57. All about Hammers

There are more types of hammers than you can shake a nail at, but in this episode we look at some of the more common and useful ones you might use in your handtool workshop.
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[@iainmcculloch5807]

That "rubber hammer" looks a lot like my dead-blow hammer.

[@gjbmunc]

True!

[@derekmills1080]

Always interesting. Thanks. You might be interested in the following (UK version): The slim hammer with the long handle usually has the name ‘panel pin hammer’, used for knocking in small panel pins or even tacks or small fixings. The short hammer with the wide head (almost mushroom shaped) and the wide pein (or peen) - I have my late gran’s Victorian one, including her last (cast iron forme for holding shoes - a shoe last). It used to be common in Lancashire and beyond for cotton workers to fix their own leather boots and wooden clogs. The hammer had a dual purpose; firstly to knock in shoe nails and studs, secondly to reshape the welt with the pein. Finally, there are other origins, but I like this one. Before the development of better steel and cabling, early engineers just couldn’t lift heavy machinery. Robert Stephenson had no crane strong enough to lift the half finished locomotives in the early days of steam locomotive manufacture. Consequently, their frames and boilers were built on top of stout wooden frames that were lifted gradually with wedges so that wheels and axles could be fitted. The wooden frame was called a sledge and a really heavy hammer was needed to drive in the wedges - a sledge hammer. This method was used for the fabrication of stationary engines etc., until the advent of heavy cranes. Naval lifting of heavy items could, of course, use multiple davits etc., not possible in restricted areas of a machine shop. 👍🇬🇧👍🇺🇸👍

[@derekmills1080]

I live in Bolton, UK, northwest of Manchester. To the southwest lies Warrington, a town that gave its name to one of my favourite hammers - the Warrington pattern hammer. A cross pein hammer with rounded head, usually for cabinet work. The pins or nails are started with the pein and then hammered home with the head as you demonstrated.

[@gjbmunc]

Yep!

[@danielgeng2306]

Hi Derek, great information and very interesting! I’d say if you need a sledgehammer in your day to day woodworking something has gone terribly awry! Lol jk I know Graham wasn’t suggesting that just showing the many styles of these useful tools…

[@derekmills1080]

@@danielgeng2306 Absolutely, Daniel. There’s not much demand for day to day use of a sledge hammer these days, although I have a 14lb and small 7lb in the garden shed.

[@danielgeng2306]

@@derekmills1080 they are useful for driving wedges into logs for splitting I’ll add !

[@LouisSenatore]

Thank You.

[@gjbmunc]

You're welcome

[@timothymallon]

I really enjoy your series of videos, Graham! Thank you

[@gjbmunc]

You're welcome!

[@MCsCreations]

Fascinating stuff indeed! Thanks a bunch for the lesson, Graham! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@gjbmunc]

Thanks, you too!

[@danielgeng2306]

Very informative Graham, I have a few cross peen Warrington hammers but never questioned why it was a cross peen. Thanks for the clarification, just picked up 3 of your books off Amazon, had trouble opening your site because I can be impatient unless I’m working wood but will be visiting to purchase some of you other books. Thanks ~

[@gjbmunc]

You're welcome!

[@IUsedToBeSomeoneElseX]

9:14 - Many years ago I had (lost it during a home move) a variant of the _nail pusher_ called a "Push-Pin", which differed by having the sleeve held forward by a spring, so allowing panel pins to be pushed in almost all the way.

[@gjbmunc]

So sorry!

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

They also do hammers with leather handles. Comfortable, long lasting, and with a level of shock absorbency. Hammers are known by their second face- claw, cross pein, etc. Only cross pein hammers used for woodwork are called 'Warrington' - and not by most! They can be distinguished by the flat end of the pein.

[@gjbmunc]

Exactly!

[@RyanJBarnard]

Thank you Graham for sharing your knowledge and experience.

[@gjbmunc]

You're welcome!

[@donaldlong1963]

It's hamer time!

[@gjbmunc]

Yep!

[@mercoid]

Sometimes if your dealing with very fine, delicate trim work, you can drive the nail all the way in with a nail pusher. The only problem is, if you go too far the tip of the pusher will dent the wood.

[@gjbmunc]

Something to watch out for!

[@PatientTortoise]

A cobblers hammer is utilise in bookbinding. Used to round the spine on a book text block & thereby referred to as a bookbinding hammer. I Australia at least.

[@gjbmunc]

Very true. I use it that way too when I do a little bookbinding.

[@alholston-smith7631]

Thanks Gram, I inherited a nail,set like you showed at the end, but didn’t know what it was for. Grand demo. Cheers

[@gjbmunc]

Glad to help

[@ot9180]

I have all your books, a treasure chest. Very nice coverage. Thank you.

[@gjbmunc]

Glad you like them!

[@BazzMann48]

Thanks Graham, I learnt how to hold a hammer back in the mid 1950's, when nailing apple boxes for my father. One of my woodwork and metalwork teachers also instilled in us boys the correct technique for holding the handle for mechanical advantage. I'm horrified to see so called carpenters on TV renovation shows etc choking their hammer. Oh, yes, I've had my share of black thumbnails - why, because I was careless. Thanks for the memories, I have subscribed to find more interesting information some of which I may know or, think I know. Always learning (age 75). Thanks. (Australia)

[@corsair919]

Our metalwork teacher: "God gave you a long handle on the hammer - make sure you use it."

[@gjbmunc]

Thanks!

[@kentonward97]

Love your books! I have 3 of them so far and I love the illustrations along with the explanations.

[@gjbmunc]

Thanks!

[@Dr.CandanEsin]

I am a hammer enthusiast. Now you made me buy original Warrington hammer with a huge price 🤗

[@gjbmunc]

Go for it!

[@Erik_The_Viking]

Hammertime!

[@gjbmunc]

Yep!

[@usaf4dbt]

Thank you for your time and knowledge!

[@gjbmunc]

you're welcome!

[@halorail]

thanks

[@gjbmunc]

You're welcome!

[@hubrigant]

I was a tad surprised that you didn't include a plane hammer given it's direct use in hand tool woodworking.

[@gjbmunc]

ah, I use a small hammer I bought in New York forty years ago. Don't think it's made any more!

[@AncoraImparoPiper]

Wow,, thank you. I had no idea about any of this. Especially the rounded v flat handles. That explains why my flat handled hammer (that I bought on a whim with zero understanding) is so effective for me.

[@gjbmunc]

Good!

[@warrenw2u]

Graham, thanks for all of the great videos. I just ordered your book displayed in this video.

[@gjbmunc]

Thanks!

[@theeddorian]

I've several long handled sledgehammers, none of which have a straight peen on one end. They all are double faced. I also have what I learned to call a single-jack hammer, which is like a one-handed, sledgehammer. Some folks cal it a cracking hammer or a lump hammer. I was told it was a single jack because in hard rock mines, a single miner could hold the drill in one hand and swing a hammer with the other in the confined space of the tunnel.

[@gjbmunc]

Interesting!

[@charlier7711]

Fantastic video, thanks for sharing!

[@gjbmunc]

You're welcome!

[@glynluff2595]

From the U.K. I always understood the Warrington hammer to have the pein emerging from the head with the top flush and thus offset on the hammer head. These have often been re shafted over the years and are frequently refitted upside down! The straight pein hammer was noted as such with vertical or horizontal added. I am not claiming to be right here merely indicating what I was taught well over seventy years ago and that could be wrong as not every craftsman was right!

[@gjbmunc]

Very true!

[@maddevil1964]

I need a nail pusher.

[@gjbmunc]

Go to the hardware store.

[@andyc972]

Thanks Graham, I'm with you on wooden handles, though not popular with many as the can break, however this usually means the wrong Hammer has been used, requiring undue force and damaging the hammer ! Although generally it makes sense to grasp a hammer low on the handle (that's why they make them that length) there can be situations where it can be advantageous to "choke up" on the hammer to give greater control in carving and chiselling !

[@gjbmunc]

Very true!

[@SimonWillig]

Do you consider a mallet like a kind of hammer too? Btw: very gratefull for all the valuable lessons you provide for us here on KZbin.

[@gjbmunc]

I guess it is a 'kind' of hammer, but I lump it with mallets in general.

[@johnford7847]

Interesting and informative, sir. An eleven minute video about hammers - and didn't even include a single mallet. I never realized there was such a variety of hammers. Have you ever written or taped a "recommended tool list for a beginning hand tool woodworker"?

[@gjbmunc]

Yes. I give a course at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking on handtools for beginners.

[@williambranham6249]

Where have you been on YT. I have been glued to YT woodworking channels for more than 10 years. You go back longer than that. I'm late to hand tools. Paul Sellers really got me excited about 10 years ago. I could not believe another shooting board video popped up. In my mind I had my doubts your shooting board could be any better than the 30 or more videos. I have made shooting boards that are too complicated compared to yours. Also you are the first to mark your workpiece with a pencil or marking knife.. Brilliant. New subscriber. Thank you.

[@gjbmunc]

Thank you!

[@johnwillis3596]

Any reason for not mentioning the ball pein hammer ?

[@UPTHETOWN]

Ball pein hammers are for metal working, to be fair he didn't mention 50 other types of hammer either

[@johnwillis3596]

Oh are they

[@johnwillis3596]

And you are correct about drawing the line somewhere

[@gjbmunc]

Mainly a metalworking tool.

[@mercoid]

Hammer 🔨

[@gjbmunc]

Indeed!

[@escomag]

Graham, I have a cross peen hammer. A 1386 Pascall . I would guess 3 lb. Obviously for metal. I can find nothing about it. Paschall made lathe attachments according to one site. Anything?

[@gjbmunc]

They show up on ebay occassionaly. Generally OK.

[@petertaylor3150]

Is the hatchet that came before the sledge hammer not in fact for cutting and nailing laths? From old fashioned plastering before plasterboard/drywall.

[@gjbmunc]

Yes, but I also use it for wooden shingles. Not too mny people use lathe and plaster these days.

[@learning2cook573]

Do you know where I can find oil storage with a sponge like you had in ep 2 when taking care of your planes? Great videos!

[@erikmortensen2231]

Without looking back at the episode to see exactly what you are referring to, it sounds like you may be describing a Japanese tool, an oil pot called an "aburatsubo." Search it and see if this is what you are looking for.

[@SimonWillig]

There is a video from Paul sellers about this. He uses a small pot - something like an empty bean can - and pours some oil in it. Then he fills that can with rags. The rags soak up the oil and you can apply just enough oil to the tool. I forgot which oil he uses.

[@gjbmunc]

I get mine from a Japanese store in Berkeley, California.

[@thomashverring9484]

@@SimonWillig Yes and no. It's his "rag in a can". You put a tightly wrapped rag in a can then place it upside down in oil, or pour oil on it, so the rag absorbs it. He use mineral oil (3in1). But, yes, it's probably inspired by the Japanese "aburatsubo". I have a "rag in a can" but doesn't really use it. I've made another Japanese inspired version of it, where the rag is wrapped up in another piece of cloth, so it's more like a ball (looks like a pin cushion). I can't remember where I saw that version.

[@peterbarlow8912]

Why do you only show a straight claw hammer? Furthermore why have curved claw hammers been relegated to the bargain bins at the bottom of the wall of hammers at a big box store? My long time favorite is a curved claw fiberglass and rubber handled 13 oz. plumb. It’s weight is similar to these new titanium framing hammer’s which cost 10X the cost of Plumb. Who needs such a tool for framing in the age of gun nails. Lost track of my Estwing 28 oz. For 2 decades after buying a Bostich nail gun.

[@gjbmunc]

Very true, but I'm just focusing on non-electric tools and techniques here.

[@terrybrower3437]

One tip my father taught me when holding the nail in the non-hammer hand set the nail very lightly tap-tap-tap instead of trying to sink the nail with a mighty swing. That way if you miss the nail your off hand won't end up with a smashed thumb.

[@gjbmunc]

Makes sense!

[@PeteLewisWoodwork]

I remember in the mid-90's, I worked for a shop display manufacturing company and the foreman would walk around all our benches, watching who was doing what and how they were doing it. He came up to me once and said "Look at him, he's knocking in screws and strangling the hammer", meaning the guy was holding the hammer right at the head end of the shaft while banging in screws as if they were nails. Ended with a verbal warning.

[@gjbmunc]

There you go!

[@cheezmartian]

My dad told me this "Hold a hammer like a woman, around the waist not around the neck"

[@Olayiwolaabiodun-tm5fj]

Video of frawning hammer

[@gjbmunc]

Framing hammers are bigger.

[@fayz44awad]

Thanks ❤

[@gjbmunc]

You're welcome 😊

[@scottboettcher1344]

It amuses me that 90% of the "craftsmen" on EweTube hold a hammer's handle right under the head. Thank you for mentioning that, and hopefully they'll see your video.

[@gjbmunc]

Great point!

[@dannywilsher4165]

I liked it, thanks Graham!!!

[@gjbmunc]

Glad you liked it!

[@pitsnipe5559]

Watching this made me wonder how many young men today have ever picked up a hammer. The Warrington pattern hammer has been my go to bench hammer since I bought one 45 years ago.

[@gjbmunc]

Couldn't continue without it.