Thread: Ball Pein Ecstasy

Originally Posted by IanW

And you have some very nice balls, too ( ), that look like they'll be a pleasure to use on some ductile bit of metal. The things I see in hardware stores lately, called 'ball peen hammers' have flat, irregular balls that would have great trouble making a neat dent in anything struck. I worry that a newbie buying such a hammer & trying to use it might give up in disgust & blame their inexperience & lack of ability, when most of the blame belongs to the tool (for once)...

You gotta get yerself a small wood lathe,sometime, it makes hammer-handle manufacture a doddle...

Cheers,

Ian

I think round is just prominent in the male psyche! I like that shape too. I was going to say I have never bought a new ball pein hammer but I think that the smallest of these five hammers I boug and the handle broke soon after purchase. It has been lying around for more than twenty years.

I have a wood lathe of sorts but I was not really confident I could cope with the oval shape. Plus the angle grinder is frighteningly fast. You can end up with a matchstick in double quick time if not very careful. The big down side of the angle grinder is the dust and the virtual impossibility of organising a practical dust collection system. A dust mask is the only solution.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Simplicity

Just a little site digression,while Sal is watching the Big game [emoji849] an it’s a bit cold outside(creative zone)
I did some quick flick through on EBay
Search,
Old Hammers,

Lordy lord Paul you could be sitting on a small fortune there forget the saws mate,
Hammers some of the “asking prices” yes I know the asking and receiving can be huge but.
As from that famous Oz movie the Castle,
Tell them there dreaming.

$20 + Au for just a hammer head with chips missing [emoji849][emoji849][emoji849].
Just one small example!

Cheers Matt

Just what I need Matt. Another obsession!!

Regards
Paul

Here are the promised and much anticipated pix :

This was taken without the benefit of direct sunlight:

P1050012 (Medium).JPG

and does not highlight the subtle grain:

P1050013 (Medium).JPG

Some of the heads I painted all over where there was no information and the others I left in the natural steel state:

P1050016 (Medium).JPG

They are destined to join up with the rest of the ball pein crew. The largest of these has a terrible handle that is far too small and feels completely out of balance in the hand. I suspect it may be a replacement handle that would have better suited a much smaller version. In fact I used the handle on the middle sized hammer as the pattern for all the others as it feels just right. However none of them are exactly the same size as I modified to suit the head. Time will tell whether I got it right. The small hammer is also a delight to use. Just right.

P1050017 (Medium).JPG

Following Ian's post I have realised an alternative title for this thread may well have been. "Have you got sufficient balls for the job?" But of course I have too much temerity to suggest such a thing.

Regards
Paul

Well Paul, let's just agree you're now very well-hung (for hammers!).....

Ian

Well, it's funny you should say that as last night I realised that the varnish was dry and I had to put them away somewhere. I remembered that a good friend from work had given me some spring loaded holders he had picked up at an auction. He often buys things such as this and resells them on ebay. Unfortunately they, despite still being in their blister packs, had some rust and corrosion on them. He gave me three racks. Here I have used two of them. As you will recall wall space is at a premium in the shed and the only suitable spot was beneath the saw till and behind the dust collector. So that is where the two racks went.

P1050026 (Medium).JPG



Regards
Paul

Um If it’s ok
I just bring some resemblance of normality back here instead of talking about the male anatomy.

Paul you did a really fantastic job on the hand job [emoji849].
Why are you now using those things to hang the handles with.
Will they not scratch the finish and then the neck of the handle every time you push them in or pull them out.
I appreciate they were freebies I get that, but is there not another option.
One of my favourite Matt isms
There is no problems in live just solutions to be found.


Now as you know I’ve been on a soap box lately with “let’s just say stuff[emoji6]”
If I have have this all wrong and up the spout,you have my permission to kick the box out from under me.

Cheers Matt.

Actually Matt

I would delight in kicking the soap box out from under you just for the hell of it and then saying,

"Hold on a tick, I think you might be right. Awfully sorry old mate!"

I like your idea and as it happens I could incorporate that into the nogging. You are right in that there is a chance that the handles will scratch, but probably not for the reason you think, but more to do with my carelessness. What looks like a push type spring clip is in fact only sprung on one side. One side is longer than the other and is designed to be pushed to open. So the handle does not have to push it's way into the clip.

But I really like your solution. If the saw till was not immediately above clamps I could do that . I might try both and use the clamps for the old hammers under the saw till and your beam style for the new. hammer alongside and behind the DC. Life is a squeeze.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Actually Matt

I would delight in kicking the soap box out from under you just for the hell of it and then saying,

"Hold on a tick, I think you might be right. Awfully sorry old mate!"

I like your idea and as it happens I could incorporate that into the nogging. You are right in that there is a chance that the handles will scratch, but probably not for the reason you think, but more to do with my carelessness. What looks like a push type spring clip is in fact only sprung on one side. One side is longer than the other and is designed to be pushed to open. So the handle does not have to push it's way into the clip.

But I really like your solution. If the saw till was not immediately above clamps I could do that . I might try both and use the clamps for the old hammers under the saw till and your beam style for the new. hammer alongside and behind the DC. Life is a squeeze.

Regards
Paul

I’m sure the kicking would be a most memorable moment Paul
If you need any assistance just ask Sal I’m sure she would be more than delighted to attend and help out we’re needed [emoji849].

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

...I have a wood lathe of sorts but I was not really confident I could cope with the oval shape. Plus the angle grinder is frighteningly fast...

I have a wood lathe but, like you, am not confident (and too inexperienced) to attempt an oval shape. But really, I should just get my A into G.

I've only ever made two hammer handles (out of some unknown timber - no spotted gum around here). After rough shaping I grabbed a spoke shave (another underutilised tool in my toolbox) and really enjoyed the slow, considered shaping. Then sandpaper. I think rasps and files may have been used around the stem that goes into the head. My handles are oiled (BLO).

My tuppence worth.

Gotta say, that spotted gum comes up beautiful .

Cheers, Vann.

Originally Posted by Vann

I have a wood lathe but, like you, am not confident (and too inexperienced) to attempt an oval shape. But really, I should just get my A into G......

Vann (& Paul), you don't have to turn the full oval on the lathe. For starters, you'll spend more time working out where to put the centres to get the diameters you want, than you did working the handle by hand, and even when you do figure it out there's still a bit of hand work required unless you really know what you're doing (which kind of rules most of us out... )

My lazy/easy solution is to mount the blank on a single set of centres and turn as much of the shape as I can without re-mounting. I start with a rectangular blank cut to a tad over the major & minor diameters of the handle (grab some calipers & measure a handle you like the feel of to get those). Turn what you can of the shape (the upper 1/4-1/3rd of the handle towards the head end is either round or very near to round), then use rasps or a spokeshave to finish the hand-grip area. I described the method here.

Apart from speeding up the process, turning makes it easier to keep the shape symmetrical, and the lathe makes a good holder while you are attacking it with a rasp - if you have an indexing head to lock the work while you attack it, even better. I prefer rasps to spokeshaves for shaping because there are at least three changes of grain direction on a typical handle & having to constantly reverse the sp/s is a nuisance. When the shape is roughed out, I burn a few more electrons to sand it. Takes me less than 10 minutes to whip up a handle (on a good day... )....

Cheers,

Thanks Ian. I could have done that.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Simplicity

Um If it’s ok
I just bring some resemblance of normality back here instead of talking about the male anatomy.

Paul you did a really fantastic job on the hand job [emoji849].
Why are you now using those things to hang the handles with.
Will they not scratch the finish and then the neck of the handle every time you push them in or pull them out.
I appreciate they were freebies I get that, but is there not another option.
One of my favourite Matt isms
There is no problems in live just solutions to be found.


Now as you know I’ve been on a soap box lately with “let’s just say stuff[emoji6]”
If I have have this all wrong and up the spout,you have my permission to kick the box out from under me.

Cheers Matt.

Matt

I had meant to add that is a fine set of ball
peins you have there.
Could do with a polish though!

Regard
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Matt

I had meant to add that is a fine set of ball
peins you have there.
Could do with a polish though!

Regard
Paul

Paul
After seeing the most exquisite job you done on your hammers.
I’ve been riddled with guilt and sweats

If it wasn’t for Sal and clients I would be on my way too see you for a polishing job then on too Ian W for his ten minutes per handle job[emoji849].
But thank you for your kind thoughts

Cheers Matt,

Matt

I was wondering whether those ten minute handles equated to six per hour. Do you think Ian could keep it up all day with a couple of ten or fifteen minute breaks to clear the sawdust from his brow and regenerate for the next session? AND do you think we should encourage him to try that and supply a batch of hammers at no charge for him? Gee, our generosity knows no bounds.

Aside from that, did I mention that I liked your idea for hammer storage and just to prove that I listen, have a look at this:

P1050034 (Medium).JPGP1050035 (Medium).JPG

So here are the ball pein family, new and old school, all neatly nestled

P1050036 (Medium).JPG

Then I thought that I preferred them balls out

P1050037 (Medium).JPG

There was plenty of space for a few more hammers (note that the ball pein family has grown another member, which I found while collecting their relatives)

P1050040.jpg

I replaced the rasp rack on the wall ( it is removable so that when I am working on saw handles it becomes a free standing unit as I became tired of searching for the rasp among the pile.)

P1050044 (Medium).JPG

But, not everything is a good as it might be

P1050041 (Medium).JPG

The DC bags had to be hooked back up and the hammers are difficult to see paling into obscurity

P1050042 (Medium).JPG

Before becoming an extinct race once the DC bags are inflated! I will have to remember they are there.

P1050043 (Medium).JPG

Not all hammers would fit in the "Simplicity" rack. The mallets still have their own places as do Rob Streepers superb dog hammers.

P1050045 (Medium).JPG

Regards
Paul