Split head hammers

[My Old Tools]

Split head hammers have become my favorite new old tool.

I use them like a third hand for adjusting the mill, seating parts in the lathe chuck, assembling stubborn parts, etc. They are currently made by Garland in Saco, Maine as they have been for many years. In the past they were also made by Chicago. Garland has several types of replacement heads for them, most commonly rawhide, but also various plastics, nylon, copper, etc.

Garland #3 in rawhide.

Garland #1 in rawhide that I restored and put in new heads.

Chicago #2 with new plastic heads.
The numbering scheme starts at #0 equal to 1 inch, and goes up by 1/4 inch increments, so #1 is 1.25", #2 is 1.5", and so on.

 

[Jcrapola]

Yeah love the old garlands. I used to be a stonecutter as a young man, and we always had LOTS of them around. All rawhide heads. I swear there was at least one bigass #6. Still a one-hander. But big and heavy! I dont use mine as much as i used to (displaced by the trusty cook deadblow). But, I did use my number 3 for setting tile in my laundry room yesterday!

 

[mikebaker1129]

I have a Chicago that I would like to get some new ends for.
This old unit appears to be 1 piece ,I am not sure I could get them installed if I found them.
Any tips ?

 

[dutchgray]

Thor makes similar split head hammers here in the UK, they are also very nice.

 

[My Old Tools]

My Chicago is a splithead. I have seen the one piece heads on old Chicago and Garland hammers. You might email Garland and ask them.

 

[Packard V8]

FWIW, I've got several of the solid head, as out here, they seem more common than the splits.

The replacement rawhide faces are readily available, but will cost more than the whole used hammer one finds at a garage sale.

Problem I have with the solid heads is out here in the dry west, the rawhide shrinks up and loosens. The fix is to soak the head in water and then pound the **** out of something with both faces. That mushrooms both the outside and inside and seats the rawhide.

jack vines