Why would a hammer be copper plated? (Not solid copper)

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I bought this great little supposedly copper cross-peen hammer on eBay to use for adjusting planes. It is very small. The head is maybe 3" long and 3/4" diameter. I was really stoked because I was looking for a hammer that would be easy on the plane but have some weight to it. I figured this copper hammer was made for non-spark applications around flammable liquids, but would be perfect for what I intended to use it for.

The hammer arrived with tire tracks across the package, and the handle was broken. No worries, because I really had in mind to make my own handle for it out of flamed maple. Since I had the head off, and after much contemplating, I decided to polish it up. I really liked the patina, but since I had a new handle I thought the head would look nice polished. Since it looked really coursely sanded, I decided to start by smoothing it out with some 1000 grit paper. To my surprise, when I did this, the copper came off, and below it was steel or some other silver metal.

Why would a hammer be copper plated? Corrosion resistance? Really cheap fake copper hammer? Perhaps some sort of welding application like solder removal with some metal that won't stick to copper so that the head doesn't stick to the work? I can't figure it out. I am sad now that I sanded it, but it still serves well for the intended purpose.

This is the before pic. I don't have a picture handy of the aftermath, but it's basically same thing, just silver. My only regret is I probably paid way too much now that I know it isn't copper.


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[Dan Hintz]

I figured this copper hammer was made for non-spark applications around flammable liquids, but would be perfect for what I intended to use it for.

Why would a hammer be copper plated?

You answered your own question (or that is at least one application for it). A solid copper hammer is expensive, but coating it in a thin layer solves the problem on a budget.

[george wilson]

Is it a Japanese hammer? Looks like Japanese oak. I like the style of the head. Might be plated to not rust. Could be any of several reasons why it is plated.

[Pat Barry]

I don't know why you would want it to be copper except copper is very malleable and soft. Your post made me wonder about getting a copper finsih by plating. I think it would be fairly easy to do that. Here is what I found with a quick search
http://www.instructables.com/id/Clean-and-Simple-Electroplating/

[Malcolm Schweizer]

If it was non-sparking, and you hit something hard, it would scrape off the copper and still spark. Not sure if it is Japanese, but it looks similar to some steel Japanese hammers I have seen. The handle was sure sturdy- it was bent, but not broken.

[george wilson]

I'm pretty sure it was a low cost effort to make the hammer non rusting.

Very nice that they managed to drive a vehicle over your package.

[Dan Hintz]

I'm pretty sure it was a low cost effort to make the hammer non rusting.

Seems like better (and lower cost) ways to rust-proof something.

[Joe Bailey]

Why not return it, since it was advertised as having a "copper head"?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Well I never would have guessed it was plated, or I would certainly have left it alone. I feel like I ruined an artisan's work, but at least I didn't do what this person did to a beautiful clock: http://divinetheatre.blogspot.com/2012/11/turning-back-clock.html

Anyway, I will still give it love and it already has a new flamed maple handle. It's going to get lots of use.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Why not return it, since it was advertised as having a "copper head"?

It was sold by an antique dealer who just advertised what he thought it was. Until I sanded it, I also thought it was copper. No big deal. I still like it and will use it.

[Joe Bailey]

Hey, if you're happy with it, that's all that counts.

Now how about a shot of the finished product?

[Mike Henderson]

You can make a brass plane adjusting hammer pretty easy. Just buy some brass bar stock and turn it into a hammer (Online Metals is one source). Search the forum for brass hammer and you'll find some people who made some really nice hammers. I think George Wilson posted one some time back. Here's (http://www.mikes-woodwork.com/BrassHammer.htm)a tutorial I did on how to make a very simple brass hammer.

Mike

[Jim Koepke]

At one time I worked on the plating line in a circuit board shop. We would plate things just for the heck of it. Belt buckles, hammers or whatever we or our friends happened to have with them at the moment.

Why? Because we are human.

jtk

[george wilson]

Here's a quick brass hammer I made for a fellow member here,in trade for something I STILL haven't figured out the use of!! But,I still LIKE it!!

There's no real reason to make a brass hammer even this fancy. It will get thoroughly beaten up with use. A cylinder with an oval hole through it will do nicely. This one is about 2 1/2" tall,if I recall.

[Frank Strazza]

George, I sure wish you would write a book or put some DVDs out. I watched again part of that series you did on making the spinet. Grainy or no grainy, those videos are amazing! There are a lot of skills that you have that I hope can be recorded and passed on. Where are your journeymen and apprentices. Are they carrying on what you taught them?

Thanks for continuing to post and please keep doing so, I admire your work, you are a craftsman in the truest sense.

[george wilson]

Thank you,Frank.

About the copper plating: It is one of the lowest cost platings I can think of. Easily and quickly done,and sticks better than any kind of paint could. Sticks isn't the word! You have to wear it off.

[ray hampton]

the copper plating are usual done before a final plating of a different metal are apply to the copper ,I bought a brass hammer back in the 1970s which is still good today

[Malcolm Schweizer]

What Frank said!!! ^^^^

now that I have access to a lathe, a brass hammer is forthcoming. As for pics of the handle, first attempt was a real mess. I was trying to make a dainty neck that flowed into an organic handle. What I got looks like someone slipped with a chainsaw and hit their hammer handle. I give you "hammer handle 1.1." Here's hoping 1.2 looks a little better. The palm of the handle is supposed to curve to fit the hand. As I said, it did not come out as planned. Next time I will make a pattern. I shaped it freehand by eye.

[george wilson]

You are correct,Ray. Copper is the first metal plated under other metals. This is how they used to chrome plate car bumpers,back when cars were made of REAL METAL!!! Copper,then nickel,then chrome were plated onto the steel bumper.

But,that is not the case here. The copper was the only metal applied to this hammer. It was probably a cheap attempt to keep the hammer from rusting. You can practically copper plate a hammer head by just dipping it into copper sulphate.

One time I was trying to color case harden a pistol hammer for the first time. You add copper sulphate to the water based quench,with other chemicals,to get the "duck egg blue" color,which is ONE of the colors you want. I had not tried to do this before,and added too much copper sulphate. I took the orange hot hammer from the pot of charcoal,and quenched it in the quench. It instantly got heavily copper plated!! Murder to get it all off,what with the checkering on the hammer and all the contours.

I was young and in experienced at the time.

My point is that electricity was not even involved. They also had ways of plating without electricity in the 18th. C.. In fact,it is felt that they did gold plating even in ancient times,but with primitive batteries that have been discovered a long time back.

It is thought that some of the jewelry that Caesar gave Cleopatra might have been gold plated. It would have been considered very rare and valuable at the time.

[ray hampton]

some woodwork was overlaid with gold foil , how could they pour the gold so that it would be thin as foil , do you know that copper pots and pans will kill the germs ? I guess that copper forks and spoons would also kill the germs

[Dan Hintz]

how could they pour the gold so that it would be thin as foil?

Leaf is pressed that thin, not poured.

[ray hampton]

Leaf is pressed that thin, not poured.

Leaf may be pressed that thin TODAY but how did Moses tribe press gold that thin ? did they call the beaters on the telephone to beat the gold thin ?

[george wilson]

Gold leaf has been hammered between flattened layers of ox intestine(called gold beater's skin) for thousands of years. Gold leaf was not quite as thin in medieval times as it is today,but it was still quite thin. Today,if you hold up a leaf of gold,you can actually see through it. I have done that myself. It is about 3 millionths of an inch today,if I recall correctly. One time the master book binder took a whole book of gold leaf (back when it cost $2.75),and rolled up the whole thing. He thought he'd have a ball of gold. What he got was a very tiny little ball of gold. It is inconceivably thin.

[ray hampton]

that is too thin for my hands to touch, foil 1000 of a inch are thin enough for me
if you roll a gold foil that thin on a cool light bulb 60 watts will the bulb melt the foil

[george wilson]

I haven't tried melting gold foil with a 60 watt bulb. But,regular gold has quite a high melting point.

Copper pans are usually lined with pure tin. Acids from things like tomatos will eat the copper and that might not be desirable. Some things can be cooked in copper. But,serious poisoning can occur if you cook the wrong thing in copper.

Even tin is not the best thing to be cooking in. Stainless steel is not even the best thing. I guess ceramic would be the safest thing,if it has no harmful additives. Aluminum is not good either,though I grew up eating food and coffee cooked in aluminum.

I think we are all doomed!!!

[Kees Heiden]

In Myanmar, gold leaf is still made the old fashioned way. They produce a lot of gold leaf overthere, because it is good for your soul to press a piece on the sides of a buddha statue. Some of these large statues in the temples are covered with a thick layer of gold over the centuries. These leafs are made in small shops with hammers on stone anvils. They are pounding all day long on a piece of gold and it turns out very thin indeed. Hard work in the heat.

http://www.bugbog.com/images/galleries/Myanmar-Pictures/beating-gold-leaf.jpg

http://myanmartoursasia.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/myanmar-making-gold-leave.jpg?w=490&h=326

[george wilson]

If you notice,the gold leaf is actually encased in multiple layers of gold beater's skin. Not struck directly on the stone,of course. Many sheets of gold leaf are stacked alternately between the gold beater's skin layers. I have seen these packets of leaf and skin about 3" thick. Of course,there may be differences between how they do it over there vs. in the Western countries.

[Chris Fournier]

It is plated because it is a cheap piece of junk. However, make a custom handle and it is now a pretty sweet tool! I have lousy Chinese 1 pound hammer that a friend gave me, horrible like your hammer. I made a nice white oak handle for it and I use it all the time, I love it, it is still a cheap hammer. I wouldn't part with it for $$$. Enjoy your copper plated hammer!

On another note I bought a spot welder made in 1912, the two arms were 2" diameter copper round. I have used this copper to make hammers - huge PITA! They have white ash handles, I love to whack stuff with thes hammers - non-marring.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I finally found something from a reliable source that would confirm that the copper plating is for corrosion resistance. Japan Woodworker:
http://www.japanwoodworker.com/Product/156284/11oz-Hand-Engraved-Octagon-Plane-Adjusting-Hammer.aspx

Also found some other copper plated Japanese hammers here, but it did not say why they are copper plated:
http://www.fine-tools.com/ham7.htm


Really kicking myself for what I did, but it was done innocently. I thought I had a solid copper hammer. I did just find on eBay what appears to be a solid copper hammer, and bought it. It looks like heck- the face is a bit mashed and the sides are dinged, but that's to be expected from a copper hammer, and I plan to dress it up with a file and sandpaper. It has yet to arrive. I'll post pics here when it does.

Why the big interest in copper hammers? I have long thought copper would be good for a plane adjusting hammer, and found the one in this post. Since that didn't turn out to be copper, I figured one more try. After that I may at some later date get some copper rod and make one. This is all really just curiosity killing the cat, but very, very slowly and cruely. I am not expecting much other than it won't rust and perhaps would be more gentle on wooden planes. Other than that it's just a fun curiosity.

By the way- total off-topic, but I also bought a surgeon's bone chisel (a new one, not a used one!) that I am going to grind down to make a "kerfing chisel" or whatever you call it for hammering the kerf on half-blind dovetails. I figure since I'm half-blind myself, those are the kind I need to be making. :-) I bought it because they are stainless steel and also they are already much thinner than woodworking chisels. I figure since it won't be sharpened stainless would be a good option, and the bone chisels are already very thin with a nice handle incorporated. I will start a separate thread when it arrives, which should be late this week or early next week.

[george wilson]

You might find that a surgeon's bone chisel is pretty soft. They like their chisels to leave a rough cut as it heals better than a smooth cut. I have a surgeon's chisel,and it was a big disappointment.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Awwww there you go- spoiling everything with logic, reasoning, and years of experience. Haha. Actually I admit I thought it would be exactly the opposite- hard and more difficult to grind, but solely due to ignorance of the subject. Hopefully not setting myself up for another fail post. We shall see. Sure looks good in pictures.

[Ryan Mooney]

I will admit that this thread tempts me to copper plate a few random junky tools and then float then back onto an unsuspecting marketplace via some mostly anonymous means just for fun :)

[Stew Denton]

Malcolm, I just had an odd though on the hammer. It may have been part of a grade school kids copper plating science experiment. You never know.

Stew