Old hammer, new handle

[steven c newman]

All this hammer talk lately, got me to looking at one of mine.....nothing real exotic, or fancy, just an old Montgomery Wards Cobbler's hammer. Handle that WAS on it was ugly and loose. Way too short, and fat, except right before it went into the head. Found a 1x2 of White Oak. Dug out the drawknife, and a block plane. later cme a lot of sanding.

Sooo, after a coat of BLO, wipe on, wipe off, here we go..
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had to use a chisel to get a final fit for the head's eye.
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I also did a round-over on the handle's end, more for looks, I guess..
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Over all length is 10-1/4". Never weighed the hammer head.

I just might find some use for it...

[steven c newman]

waiting on the BLO to cure out. Normal hammer handles for me have a few wraps of black plastic tape at the end of the handle. Not so much for grip, more of a way for my hand to tell it is near the end of the handle.

There are no wedges used as there isn't much of a taper on the inside of the eye. Under that "claw", there is a "Montgomery Wards Co." and a Drop Forged. Letters are raised, inside a rectangle box. That big round head will leave a mark on your thumb, if your aim is off. DAMHIKT.....

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Dug out the drawknife, and a block plane. later came a lot of sanding.

And that is why I recently obtained a draw knife and a spoke shave, hoping that I could do similar things :D

There is hope for me!

Nice looking handle (in my opinion).

[steven c newman]

Since I didn't have a curved soled spokeshave, I had to use the drawknife. The spokeshave I do have, is a flat soled one Stanley #64. Would have had to do a lot more sanding.

[steven c newman]

have since added the tape ring on the end of the handle. I use that so my hand will know it is too close to the end of the handle. hate when a hammer flies off......Estwing blue handles....never could keep a grip on them. The blue part was hard for my hands to hold onto...Uncle Arthur..itis.

The "eye' has no taper. The handle is a very tight fit. No wedges were used.

[Jerry Thompson]

As an aside and humor. I recall reading, it's Dad's axe. it has two new heads and three new handles, but it's still Dad's axe.

[Stew Denton]

Steven,

Way to go, you made the fix in the same way I like to...the low dollar way that still does a good job! Anyway, the hammer is greatly improved, I'm sure.

Right now my project is to finish restoring a plane that I am working on, but have too many irons in the fire.

The white oak makes a nice looking handle.

Stew

[steven c newman]

What's nice about making these handles....your hands are right there, you can shape and sand until they match your hand exactly.

[george wilson]

Your handle is pretty authentic for a cobbler's hammer. They had rather short handles like the one you made,since they were used only for light work,like driving in shoe pegs or hob nails.

As toolmaker,I've had to make a few cobbler's hammer handles myself. Maybe an inch or 2 shorter. But,it really depends upon what you intend to do with the hammer. By the way, those hammer heads are not generally hardened,so you may dent them driving nails into wood rather than into leather.