Hammer time

[Jim Dunn]

Well I've finally finished my hammer:o The handle is made of walnut and the head is a piece of osage orange I got from Tom Sontag my local lumber supplier. See Tom, I finally made something:eek::eek::D It is mostly hand made except for the turning, ever the tapered head is hand planed. I learned that cutting the mortices for the handle not to cut to close to the edges of such hard wood. It has a tendency to split. I had to place a clamp across the head to keep that from happening. So I learned something and I think that counts.:)

Bummer, I found cracks running across both faces when I put the finish on.:( Course, since it weighs a ton, I'm probably going to hang it up and just look at it:D Thanks for looking.

Jim

[Joseph O'Leary]

Looks great. What angle did you end up using for the face?

[Jim Dunn]

8 degrees is what it ended up being. Was not the easiest thing I've ever cut with a hand saw.

[Corvin Alstot]

Great looking hammer.
I need to make one too!

[Jim Dunn]

Does anybody have any idea what to do with the cracks?? I thought "super glue" but I've already put Watco Oil finish on it and not sure it would work.

I also think I need a leather face to absorp some of the impact force from a chisel. Something like a sock with a leather thong to tie it on?? Please comment.

Jim

[Gary Herrmann]

Nice hammer, Jim! You can bring me one when you take a tour of my shop and get a cup of dust filled coffee.

[Jim Becker]

Jim, my mallet has an osage orange head with a nice split down the side. (I built it before I knew about things like...the evil pith) But it's hard as a rock, darn heavy and works perfectly. That crack is only an eye-sore, not something that affects how the mallet works. Someday, I'll make a new one, but I haven't felt the need so far.

BTW, I didn't put a finish on mine...osage orange taken up to 600 grit and beyond and then burnished gleams with a blinding shine.

[Jim Dunn]

Nice hammer, Jim! You can bring me one when you take a tour of my shop and get a cup of dust filled coffee.

I'll need a "few" cups to make another one of these.

Jim

[Jim Dunn]

[/quote]BTW, I didn't put a finish on mine...osage orange taken up to 600 grit and beyond and then burnished gleams with a blinding shine.[/quote]

I put the finish on thinking it would soak into the cracks and maybe do something good:eek::eek:, you know;)? As watco danish oil says it "hardens in the wood not on the wood":o I spun the whole thing on the lathe and the oil ran out of the cracks, so it hasn't hardened yet and that was 24hrs ago.

Jim