Shop built plane hammer

[Dominic Greco]

Here's some photos of a the plane hammer I finished up last night.





The 1" dia brass head weighs about 4 oz and is faced with a "plug" of end grain bubinga on one side. The end of the brass head with the bubinga has a 7/16" hole drilled in it. The bubinga plug was turned a bit over sized and featured a tenon on the back to match the hole in the brass. Then it was epoxied in place and the assembly turned smooth. The 3/8" dia hole for the handle was drilled with a milling machine and a "V" centering jig back when I cut the stock to length.

The handle is hickory and is about 9" long. It was turned to shape and then shaped with a spoke shave, rasp, and sandpaper. The wedge in the handle is also hickory and was glued into a slot in the end of the handle after I installed the hammer head. The wedge really does a great job of making the hammer feel very solid.

I signed my name using a wood burning pen (another useful relic from my wood turning days!) and the handle was given several coats of Danish oil.

I tried it out on a coffin smoother and was very pleased with the feel. It allows me to adjust it a lot finer than the rubber/urethane hammer I was using before.



Overall I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. I had a couple false starts when I first began this project but all in all it came out the way I wanted.

Thanks for viewing!

[David Gendron]

realy nice work Dominic, I guess you use the brass on the iron and the wood on the body of the plane?

[Dominic Greco]

Thanks for the compliment!

realy nice work Dominic, I guess you use the brass on the iron and the wood on the body of the plane?

Yup, that's it! It really does help and you get a very good feel when adjusting the plane using the wooden side. It may just be a "placebo effect" but I feel like I can sneak up on a setting easier.

[Jim Becker]

Very nice, Mr Greco!

[Mike Henderson]

I think I've seen that hammer before! Looking good.

Mike

[Dominic Greco]

I think I've seen that hammer before! Looking good.

Mike

Mike,
Thanks! If I'm not mistaken it was your article that inspired me to build my own hammer!

[Mike Cutler]

Nice work Dominic. That's a very nice tool you made there. Well done.

But I do have a question though concerning this statement.

"(another useful relic from my wood turning days!)"

I hope you haven't quit turning?

[Frank Drew]

Very nice work, Dominic; thanks for posting the photos.

[george wilson]

A nice hammer,Dominic. If you bevel the edges of the wooden face,it will help the wooden face to not chip easily when you happen to strike right on the edge of the face.I agree,soft rubbery hammers are not as good as brass or wood.I use a little brass hammer I made on the iron. It is now pretty beat up,but at least my planes are not.

[Mike Henderson]

A nice hammer,Dominic. If you bevel the edges of the wooden face,it will help the wooden face to not chip easily when you happen to strike right on the edge of the face.I agree,soft rubbery hammers are not as good as brass or wood.I use a little brass hammer I made on the iron. It is now pretty beat up,but at least my planes are not.

I agree about beveling the face of the wood, George. I found that out the hard way.

Mike

[Dominic Greco]

I agree about beveling the face of the wood, George. I found that out the hard way.

Mike

George & Mike,
Thanks for the suggestion about beveling the sides of the wooden face. You can't really see it from the photo, but when I was sanding it I tried to bevel the edge. But it's no where near enough

[Dominic Greco]

Nice work Dominic. That's a very nice tool you made there. Well done.

But I do have a question though concerning this statement.

"(another useful relic from my wood turning days!)"

I hope you haven't quit turning?

Mike,
Thanks for the compliment!

I really haven't given up wood turning. It's just that I don't have the same "zeal" that I used to. I see the lathe as a tool in my arsenal. Not just as the main tool supported by the arsenal! I mean, after you turn a couple hundred bowls and you get tired of it!

I turn a bowl or two just to keep in practice. But not near as much as I used to.

[Dominic Greco]

A nice hammer,Dominic. If you bevel the edges of the wooden face,it will help the wooden face to not chip easily when you happen to strike right on the edge of the face.I agree,soft rubbery hammers are not as good as brass or wood.I use a little brass hammer I made on the iron. It is now pretty beat up,but at least my planes are not.

George,
That is a real compliment coming from a craftsman such as yourself.

As I mentioned in my reply to Mike, I think that beveling the edges is a good idea. I'll probably add that feature later on today (if/when I can sneak out to the shop).

[Dave Anderson NH]

Beveling the edges is good, but putting a slight crown on both the brass head and the wooden head is even better. When I talk about a crown, I'm refering to a radius of 16-18" on the face of both heads. A slight bevel at the edges would still need to be done. The radius on the wooden end is very helpful in preventing noticeable dings in the heels and toes of wooden plane stocks (bodies). I'ver been doing it to my CTW hammers since the beginning.