What to do with old hammers?

[NUTTSGT]

Outlaw, you're a hammer hog my friend.



A hammer that has given you a life of service, deserves the hammer hall of fame and hung on the wall.

 

[Jarhead0408]

Soooooooo........ why exactly did they have creepy music playing in the Tom Allen video?

Didn't seem creepy to me at all.

 

[celticbhoy]

Soooooooo........ why exactly did they have creepy music playing in the Tom Allen video?

Didn't seem creepy to me at all.

That's what I thought too, as if someone was about the smack the camera guy over the head with a hammer at any moment...

 

[Outlawmws]

Maybe that was the second, (or third) cameraman?

 

[woody 73]

When I first looked at the video I had to laugh because I knew that between outlawmws, jeffmoss26 and myself we had nothing on that guy. I wonder what the original GJ member (M-EGT) must be thinking tonight after seeing the video and how we all love hammers?

 

[Outlawmws]

Outlaw, you're a hammer hog my friend.



A hammer that has given you a life of service, deserves the hammer hall of fame and hung on the wall.

Thanks, I think...

 

[ZRX61]

I found one like you have there with the loose handle, Paid $2 for it, Some silly sod on Ebay paid $27 for it

 

[Mohawk Dave]

I may have missed it, but are old USA hammers forged or cast? (They look forged.)

And does that go for ball peens, engineers, claws, etc...or are they different?

I know in another thread we discussed that framing hammers are super hard, as well as drilling hammers, and ball peens are softer....

 

[RCStocker]

You can soak your heads and expand the wood. Then sell them before they shrink. I would buy metal wedges and pound them in tight or cut a v groove with a chisel and pound a hard wood wedge That is hard but can be done.

If the faces are bad tighten the handles and use them to pound steel stakes or wood ones when setting forms for concrete. You always need some beaters you can wack things with in construction. You never want to hit tempered steel to tempered steel. It will flake and go flying. Many a time it ends up in the old eye ball.

If they are good hammer brands and in good shape you can get a replacement handle and they come with wedges. If they are cheap then they are not worth the handle because the handle will cost more than a new hammer of that quality.

Go soak your heads. LOL

 

[Outlawmws]

Oh King Nero... Outlaw, Jeffmoss and myself have only a very small collection if some kind soul can help with a link to the following YOUTUBE video you will be amazed at his collection.

Hammer collection
By Tom Allen

One thing about the vid with 2K hammers; most if not all were claw hammers

 

[Outlawmws]

DON'T soak the heads, you just destroy the handles further. That is just asinine advise. Fix the looseness properly or not at all...

I'd class anyone that did so to sell it before it could get loose again to be no better that a slimy used car salesman dumping 60 wt in an engine to try to get it to stop smoking to sell it off.

 

[ADSR]

love the body hammers, outlaw!

 

[king nero]

Thanks for the pics and the youtube link.
It appears I'm on a mission now...

I guess I'd better start with rubber hammers now, as my wife will more than likely start throwing them at me! (That's the advantage of collecting anvils, they're much harder to throw!)

 

[jeffmoss26]

Outlaw has me beat by at least double! I have no body hammers and only one sheet metal hammer

 

[Canadian Charlie]

Keep all your hammers, throw nothin away. EVER!!!!

 

[Midman914]

Body hammers are my weakness, but the price of them and the scarcity other than ebay keeps me from getting out of hand. I will only buy if it is a good deal. Therefore I only have four of them. A Martin fiberglass, Snapon fiberglass, Snapon wood and a Herbrand. All like new and I probably have less that $30 invested all together. That's one third of a new Snapon, but I want lots more. Just not going to pay ebay prices for them. Their scarcity makes the hunt that much more fun. And for the title of the post question, buy them cheap, clean them up, fix them and use them. Or send them down the line to the next guy that will do right by them.

 

[bluedcanoed]

xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[M-EGT]

Since everyone's convinced me to keep them, let me ask this.

What about one that is truly damaged?
I have one at the house that has a broken claw. What to do with that?

 

[Midman914]

Since everyone's convinced me to keep them, let me ask this.

What about one that is truly damaged?
I have one at the house that has a broken claw. What to do with that?

If you are going to do any metal work you can shape it into some sort of dolly that you secure in a vice.

 

[king nero]

or weld it. It's not like it's a compressor tank ...

 

[jjjrmx5]

Here's teh 2 lb./32oz no-name cross peen I found back in May.

Rusty head. Handle held on by a wood screw and a bent over sprial nail. WTF! Handle was also split at both near the head (the 4 " split in the handle in the first pic) and at the handle. The thing was ready to split and fail big time.


Bought a new handle made in Indiana USA.

Took most of the mushrooming off the head on a grinder and then cleaned it up with a roloc scotchbrite pad.

A couple coats of Minwax stain/sealer on the handle once installed and done.

Fitting the handle took the most time but no more than 15-30 minutes tops.
Wood and metal wedge fitment a no-brainer.

Thus, now a new "old" useable hammer. For free.

Pics below.

 

[JJThrasher]

If you want to get rid of them without work, there's a guy in Findlay Ohio that used to buy old hammers, axes, ect and fix them and resell them. I bought some off of him a while back. If you look on Craigslist you might be able to find his phone number.

 

[WWIIjeep]

DON'T soak the heads, you just destroy the handles further. That is just asinine advise. Fix the looseness properly or not at all...

I'd class anyone that did so to sell it before it could get loose again to be no better that a slimy used car salesman dumping 60 wt in an engine to try to get it to stop smoking to sell it off.

This isn't a defense of that particular suggestion, because the author didn't specify what "soak" to use, and the second part of the suggestion is just plain dishonest, as you say, but an old and time-tested shop trick was in fact to use glycerin to tighten hammer handles. When used in combination with tightening the wedge(s), it works, especially where wild humidity swings are a problem, and it lasts for quite a while, but it's not a permanent fix; you have to reapply periodically.

By mentioning glycerin, I'm not advocating its use now, just pointing it out as a once fairly common fix. As if everyone still has a bottle of glycerin on the shelf to use for such purpose now anyway.

 

[383 240z]

Cant believe nobody beat me to it. What to do with old hammers? You hammer old nails!!




Thanks folks I'll be here all week and please tip your waitress!!! Keith

 

[Mohawk Dave]

I may have missed it, but are old USA hammers forged or cast? (They look forged.)

And does that go for ball peens, engineers, claws, etc...or are they different?

I know in another thread we discussed that framing hammers are super hard, as well as drilling hammers, and ball peens are softer....

 

[77thor]

Donate to Goodwill, Salvation Army, or Habitat ReStore

 

[WWIIjeep]

I may have missed it, but are old USA hammers forged or cast? (They look forged.)

And does that go for ball peens, engineers, claws, etc...or are they different?

In general, higher-quality hammers are forged alloy steel and lower-quality (cheap) hammers are cast steel. Pretty much holds true regardless of hammer style.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

In general, higher-quality hammers are forged alloy steel and lower-quality (cheap) hammers are cast steel. Pretty much holds true regardless of hammer style.

ok, so older hammers that are broke, (like missing a claw), should allow me to modify and weld as needed.

I want to make a double headed from a Vaughan 999 I have with a broken claw. It is a heavy smooth face. I want to weld a waffle face where the claws are. This is for disassembling pallets. I use a large Gorilla Bar for prying the wood apart, the smooth face for tapping the wood, and the waffle for banging the nails backward.

 

[Zeke]

I have a hammer that was given to me by a switchman at the railroad yard. It was company equipment and they issued large ball pein hammers. It never had any markings on it except "wear safety goggles." Probably made in Taiwan as it's about 25 years old now. It's been a damn good beater and it still has a tight original handle.

But, you do have to watch out for hammer heads. I usually don't trust what I don't know the history of unless it's stamped. I agree about the top left had being possibly cast junk that could end up hurting someone.