go dong. These go dong. That's it, honest, that's the only reason. In the 1st photo you can see how the heads actually droop forward from the weight of the heads over the years. The large one is stamped "5" and HARP__. The smaller one has no markings. The small text and large numeral seems to match the 2 hammers to the left. One of those has the full name - "HARPER". I couldn't get anywhere googling it.
My blacksmith buddy insists These dongs are sawyer's hammers and used for setting the tooth offset on large head saw blades of the old saw mills that used circular blades, cut wide 3/8" kerfs and produced a lot of sawdust. We also see this one sided design in auto body hammers as well as jewelery hammers etc. If anyone knows any info on these hammers I'd be delighted to hear more. I'm also curious about the maker, HARPER.
Text on the dong #5
These other 2 HARPER hammers, 4 1/2 and 3, I'm calling tinner's hammers because of the sharp profiles of the striking surfaces. Blacksmith tools are always rounded off. These may have been dressed by a previous owner in this way though. I should have taken a few more photos of these tinner's hammers other than this one. The 1st photo (top) has them covered also.
Of the 9 we have 2 small sledge head only, on the left is a cut off tool and a flatter, both appear to be professionally made but no markings anywhere. There is a 3rd small sledge on a short handle there as well.
The 4 on the right are of particular interest to me.
Based on the stampings (which are scarce) I'm concluding these 4 are from the same maker mostly because the font and size of the font characters are the same. Also you'll note the eye size of just one of each type here is really small on the top side only. The eye size on the bottom of these hammers are normal sized. There must have been a heck of a taper on the hammer eye punch used to make these eyes of these 2 hammers. (the dong hammer is not as small as the one next to it but still quite small compared to the other side.)
The 2 on the right are the most unique. I've heard them called donkey dcyks, dog heads, ... but I call them dongs as in the sound of your door bell. Some hammers go ding when striking and others go dong. These go dong. That's it, honest, that's the only reason. In the 1st photo you can see how the heads actually droop forward from the weight of the heads over the years. The large one is stamped "5" and HARP__. The smaller one has no markings. The small text and large numeral seems to match the 2 hammers to the left. One of those has the full name - "HARPER". I couldn't get anywhere googling it.
My blacksmith buddy insists These dongs are sawyer's hammers and used for setting the tooth offset on large head saw blades of the old saw mills that used circular blades, cut wide 3/8" kerfs and produced a lot of sawdust. We also see this one sided design in auto body hammers as well as jewelery hammers etc. If anyone knows any info on these hammers I'd be delighted to hear more. I'm also curious about the maker, HARPER.
Text on the dong #5
These other 2 HARPER hammers, 4 1/2 and 3, I'm calling tinner's hammers because of the sharp profiles of the striking surfaces. Blacksmith tools are always rounded off. These may have been dressed by a previous owner in this way though. I should have taken a few more photos of these tinner's hammers other than this one. The 1st photo (top) has them covered also.
Whoohoo, I just googled "dog head hammer" and found the motherload. My friend was right, that's the proper use for these and they are called dogs head hammers. My friend also said you just let the hammer fall with it's own weight to get the proper angle of bend on the tooth. Guess that's why there are different sizes of these. I'll have to search up on exactly how they are used.
After watching a few videos of sawyers straightening saw blades I've learned these hammers don't put an angle on the teeth, they are used to true the big 48" and bigger circular blades so they don't wobble. All these blades have a dish profile which should be on the inside toward the drive side of the arbor they mount on. If they develop any warp at all these hammers are used to carefully tap on them in strategic locations so they conform to their original shape.
After watching a few videos of sawyers straightening saw blades I've learned these hammers don't put an angle on the teeth, they are used to true the big 48" and bigger circular blades so they don't wobble. All these blades have a dish profile which should be on the inside toward the drive side of the arbor they mount on. If they develop any warp at all these hammers are used to carefully tap on them in strategic locations so they conform to their original shape.
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woodkill
Member
neophyte
Well-known member
There are chipping hammers that use a similarly designed head.OK here is a hammer head that I am not certain of its true purpose or calling in life. Is it a hammer, axe, hatchet, geologists tool, etc? Or just a tool shaped toy, or tourists trap piece? Fancy body work hammer for special crevices? The top edge comes to a dull edge, could have been sharpened in a previous life, but no visible grinding marks.
It came in a box lot with an Adze head I wanted (and a leather handled Estwing missing the bottom plate). The casting seems a bit rough for an edge tool. This came out of the house of a collector, but of course this piece had no tag on it.
Weight is just under 6 oz, OAL is just over 5". (The fact that the Centerline doesn't run true makes me think toy or tourist item, what do they care?) Hole is pretty circular, larger on top than on the bottom.
The one Vaughan looks similar but with the cross peen at 90 degrees.
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Beerhippie
Well-known member
I figured my hammer rack was missing something and while doing some more clearing out of my leaky old shed, ran across my old True Temper 6lb single-jack. It was in the leakiest part of the leaky shed, so when I picked it up, the handle just fell off. I gave it an over-night bath in phos acid and a new handle--cut down to 18". Original was 12", but I'm not as young as I used to be.
Anyhow, the hammer rack now looks much better:
Anyhow, the hammer rack now looks much better:
swsman
Well-known member
oldschoolcraft
Well-known member
What are the most useful minimal hammer set to have for a home gamer car mechanic who only works on sedans and light trucks (F150 / Tacoma size)?
I picked up a Snap On 20oz all polymer Deadblow, hearing they were making them in-house, instead of Trusty Cook. I have a variety of Estwing Ball Pean all steel hammers and an engineers mini sledge in 3 pounds.
I am planning to add one or two Tekton Trusty Cook ball pean dead blows. Maybe one in 45oz, to give me something heavier. Not sure if I need an all polymer dead blow in a weight heaver than the 20oz Snap On I have?
So far I've never needed to use a hammer in my limited car mechanic work. Everything has just come off pretty easily. I haven't done rotors or axles yet, I'm guessing they need to be banged off.
I have a full punch set, but have only used it for gunsmithing, I'm not sure where pins are on cars that need punches. I also picked up a cold chisel set, but again, never used it and unsure what I'm chiseling off in cars. I got the chisel set because they are on every required mechanics basic tool set, and if I ever need one, I dont want to buy some cheap **** at home depot. I have a nice Proto set. I'm not sure if the chisels are a standard use item to chisel off rivets or similar, or an "oh ****" item where the nut is stuck and you have to chisel it off and replace it.
I assume the reason for the diversity of hammers is based on using them with chisels, punches, pry bars, and also giving some taps directly to vehicle parts that you want to displace. Maybe additional uses? Since I haven't done too much car work (yet) I dont know what a good mix is, and I dont do it enough to justify having a dozen hammers specific to car mechanic work.
I picked up a Snap On 20oz all polymer Deadblow, hearing they were making them in-house, instead of Trusty Cook. I have a variety of Estwing Ball Pean all steel hammers and an engineers mini sledge in 3 pounds.
I am planning to add one or two Tekton Trusty Cook ball pean dead blows. Maybe one in 45oz, to give me something heavier. Not sure if I need an all polymer dead blow in a weight heaver than the 20oz Snap On I have?
So far I've never needed to use a hammer in my limited car mechanic work. Everything has just come off pretty easily. I haven't done rotors or axles yet, I'm guessing they need to be banged off.
I have a full punch set, but have only used it for gunsmithing, I'm not sure where pins are on cars that need punches. I also picked up a cold chisel set, but again, never used it and unsure what I'm chiseling off in cars. I got the chisel set because they are on every required mechanics basic tool set, and if I ever need one, I dont want to buy some cheap **** at home depot. I have a nice Proto set. I'm not sure if the chisels are a standard use item to chisel off rivets or similar, or an "oh ****" item where the nut is stuck and you have to chisel it off and replace it.
I assume the reason for the diversity of hammers is based on using them with chisels, punches, pry bars, and also giving some taps directly to vehicle parts that you want to displace. Maybe additional uses? Since I haven't done too much car work (yet) I dont know what a good mix is, and I dont do it enough to justify having a dozen hammers specific to car mechanic work.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
I use the soft dead-blow mallets the most around the shop. The middle-size (8oz?) ball peen would be next, followed by the 1 lb BP. The big sledges and single-jacks are for when thing start to go south--bigger hammer time.
jeffmoss26
Well-known member
I like ball peins the best because often you can't get a direct line of swing to a frozen part and the ball shape will make contact more centrally whereas the other end you'd contact the edge of the face causing an uncontrollable bounce. The ball end is going to hit more centrally. Machinery is usually built to exact tolerances so parts fit super snug with no wiggle room that would cause vibrations and wear. As a result they tend to really stick in place and hardened old old grease makes it worse. Hammers are needed to loosen these friction fits. The bigger the parts the bigger the hammers needed. The pivot pins on hydraulic rams on excavators require slede hamers for example.Also on re-assembly to drive bearings home or even gears on splined shafts can need to be hammered home.
Ball peins are made from a few ounces up to 4 lbs. Most guys will have about 4 from small to larger. You may not need to go over 3 lb but a variety is nice.
I think 3 lbs (48 oz) is the max practical BP size, I know one Mfg in England made, I think, a 4 lb sledge BP, but stopped after WWII.
Hard to pin down "A few" sizes/types without knowing more specifically what on cars you want to do. for general mechanics work a few BP's of different sizes as mentioned, and a couple of different dead blows, a rubber mallet, and I like having a heavy leather face mallet.
Then there is body and other specialty work...
But living on CA you won't have as much of the rust in place problems the guys in the northeast have...
Hard to pin down "A few" sizes/types without knowing more specifically what on cars you want to do. for general mechanics work a few BP's of different sizes as mentioned, and a couple of different dead blows, a rubber mallet, and I like having a heavy leather face mallet.
Then there is body and other specialty work...
But living on CA you won't have as much of the rust in place problems the guys in the northeast have...
oldschoolcraft
Well-known member
Do you think all of the ball peins should be deadblow for car work purposes? I have a few estwings all steel handled ball peins already. Thinking of adding some Tekton Trusty Cook rebranded deadblow ballpeins but not sure what sizes. Already have 8, 16 and 32 oz all steel ball peins
genog
Well-known member
I love ole hammers....to a fault
Found two little 4 ouncers (Stanley and Williams), which I have too many of and a couple of 32 oz heads
Proto and Craftsman
Found two little 4 ouncers (Stanley and Williams), which I have too many of and a couple of 32 oz heads
Proto and Craftsman
four.cycle
Well-known member
On hammers...
I just got back from Alaska. I didn't do a lot of sightseeing, but I did go visit a fabulous museum in Sitka, which houses some incredible early native artifacts.
Interestingly, the weapon of choice of the appointed leader of the Tlingits and their allies against the Russians was K'alyáans' Hammer, which appears to be a 48-ounce cross-peen with a marvelous handmade wood handle.
I found it rather interesting that this man went up against cannon fire with a hammer and managed to kick some serious ***.
I just got back from Alaska. I didn't do a lot of sightseeing, but I did go visit a fabulous museum in Sitka, which houses some incredible early native artifacts.
Interestingly, the weapon of choice of the appointed leader of the Tlingits and their allies against the Russians was K'alyáans' Hammer, which appears to be a 48-ounce cross-peen with a marvelous handmade wood handle.
I found it rather interesting that this man went up against cannon fire with a hammer and managed to kick some serious ***.
Patrickm82
Well-known member
I just picked this estwing ball peen at a yard sale for $4. I have been wanting 1 of these for a while now. I’m bummed the handle and **** cap are gone but will be a fun project. 1937 date code on it and 24 oz.
RTM
Well-known member
Yup, fun. Get any scrap of metal for the **** cap, personalize it to you. Heavy gauge leather is not hard to find. Old belts from the thrift store can donate many, couple of belts gives you variations in the pattern.
I have a claw short the end plate, will be watching your lead. No pressure.
