I've been cleaning up some of my great-grandfather's tools. Putting new hammer handles on a few of them has been very therapeutic. Going from a loose dirty thing to a powerful extension of your arm... so fun!
Here is the latest one.
A sort of metal-working hammer has a smaller, harder-to-find size. Knowing that few woods can do like hickory does, I decided to cut down a stock hickory handle. The SS Bandsaw was used to rough it down to a quasi-octagonal shape:
- Handle Candidate.jpg (146.55 KiB) Viewed 8588 times
- Roughed_Bandsaw.jpg (144.11 KiB) Viewed 8588 times
Next was a series of planing and shaving cuts, to get the tip to fit into the head, and fair-out the overall shape. Each trial fit of the head would leave some helpful witness-marks to shave down:
- Fairing Octagon.jpg (158.82 KiB) Viewed 8588 times
After slotting the head for a wedge, the driving-on operation was a lot like "retracting the blade" on a wooden plane. Impulse-smacks on the wood end would make the dense head fit further and further onto the shaft:
- Impulse Driving.jpg (145.75 KiB) Viewed 8588 times
After the final wedging and trimming, it was ready for a light oil coat. It feels fantastic!
- Oiled Handle.jpg (136.87 KiB) Viewed 8588 times
Happy woodworking!
Chris