Plane hammers

[Ellen Benkin]

I've done a search and all I can find is info on chisel hammers. What do you recommend for planes? I would think that a wooden face would cause fewer problems, but maybe I'm wrong -- often happens.

[Randy Karst]

There will likely be many opinions on this subject. I have been happy to date with the Lee Valley Plane Hammer: http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=46540&cat=1,230,41182

[paul cottingham]

The LV plane hammer is a good piece of kit. Works great.

[Tony Wilkins]

I got mine from chester tool works... http://www.chestertoolworks.com/planehammers.htm Works well for me.

[steven c newman]

I have an old Tinner's Riveting hammer, about 7 oz. Square head, cross pean. Also does very good at driving small nails and brads.

[Tom M King]

I use the Estwing hammer with red and yellow plastic heads that you can find in the big box stores (one end harder than the other), and sometimes a little 4 oz. brass ball peen hammer. The Estwing works on most of my molding planes just fine, and doesn't leave a mark.

[george wilson]

I made a little plane hammer head for John Collocia. It is about 2 1/2" tall,brass. It was a trade. I didn't finish it highly since,being brass,it will get beat up anyway. My own little brass plane hammer is so beat up by now(made in the 70's),I haven't posted pictures of it.

[Jim Matthews]

The smaller Stanley "soft face" hammer works for me.

You can do the same adjustment with a replacement hatchet handle,
if you want to go the less expensive route.

I would be more concerned about having a face that's small enough
to reach the sides of the blade for lateral adjustment than the face material.

Don't strike the blade with a steel hammer.
Too many of my old planes in rehab are deformed from that abuse.

[Steve Voigt]

George Wilson, that is a gorgeous hammer head!!
Here's mine, sorry about the cell phone pic. I no longer have access to a metal lathe, so I kept it pretty simple. The head is 3/4" brass hex. I drilled and tapped for a 5/16"-18 stud, then attached a piece of lignum vitae and shaped it to match the brass. The handle is walnut.
If I did it over again, I wouldn't use the lignum. Better to have something medium hard, and softer than your plane bodies & wedges.
If you're going to plunk down money, I would second Tony's suggestion of the Chester toolworks hammer. Mine is basically a dumbed-down version of that.

289042

[Jim Koepke]

Mine is made from things I had around.

289053

It is about 7" tall. I think the head is lignum vitae.

I only have a few planes that need adjustment this way. It is also used on my spoke shaves.

The idea of hitting metal against wooden planes or painted surfaces of a metal plane or spoke shave makes me a little uneasy.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

Interesting collection of hammers.

For some years I used a shopmade wooden hammer, ala HNT Gordon, to strike both a wooden body and the blade. Terry Gordon continues to use this style of hammer and obviously does so quite successfully. So, this is a cheaper alternative, just a bit too light for my taste ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Mallets%20and%20hammers/Malletforwoodies1.jpg

Other than Lee Valley, the only other manufacturer of plane hammers that I am aware of is our own Dave Anderson (lower hammer) ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Mallets%20and%20hammers/Planemallet2.jpg

The hammer at the rear is one I made and prefer as it is more compact. The one side is faced with leather ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Mallets%20and%20hammers/Planemallet3_zps14ca3d5d.jpg

It weighs in at 7 oz, while Dave's is 8 oz. Both are a good mass for this type of hammer.

I am not happy with an applied wooden face as it simply does not hold up for long. I have tried many times, many different woods, but the wood will crack. In the end I turned to horse butt leather, and this works well.

Dave, what about a leather cylinder that can be screwed onto the end of yours in place of the wood?

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Mallets%20and%20hammers/Mallets2.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Neeley]

Ellen,

A wooden hammer is used with wooden bodied planes.

A small steel hammer works better for blade adjustment.

Some use brass.

Brass and wood are common with chisels. I refer wood myself.

Glen-Drake is one manufacturer.

Jim in Alaska

[george wilson]

Thre little brass hammer is primarily for tapping the blade. I install a strike knob made of some very hard wood like ebony if I intend to hit the body. Then,I use a wooden mallet on the strike knob.

[George Vincent]

I use the LV plane hammer on all my wooden planes and recommend it without reservation.

[Ellen Benkin]

Thanks for all the very useful comments. Some of the "homemade" hammers look too beautiful to use! I think I'll go with the LV hammer. I always like their products.

[Frank Drew]

There are small Japanese steel hammers intended for use with their wood-bodied planes.

I've got a Spiers infill plane that needs hammer adjustment but I prefer something softer than steel for striking the plane body itself.

[steven c newman]

found a photo of Mine.289127Might need it in a few days, though, right now I'm stocking up on a few "parts"289128 Big block is some very old, well seasoned Oak. Slat is more of the same. Stay tuned..

[Winton Applegate]

The Japanese dudes just go at it with a steel plane adjusting hammer. I hesitate to ding up my wood planes.
I have always coveted this hammer but put it off until it doubled in price. Stupid me, I thought fifty dollars was a little steep to pay.

http://www.japanwoodworker.com/product/156284/11oz-Hand-Engraved-Octagon-Plane-Adjusting-Hammer.aspx


I would think that a wooden face would cause fewer problem

You’d think wouldn’t you ? I did. I was wrong.

I made this nice plane adjusting hammer for my wooden planes with a lignum vitae head and hickory handle. It was pretty happy with my rock maple plane that I made and the Japanese oak planes but
when it came time to use it on my super nice Old Street Tools coffin smoother.
Nope !

One or two taps told me it was time to come up with another plane adjusting hammer (mallet ?, hammer ? mallet ?)

http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy298/noydb1/Theveryfirstcurls.jpg (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/noydb1/media/Theveryfirstcurls.jpg.html)


Don’t worry Larry and Don, I stopped before any real blemish was evident.

soooo

Plastics, young man, get into plastics, it's the future. Remember that scene from The Graduate ?

Here is my latest.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Z7GGKQ/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I use the copper tip and the red plastic tip.

I see David W. has one. It may be a bit light. I was interested in his thoughts but have not ran across his response here.

PS: I keep one of these with pristine faces for when I need to get Western with a stuck blade etc.

http://www.amazon.com/Craftsman-9-38292-12-Ounce-Plastic-Tip-Hammer/dp/B007KHE232/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1399844565&sr=8-4&keywords=replaceable+tip+mallet

[Derrell W Sloan]

I've been using this cheap little mallet from HF and so far have been very happy with it.

http://www.harborfreight.com/double-sided-mallet-with-wooden-handle-98285.html

[Tom M King]

I know it's beneath most to use such a cheap hammer, and especially with plastic parts, but I keep one of these in each my moulding plane toolboxes, and it works just fine the majority of the time, and never damages anything. Only a rare once in a while will I need to find the little brass hammer to adjust the iron. All my molding planes are old ones.

I actually like buying old planes that the wedge and iron are jambed together tight enough that "you can't get them apart". I have always been able to get one right apart with this hammer with not a mark left on the plane, and the wedge always ends up fitting perfectly with no extra fiddling.

http://www.estwing.com/sf_red_yellow_mallet_hammers.php

15 bucks in Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Estwing-12-oz-Double-Face-Soft-Hammer-DFH12/202183882

[Joe A Faulkner]

You could build your own. Rob Rozaieski (Logan's Cabinet Shoppe) has a uTube on Adjusting a Wooden Plane where he shows a couple of mallets that he made for wooden planes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grs-U_7PoII

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Somehow I ended up with one of these (http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/item/1296?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=2014-05-gp&gclid=CPDslPWAqL4CFaYF7AodKlYACg&tab=Pictures)

Which is what I've been using mostly as of late. Works well.

I also have one of these (http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/item/4895?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=2014-05-gp&gclid=CMrE3PWAqL4CFbTm7Aod2UsA2g&tab=Pictures), (although not from Stew Mac, I don't think) kicking around which I liked until the head started to get loose.

[Tony Wilkins]

Found out about these hammers from an auto mechanic site as recommended for BFH duty. http://www.hammersource.com/Thor/ Might cause too much thunder though.

[Jim Koepke]

I know it's beneath most to use such a cheap hammer...

Can't get much cheaper than making it out of a broken chisel handle and a piece of scrap or even fire wood.

jtk

[Juan Hovey]

George - Wow. Juan Hovey