Hammer time!

[Reality Sucks]

My BFH.

 

[sensei_]

As soon as I buy them I sand the pretty horrible varnish of the grip washers.
You can get new washers for them HERE
Fairly sure its the bottom one on the list that looks like this.

I have a couple of old hammers I wouldn't mind doing at some point.

sure does look like it. also how does one look after leather handles?

should they rub some leather conditioner/neatsfoot oil into the handles from time to time to keep it looking great?

 

[demographic]

sure does look like it. also how does one look after leather handles?

should they rub some leather conditioner/neatsfoot oil into the handles from time to time to keep it looking great?

Not had any bother with the leather washers over the years and the only ones to cause problems and crack have been the plastic washers.

I suppose whatever oils and whatever in my hand much keep them OK.
When I get round to replacing the washers on my Estwings there's no way on earth that a poxy plastic washer is going back onto it.
Will either be Horn to replace the few plastic washers or leather all the way.
Neatsfoot oil would be a good choice for them but I've never done it all the same.

 

[Outlawmws]

This is a hammer I got from my SS. Pretty unique for a Ccaw hammer! He asked me to post if I found out more about it.

I didn't find any specifics on what it was for, but suspect it was for De-crating or for dealing with something with staples as it had one of the claws pointed and tapered for just than purpose.

The sawtooth inside on the claws beats me though, I can only speculate that it was for prying open then go in a bit more then pry some more, then again...


It's marked "Fulton Utility" and I assumed it was made by a Futon tool company, but apparently "Fulton" was an early Sears tool trademark, well predating Craftsman! I guessed that this hammer was about a century old, and I think that is still true, but have not a lot to go on except this from AA:

Tools of the Pre-Craftsman Era

Sears had been selling tools and hardware for several decades prior to the introduction of the Craftsman brand in 1927. This section will show examples of the kinds of tools offered in this early period, using a mix of catalog illustrations and actual photographs when the tools are available.


Fulton and the "Fulton Tool Company"

Fulton was a familiar brand of tools in the early 20th century by virtue of numerous listings for Fulton tools in the Sears Roebuck catalogs. In the pre-Craftsman days, Fulton appeared to be the most popular brand offered by the Sears for tools such as saws, axes, planes, chisels, hammers, pliers, and many other items. References to Fulton tools appear in Sears catalogs at least as early as 1908, with illustrations showing either "Fulton" or "Fulton Tool Co." on the tools.

Based on the wide variety of Fulton products offered, many of Sears' customers probably assumed that the Fulton Tool Company must be a major manufacturer, and that was our starting assumption as well. However, after an extensive and fruitless search for a Fulton business entity that could account for such a range of products, we eventually concluded that Fulton was not an independent manufacturer after all, but rather an unregistered internal brand used by Sears as a conduit for private branding.

Since some of our readers may be surprised by this conclusion, we'll outline the evidence gathered to date. The most important factor is the lack of advertising or product coverage for Fulton apart from the Sears catalogs. An independent company would normally not want to rely too heavily on one retailer, so given the wide range of products offered, there should be numerous advertisements and announcements for Fulton products in magazines and trade publications. Many such publications are now searchable online as part of the "Google Books" effort, but an extensive search turned up no apparent "Fulton Tool" entity that could account for the known range of products.

In fact, the only catalog (other than Sears) known to list Fulton tools is a publication from the United Hardware and Tool Manufacturing Company, which shows an extensive selection of Fulton tools such as wood planes. When we first found this catalog, we attributed Fulton as the "house brand" for United Hardware, but more recent information has identified United Hardware as a manufacturer's agent for the export market. In light of this new information, the listings for Fulton tools in the United Hardware catalog can be interpreted as an effort by Sears to develop export markets for its tool items.

Other evidence is summarized in the list below and will be expanded upon when time permits.

Too Much Variety for One Company.
Specific Makers Identified for Some Fulton Tools.
Fulton Mentioned as a Sears Brand in Company History.

Some pics of said hammer, and it's odd features:

 

[Monte]

soft face hammers


mini sledge hammers:


recoilless hammers:


engineers hammers:

 

[WallynSC]

Keep it going!

 

[Outlawmws]

Interesting Monte, in the US most of those "Engineers hammers" (Except maybe the largest) would be classed as sheet metal (Not body) hammers. used by sheet metal workers. I'd saw up to about 20 oz. or so....

 

[Farmall450]

I thought my like 4 or 5 ball peens were getting to be a lot....!

 

[Outlawmws]

I thought my like 4 or 5 ball peens were getting to be a lot....!

Nope! but (in my best Jeff Foxworthy voice impression), 35 ball peens and you might be starting having a problem!

 

[catsteve]

I recently purchased a rather non-desript ebay lot of hammers.
I was pleasantly surprised when i received this 'Monster' Billings and Spencer 52 oz ball peen hammer head in rather nice condition. Possibly the largest i have seen.
I have no idea where i will find a suitable handle or what i will use it for.

 

[Outlawmws]

Did you typo the weight? I've got a 48 oz BP that looks half again that size...

 

[Outlawmws]

Also if it really is that big, a replacement handle for an engineer's hammer should work.

 

[Monte]

Interesting Monte, in the US most of those "Engineers hammers" (Except maybe the largest) would be classed as sheet metal (Not body) hammers. used by sheet metal workers. I'd saw up to about 20 oz. or so....

looked around but i don´t think we have extra "sheet metal" hammers so it seems we do everything with the engineers hammers the english/american style ball pein hammers are not common over here.

btw. body hammers:

 

[catsteve]

Did you typo the weight? I've got a 48 oz BP that looks half again that size...

Not a typo. Its actually a touch over 52oz
for a comparison heres a pic against a 24oz ball peen.
I will try to find a long engineers handle. it will be an interesting balance.

 

[Geurt]

My modest collection of hammers:

 

[GINIK]

Tors hammer from Sweden.
Sizes from left 11, 12 and 16.

 

[maddawg308]

Great collections, all!

Have a question for the more knowledgeable: what is it with used hammers and black electrical tape? I own about 10 hammers, and 6-7 of them I bought had at least some black electrical tape on it, or residue proving it's former residence. Some of the hammers I've had in the past, when I removed the tape, the hammer handle was perfectly fine! You'd think that someone put tape there to hold together a split handle, but that's not always the case. And what's with the black electrical tape? Not duct tape (you'd think that would be preferred), or clear packing tape, or that tape with the strands of nylon in it for high-strength packing tape, ALWAYS black electrical. Not sure why.

 

[Outlawmws]

Maddog, it's put there as "insurance" against an overstrike. It doesn't always work but many times it absorbs enough of the blow that it keeps you from busting the head off the handle or at a minimum from taking chunks out of the handle right there at the head and making it more likely to break.

Why E-Tape? It forms and stretches over the uneven contours better than the other tapes you mentioned.

I've done a number of my hammers with tape, but by no means all of them. (I'd need a case of tape...)

for large tools like sledges and axes thy sell pads for the purpose.

25 years ago or so I had just re-handled a Rim "hammer" (10 pounder) for the local tire shop so they could change my tires on my M37 weapons carrier (split rim) and the noob kid using it overstruck and snapped the damn thin g off clean within about ten hits. They had to finish the job with my two 5 pounders, and broke one of them also...

The tire shop manager told me that was the last split rims their shop would be doing, and asked me what I wanted for replacing the handle for my 5 pounder they had broken. I mentioned that I would trad the broken 5 for the broken ten and call it even, With an "innocent" look he said "I don't know what you are talking about, here take YOUR hammer home. " and handed me the ten.

 

[Monte]

 

[Rezeppa]

I don't have anything crazy and A Lot of hammers are in other places. I struggle not to buy every Pin hammer I see. These are the most used Ones I have at work.

 

[Outlawmws]

The small Tinners hammer and the BP with the skinny handle are two new acquisitions:

the Tinner's hammer is now my smallest hammer; 1/2 oz.! Picked it up at an estate sale last weekend. The claw hammer and Quarter are there to lend scale.

The BP with the Skinny Handles is a 5 oz. BP and was a gift from a generous GJ member! nice! The handle is by far the smallest I've seen on a head that size and I'm guessing it is for either watchmaking, silver smithing, or jewelry making. where you simply can't afford to smack something really hard...

 

[GINIK]

This is my smallest hammer beside a more ordinary sized hammer.
The weight is 50g (~1,76 oz).
The brand seem to be BONUM. It´s hard to read on this small hammer.

 

[GINIK]

This is an old russian hammer.
It's marked with USSR.
I put a new handle on it.
So now it's as good as new .
Weight 500g (~17,6 oz).

 

[maddawg308]

this is an old russian hammer.
It's marked with ussr.
I put a new handle on it.
So now it's as good as new .
Weight 500g (~17,6 oz).

остановить! Молот время!


It's interesting that it says "USSR" on it. It was probably for export to other countries that traded with the Soviet Union. If it was meant for itself, it would have been marked "CCCP". See, "USSR" is for Union of Soviet Socialist Republic. If you note, that's all in English, so USSR would only be used in countries that mostly used the Roman letters, of which the Soviet Union did not. They used the Cyrillic alphabet, and in that, СССР (Союз Советских Социалистических Республик ) is a Russian Cyrillic abbreviation for the Soviet Union.

 

[GINIK]

Yes, I know.
I have learnt the language myself for two years.

 

[GINIK]

An old hammer from a swedish manufacturer not existing anymore.
The hammer has the old name Wikmanshytte after the village (today Vikmanshyttan).
CRU is the type of steel they used.
Once, one of the best steel types you could use for tools.
"Gjutstål" means Cast toughened steel in english.
End of the history lesson.

 

[minimowog]

here's my hammers, and my storage solution for them, on the wall above the vice

 

[2oolhound]

Here's a few of mine, the 1st I think is a brick hammer with the name "BRACES 1684" at least I think the 4th letter is a "C".



These 2 ball peins are a little nicer than my other basics.

 

[d.mcfarland]

Isn't BRADES a British brand?

 

[GINIK]

Nice ball pein hammers Toolhound

Here is an old hammer from the tool town number one in Sweden.
Eskilstuna.

 

[GINIK]

A recently restored Tors hammer in the original blue painting.
I have also put varnish on the new handle, to make it easier to clean.

 

[Outlawmws]

Here's a few of mine, the 1st I think is a brick hammer with the name "BRACES 1684" at least I think the 4th letter is a "C".

2oolhound, is the "C" maybe a G? (Maybe some chalk in the letters to make it stand out?)

I've got some new ones to post later...

 

[bigcaddy]

I never really planned on collecting hammers until i started hanging out on here

It all started with a flea market find in Welfleet, MA. I was looking for some tools and found a few "dental hammers" or thats what the guy selling them called them. They were supposedly used in the forming/making of false teeth or early dentistry.

Thses are the smaller ones that i collect and keep at home. My toolbox at work has a selection of hammers much larger on these, but then i work on large machinery so a tap from one of these guys wouldn't do much.

The coin on the table is a penny for reference.


Most of the smalls are not marked or just say France. My favorite is the little guy with the ebony handle. In fact, buying it led me to meet not one but 2 GJ members at that particular sale.


The larger collection are almost all marked: Blue Point, Heller, Stanley, Plumb, Atha

 

[jeffmoss26]

I did not plan on collecting hammers either, it just happened! lol

 

[nine4gmc]

Here's a few of mine, the 1st I think is a brick hammer with the name "BRACES 1684" at least I think the 4th letter is a "C".

That 4th letter is a "D", Brades Brick Hammer.

Nice collection BigCaddy!!

 

[krc328ic]

Can you share more info on this one in the middle? Very interesting little hammer...

 

[bigcaddy]

I have no idea about that little one. Its stamped GM Co. Mfg Inc in New York. I picked it up a long time ago at some random sale and didn't see the writing until i got home.

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

Can you share more info on this one in the middle? Very interesting little hammer...

That's a Maxwell's Silver Hammer . . .

Jim

 

[Sirdowski]

A recently restored Tors hammer in the original blue painting.
I have also put varnish on the new handle, to make it easier to clean.

That looks badass.

 

[bigcaddy]

That's a Maxwell's Silver Hammer . . .

Jim

I see Jim is a Beatles fan