Small Brass Hammer I Made

[Leigh Betsch]

Made this for whack'n planes. The brass hammer is 2 3/8 long with a 1 1/8 diameter cherry face. The handle is ash. Weights 3 1/2 oz.

[Mike Olson]

Very nice. how did you attach the cherry to the face? What did you use to mill the brass?

[David Gendron]

Leigh, that is a realy nice looking hammer! I always wonder why guys like you don't make these for a living? It seems that if I had the ability to work metal, I would try my hands at making tools like that, I think there is a market for it!
Great work!

[Leigh Betsch]

Mike:
I milled the brass with my old Moore jig borer, and did the turning on my 1928 South Bend lathe. I tapped the end of the hammer face for a 8x32 and epoxied a screw into the cheery, screwed the cherry face on. I'm thinking about covering the end in leather, although that might dampen the strike too much.

David:
I would consider making a few heads to sell if I could get the Lie-Nielson price ($85). But considering you can buy a brass hammer from Garrettwade for $6 I think I'd go broke. I know if I had to make the handles I'd go broke, I made this one 4 times and I still don't like it.

[Richard Dooling]

Very nice indeed!

I have a couple of questions and admit to knowing little about metalworking.

Can brass be cut on a band saw with the right blade? I have a small 11" band saw I could set up for this.

Does anyone have a good suggestion for sources of small quantities of brass rod, tubing and sheet goods?

Any tips would be appreciated.

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[Leigh Betsch]

McMaster Carr will sell small quantities of brass. I think 12" lengths are about the shortest.
You probably could get by with an 11" band saw for infrequent use but if you were going to cut a lot of metal I think you'd be disappointed in the lack of power.

[Richard Dooling]

I don't see myself getting into this in any big way. Occasional hammers, marking knives and such. Of course I never expected to become addicted to hand planes either.

I was thinking of the 11" saw (an old Shopsmith I inherited) because I don't necessarily want to have to deal with metal bits on my 14" saw.

I will try McMaster Carr.

Thanks for the info.

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[george wilson]

We cut 1/2" brass frequently on our old 20" Delta bandsaw. we generally used a used blade that wasn't quite fit for accurate wood sawing anymore. Funny thing was,the brass cutting seemed to make the blade sharper. It must have built up a "false edge" of compacted brass on the points of the teeth.

You've got to be real careful about mixing wood and metal. You don't want to end up jointing or planing brass embedded wood. I always cleaned out the bandsaw carefully,and we soon got a proper metal cutting bandsaw.

I can't be sure that a very low powered bandsaw will cut brass. IF you try to saw round stock,CLAMP it to the miter gauge. Brass can get grabby.

[Richard Dooling]

Thanks George,

That's why I thought it might be a good idea to not use the wood saw for metal. Seems sensible to separate materials if I can.

"Grabby"? Any recommendations on blade/tooth configuration? Lubrication?

I'm not fond of the 11" wheel as it seems small enough that I am concerned about early blade failure - but it's what I have. Hey what am I complaining about?? I have two bandsaws!! That's a better problem to have than many other folks.

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[Clarence Miller]

The hammer looks exquisite. I was wondering if there were any of you who had played around with hobby metal casting. I do historical re-enactments of the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Era 1820-1840. My "craft" is rope making but have been leaning towards creating a wood working demo of the era. After 5 years of making rope I am ready to try a different trade. The only thing that is keeping me from starting is the fact I will have to have a "shop" that can be put up and torn down for a weekend and it has to be period correct. Any suggestions?

[Chuck Tringo]

If your only making small quantities, how about a $20 hacksaw from the Borg...if you neander wood, why not neander a bit o' brass ? ;)

[David Gendron]

So you can send it to me and keep practicing!!!
It does look good!

[george wilson]

I mean,be careful cutting round objects on the bandsaw. brass,like wood,can grab and rapidly rotate. Except,brass is apt to break the blade,or injure your hand.

[Richard Dooling]

Chuck - I don't mind doing some cross cutting by hand, although my elbow doesn't care much for it! But I'm looking at cutting some curves in thick material. Really something you would do on a milling machine. I have a small Unimat metal lathe but not the milling attachment. I guess I could file the curves if needed.

George - Thanks for that. I like my fingers just fine where they are, not on the shop floor.:eek: I was thinking that I could drill out a block of wood to accept round stock, stabilize the stock in the hole to keep it from spinning and band saw through the block and the stock.

I used a similar setup to bore a 3/8" hole in some round stock a while back. I picked that trick up from Mike Henderson's tutorial on making a small hammer. Anyway I plan on keeping my hands well clear of the cutting zone.

I think I've found a local source for brass - I hope.

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