Some vintage wood handle hammers

[James Pickering]

I like this definition of patina: “The surface of an object that has grown lovely with use and the passage of time”.

I like my old hammers, not only for their historical associations, but also because of their handle patinations.

http://jp29.org/wwhammers.htm

[michael dilday]

Ok they are very nice. I am jealous. How does the nail holder work? Never seen one of those before.

[James Pickering]

Ok they are very nice. I am jealous. How does the nail holder work? Never seen one of those before.

http://jtc.net/hchc/nailer/

and for a great demonstration ……………

http://jtc.net/hchc/nailer/sales-maker/

…………… actually there are are improved versions of this now whereby the nail is held in position using a rare earth magnet rather than using spring loaded ball bearings. Still, the Chaney application was pretty good in its day.

[lowell holmes]

I agree with you, but you obviously never used a Bluegrass Hammer. I have a 7 oz. and a 16 oz. Bluegrass hammers.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=Awr9H6nyWsZcozYA8UZXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEy a2Q1NW44BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjY2MzFfMQRzZW MDc2M-?p=blue+grass+hammer&fr=mcafee

[James Pickering]

I agree with you, but you obviously never used a Bluegrass Hammer. I have a 7 oz. and a 16 oz. Bluegrass hammers.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=Awr9H6nyWsZcozYA8UZXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEy a2Q1NW44BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjY2MzFfMQRzZW MDc2M-?p=blue+grass+hammer&fr=mcafee

Oh, but I obviously have, and used them for many years. In my opinion it is an excellent hammer ……………

[michael dilday]

Very interesting how the nail holders work. Never seen that before. My nail holder is my fingers. Interesting read about the company too. Thanks for the post.

[Jim Koepke]

Many carpenters when pressed to hold a board with one hand and drive a nail with the other hold the nail against the side of the hammer head and set it in, then just drive the nail. They could likely do it quicker than setting a nail in the head of a hammer and then setting the nail before driving.

There are also some hammers with a slot above the head with a magnet to hold the nail.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=32056&gclid=Cj0KCQjwnpXmBRDUARIsAEo71tQ6bGFujHILnksD7V1Q 9L84AZbtFv_1BjE-RKzkmqOC1dpmXiPwugcaAuqKEALw_wcB

jtk

[James Pallas]

Many carpenters when pressed to hold a board with one hand and drive a nail with the other hold the nail against the side of the hammer head and set it in, then just drive the nail. They could likely do it quicker than setting a nail in the head of a hammer and then setting the nail before driving.

There are also some hammers with a slot above the head with a magnet to hold the nail.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=32056&gclid=Cj0KCQjwnpXmBRDUARIsAEo71tQ6bGFujHILnksD7V1Q 9L84AZbtFv_1BjE-RKzkmqOC1dpmXiPwugcaAuqKEALw_wcB

jtk
Many that I worked with preferred curved claw hammers so they could put a nail between the claws with the head against the adz eye to set the nail one handed. Maydol is often credited with putting the adz eye form on hammers. I was around for the big change from curved claw smooth face to the waffled face rip claw heavier hammers like the infamous "Rocket". Nostalgia is a good thing. I wonder how many hammer variations there are. The hammer I use now is a Hart trimmer, wood handle nicely balanced easier for me to handle than the Hart framer I also have. It's 30 years old I know. I wonder if they still make them?
Jim

[lowell holmes]

Bluegrass hammers were my father's favorite. I just like a wooden handle hammer. Before nail guns came along, hammers were the only thing going.
I remember having 12 ounce, 16 ounce, and 20 ounce hammers . We used the 12 ounce for nailing trim.

[Jim Koepke]

I was around for the big change from curved claw smooth face to the waffled face rip claw heavier hammers like the infamous "Rocket". Nostalgia is a good thing. I wonder how many hammer variations there are.

Some derided the "waffled face" hammers as being for those who couldn't hit a nail straight. Others would comment when they left their mark on work by calling it the "union bug."

Just like there are people who collect sets of chisels or planes there are collectors of hammers. The number of variations is likely to remain an unknown quantity.

jtk

[Kurtis Johnson]

Those are nice. I had an interesting one given to me by an elder friend who was moving into an assisted living community. It's a Philadelphia Tool Company carpenters hammer. I like the script typeface. It's certainly achieved that beautiful patina. The handle has shrunk too far to be functional, however. So a new handle will be in order.

408922 408923

[James Pickering]

Those are nice. I had an interesting one given to me by an elder friend who was moving into an assisted living community. It's a Philadelphia Tool Company carpenters hammer. I like the script typeface. It's certainly achieved that beautiful patina. The handle has shrunk too far to be functional, however. So a new handle will be in order.

408922 408923
That is very nice, thank you. I too like the script makers mark.