Another George Wilson inspired hammer thread

[Ryan Baker]

George posted a thread about a month ago of a small brass hammer he made. Cody Cantrell already posted his version inspired by George. So here's my version. :)

These two hammers were done in more of a Warrington type style, kind of like the ones LN is selling. They are a nice size for plane adjusting hammers. One is 4.4 oz and the other is 5.0 oz. I don't have a metal lathe, so these were freehand turned on my wood lathe, and finished with files. The holes were opened up with a round file to give room for wedging the handles. The handles are riven ash (the darker one is just a dark wax).

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[george wilson]

Nice job!! IU see you used my little "step" near the eye. This should encourage others that you don't have to have a metal lathe to make tools. In fact,I made quite a few tools before I got a metal lathe. A wood bandsaw will saw brass quite well,as well as a wood lathe that can be used to turn brass. The eye can be drilled,and filed just a little oval so the handle won't rotate.

[Ryan Baker]

Thanks George. Yes, I borrowed your step detail on one of them.

[Dominic Walsh]

Ryan:

Very nice job. What turning tools did you use? Can you also post pics of the full handles? Did you cut the cross-pein on a bandsaw or by hand?

Thanks,

Dominic.

[Chris Griggs]

Those are pretty sweet. Something to be proud of. Its cool that you did that on a wood lathe. Thanks for sharing.

[george wilson]

In the thousands of years before we had modern metal turning lathes,metal was turned freehand on simple lathes,simpler than a modern wood lathe.


when
I was making patterns for the reproduction 18th.C. fire engine we made in the museum in 1981-82,I was impressed with the extremely perfect lathe turned threads that couplings on the original engine had. I could tell that they were not cut with dies,either. 4 threads per inch,80º "London V" threads,IIRC. Still used today,I believe. Several parts were threaded from the 30 castings I made patterns for.

When I was making steel spinning chucks for the PGA trophies,I had to use freehand wood lathe tools to cut the contours. Some of those chucks were about 8" in diameter. The chucks had to be polished,too,to prevent printing imperfections on the trophies.

[Ryan Baker]

Most of the turning I did with an "Oland" type tool, which is a round-end lathe cutter stuck in the end of a steel bar with a handle on it. I also used a regular HSS turning gouge, which will cut the brass just fine, though you will have some sharpening to do. The brass is a lot softer than the steel, so almost any normal turning tool will work. Low speed and slow cuts will get you there.

For the cross pein, I cut off the bulk of the material with a hacksaw and finished up with files and a little cleanup on some wet-or-dry paper.

Here is a quick picture of the full handles. I roughly copied the shape from another one I had around. The darker one I think is too fat, especially the bead at the head. If I were doing it again, I would probably do a shape more like the one on the LN hammers. You can see the handle wedges in the pictures. That worked really well. The holes were drilled on my drill press, and centered as well as I can get them with the slop in my drill press.
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One of these I will be using for a plane adjusting hammer. The other is a Christmas gift.

[Jim Stewart]

OK, I want to make a hammer. I have a wood lath but I don't have a jawed chuck. Can I still use the wood lathe to turn a hammer? Also I see that I can buy a 7/8" Brass 360 tube for about $20 per foot, but the shipping will be about $15 extra. Jim

[george wilson]

You can drill a hole in each end of your brass bar. Make the bar about 1/2" longer on EACH END than your hammer head so you can cut off the excess. Drill the hole for the headstock center large enough so that the point of the center can enter the hole deeply enough that the prongs of the center need to engage the brass before the center point fully fills the hole. Hacksaw the end of the brass in an X shape so the 4 prongs can enter the brass a bit and drive the metal around without slipping. The tailstock hole can be smaller,so the tailstock's center can enter the hole and fully fill it around the edges of the hole.Hopefully the headstock center';s point will fill the hole,too. You don't want the brass to get loose from the center points and be able to wobble about.

I'm not explaining this very well. Hope this makes sense. It would be very nice if you have a rotating (live) tailstock center. If you don't,keep the center lubricated. Don't let the tailstock center be too tight on the brass if it doesn't rotate,and check the tightness when the grass gets hot from being cut. It will expand and cause the tailstock center to get too hot. If this happens,the point of the center can get burned or wrung off. I had this happen early on in my career on my metal lathe,before I got a ball bearing tailstock center.

To be really correct,you should drill the tailstock end of the brass with a CENTER DRILL,which leaves a 60 degree tapered hole,which fits a 60 degree tailstock center. If you don't have such a drill,it will be o.k. to just use a regular drill. If you only have a standard wood lathe tailstock center,it may not be 60 degrees anyway. many wood lathe tailstock centers being sold today DO have the 60º center,though(which is actually for metal). The correct tailstock center for wood has a sharp,small point,with a round,sharp cup shaped edge around it. This is better for wood as it cannot sink into the wood deeply enough to split it.

Use your flat,scraper type wood lathe tools to turn the brass. Brass turns well with a flat topped cutter even in a metal lathe. Wear goggles as brass often makes a lot of fast moving little splintery chips that you don't want in your eyes,and a magnet won't get them out!! You may have to re grind your tools a few times, HSS tools are best,but carbon will do. I turned 8" steel spinning chucks with carbon steel wood lathe tools before I got HSS ones.

IMPORTANT: Get the tool rest as close to the brass as possible. Brass can grab,and instantly suck your cutting tool down into the gap between the brass and the tool rest. Of course,it won't make it,and the brass will be wrenched loose and go flying. You may also ruin your headstock center if this happens. Something HAS to give if the brass goes flying out.

I don't mean to make this sound terribly dangerous,but it CAN be tricky. I turn brass freehand all the time. Just make sure you follow these directions and wear googles.

In a wood lathe,it is safer if you run it at a slow speed in case of an accident. In a metal lathe,brass is cut at high RPM's,but you don't have the chuck,rigid spindle,cross slide,etc. that the metal lathe has.

Since you have no chuck,you'll have to hacksaw the ends of the hammer from the parent metal,and file a crown onto the ends. Do not try cutting off the brass with a cutoff tool. It will likely grab and fling the brass out of the lathe. You could cut PART of the way into the cutoffs,but finish most of the cutting off with a hacksaw. Do not try cutting off round brass with a bandsaw unless you can clamp it VERY securely. It will grab for sure if you don't have it clamped.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Those are just lovely little hammers.

[Ryan Baker]

Thanks for the comments, guys.

George is right about the "grabby" part. I have another half-done head with a nice gash in the side from when things decided to get grabby. :) I'll have to figure out something else to do with that one.

George, I understood your description of turning between centers just fine. It certainly can be done that way (with caution), but it sure is a lot easier with some sort of chuck.

[george wilson]

If he doesn't have a chuck,it can still be done. It was done with very simple means for thousands of years. But,I'll take my chucks !!!

Can you file flat cheeks on your gashed hammer to do away with the gash?

[Jim Stewart]

Thanks George, Your writings are very clear. I have one of those Conover wooden bed lathes. It does have a ball bearing tailstock. I don't know what a center drill is but I do have a drill press. I also have an egg-beater drill that I will use because of the control it gives. I don't really have any scraping tools but I have HSS gouges. I do have experience with those but the smaller gouge that I have is little used because it tends to be grabby. I make try to resharpen it at a different angle and try it on wood before the Brass.
I was thinking I want a hammer like Ryan made so that is less lathe and more hacksaw. I also know a guy that has a metal lathe. If it gets bad on my attempt I can go to him. He does not like others using his tools so I would just have to watch the turning part and then do the rest myself. Thanks Jim

[george wilson]

Brass likes sharp edges,but rather blunt cutting angles. Do not use an acute cutting edge. Can you grind the end of a flat file to a curved scraper? Just make the cutting angle about 10º when viewed from the side. And DO keep the toolrest as close to the brass as possible. Files are brittle,and you don't want one snapping off in your face.

I am buying brass when ENCO has a free freight promo code. Usually,though,its on purchases of $99.00+,though. Brass is heavy,so free freight is a good deal. Contact Enco and see if you can get on their mailing list of deals. Today only,for example,on orders of $199.00 or more,they give free freight + 20% off. Lately,they seem to be really getting more desperate to generate business,so deals are frequent. I have obliged them a few times recently ordering metal for free shipping.

[Ryan Baker]

Can you file flat cheeks on your gashed hammer to do away with the gash?

Maybe. The gash (not really that deep) is right on the side of the center hub area, where the handle would go through. It was only 3/4" diameter stock to start with. If I removed enough material to remove the gash, it would be getting pretty small to put a handle through. That's why I did that one over. I'll take another look at it and see if there is something like you suggested that would be good to do with it -- or if I will just turn it into something else entirely.

[Ryan Baker]

Brass likes sharp edges,but rather blunt cutting angles. Do not use an acute cutting edge. Can you grind the end of a flat file to a curved scraper? Just make the cutting angle about 10º when viewed from the side. And DO keep the toolrest as close to the brass as possible. Files are brittle,and you don't want one snapping off in your face.

Agreed. 10 degrees seems like a good angle that I have found too. And keep the edge sharp. Most wood turning tools have much more acute angles. If you are going to use one of those, you should first regrind the tool to a much less acute angle. As I mentioned, I did some of the turning with a small spindle gouge, with a fairly obtuse bevel angle. (This was mostly just to try. It works OK, but the scrapers generally work better.) Don't try something like a fingernail grind or it will be very grabby.

[Jim Stewart]

Thanks George, Yes I can make a scraper and will do that. I will definitely wear a shield.

Wish I lived closer. When I retired in 2006 I took a trip to Williamsburg hoping to learn something about making period furniture. I watched the guys there off and on for two days. I did not know what to ask so I came back with no new knowledge. I enjoyed the place and we had a good time. I have made a great deal of progress since but have a very long way to go. I enjoy your and many others insights and tips on this blog. Jim

[Dave Anderson NH]

Nicely done hammers!! Truning brass on a wood lathe is fun, but as George has said, turn carefully,slowly, and take precautions. Tool presentation is critical and I strongly recommend sharpening every tool carefully before starting. George is not kidding about having the toolrest as close as possible to the stock you are turning. You would not believe how quickly that tool can be violently torn from your hands if you present the tool too low on the stock and it gets between the toolrest and the bar stock. Start turning by rubbing the bevel high up on the brass and slowly, very slowly, raise the rear of the handle of the tool until it starts to cut. Stay on the upper 1/3 of the brass bar and you shouldn't have the tool grab on you. Remember that the brass does not have the flex or plasticity of wood so it is not at all forgiving when turned by hand.

[george wilson]

Exactly,Dave. I have a bunch of little,short freehand turning tools O made from 1/4" square W1. The blades are no longer than 3",and they have file handles on them. Many a time one of them has gotten hung up on brass and sucked right down between the tool rest and the brass !! There is not much leverage with such short tools,but I didn't want to use up my supply of W1 when they were made. I've warned everyone that I always do everything the hard way!!

Edit: (was in a hurry before),My brass is always clamped securely in a collet or another chuck,and cannot come flying out. So,you who are trying to turn it between centers,be careful to have a long enough tool,and DO keep the tool rest as close as possible,even if you are doing a curvy shape,and have to shift it about to keep it close to the place you are turning. Turning between centers is NOT a real secure way to hold your brass compared to being able to chuck it.