Inspired by Mr. Wilson

[Cody Cantrell]

After seeing George's post on making a brass hammer it motivated me to finally make my plane adjusting hammer. It is brass with a Honduras Rosewood striking surface and handle. The grain is not oriented properly in the handle for a hammer but I dont see this thing being a heavy hitter. The head weighs 3.74 ounces. Thanks for looking.

Cody

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[Jim Koepke]

Looks like the inspiration is working.

Very nice.

jtk

[george wilson]

I am glad to see that someone has been inspired to make something!! Nicely done,Cody. I have also made some handles from super fine grained ash,and oriented the grain to show from the side. Like you said,it's not a heavy hitter,and my little handles are for hammers similar to the "graceful" hammers I posted here before.

[Mike Henderson]

Nice job. If others would like to make a small brass hammer, there's a tutorial here (http://www.mikes-woodwork.com/BrassHammer.htm) to make a simple one.

Mike

[Chris Griggs]

Very nice Cody.

How is the wood in the handle supposed to be oriented in a hammer?

[Cody Cantrell]

Thanks for the nice comments.
Chris, the annual growth rings should be parralell to the cheeks of the hammer so it doesn't splinter from the grain lifting.

[Bruce Haugen]

I am glad to see that someone has been inspired to make something!!

In a prior job I had a series of interns. A few years after one particular intern left to go to law school I ran into him at a local high school. I was very surprised at seeing him there and asked him what he was doing there. He said that the world didn't need another lawyer, but he had learned so much from his internship with me that he decided to change career paths and become a teacher instead. That was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever told me.

So, I'm telling you this: You provide inspiration in a lot of different ways, George, but that doesn't necessarily mean that a new something will be the result. Speaking for myself, you've inspired me to just get better at what I do make. I'll never achieve your level of craftsmanship, but that doesn't mean I can't try.

[george wilson]

We all get inspiration somewhere,Bruce. Mine was always there,but helped along a LOT by William Reimann,a great sculptor and all around artist I was luckily thrown in with in college when my Industrial Arts teacher(who was an old,by the book marine),got mad and quit his job at the college. Mr. Reimann went on to become the head of the art department at Harvard. Unfortunately,I haven't been able to come up with images of his work from the 60's,when I was with him,and which I much admired. He is still active today,but I understood what he was doing back then better.

Try Googling William P. Reimann. His work is amazing. He's not too much older than I am.

[Michael Ray Smith]

That's gorgeous!