Thread: Wooden handled hammers? Australia hates them...

Not a fan of fibreglass handles?

Old hammer heads are usually easy to pick up. I've made the last two handles I've fitted from old bits of timber, with a spoke shave. They're not perfect, but I'm getting better.

Cheers, Vann.

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Not a fan of fibreglass handles?

The fact that they all need PVC grips tells you something

I saw a wooden handle claw hammer in office works the other day...

Originally Posted by Pearo

I saw a wooden handle claw hammer in office works the other day...

For installing drawing pins and useful when you can't find the stapler?. Might also be useful for fixing paper jams in printers etc.

Alan...

All of mine are timber. At last count I have 17 plus another dozen various handle-less heads in reserve. Can't help myself when I see old quality hammer heads at the local recycling centre. At 50c to $1 each what could go wrong?

Twosheds

I'm definitely not a fan of man-made material for any handle on a tool that gets regular & prolonged use. Many will say it's all in my mind, but for me they just don't transmit the feel of the tool the way wood does.

However, there is probably a place for the 'unbreakable' plasticky thingies. Strong young blokes with more enthusiasm than practised skill seem to find the weak point of a wooden handle very quickly. My old pot once reckoned I cost him more in handles than I was worth on the job! Few trades use hand tools all-day every day the way they once did, so p'raps it makes sense that on the odd occasion when someone does reach for a hammer and a chisel the tools can stand up to the 5 or 10 minutes of savagery they are about to receive......

Cheers,

I still have my hickory handled stanley hammer I bought in 1975. Never had to tighten the wedge in all that time and still showing no sign of working loose. Many thousands of nails hammered in and thousands pulled out as well as a lot of stuff like cold chisel work and other stuff a claw hammer is not really suited for. A good wood handle really can't be beaten.
Regards
John

I've a couple of old hammers that heed handles, what local wood would you recommend to make hammer handles?

Tony

Originally Posted by tony_A

I've a couple of old hammers that heed handles, what local wood would you recommend to make hammer handles?
Tony

Spotted gum makes good axes handles so should be OK as a hammer handle.

Spotted gum is perhaps the pick of the local woods for axe and hammer handles but there are a lot of garden and feral timbers that would also make a good handle. Most of the fruit woods should do and I have had good results with mulberry. I have a mallet with a mulberry handle and also my vice handle. You can feel a slight spring there when it is just tight enough. I used to make archery bows so reckon most woods that would make a bow should be fine for tool handles.
Regards
John

When you have just nailed your thumb to the side of a joist with a nailing gun, you really don't mind what sort of handle your claw hammer has, provided you do have a claw hammer.
In the "old" days, knocking up frames, we swung a hammer all day, every day. A three inch jolt head got three hits and a four inch got four. Stick handles didnt take that sort of treatment for two long. If you got a year out of it you were doing well. I have still got an old steel handled Estwing that has been with me for 45 years and worked bloody hard in the early days.

Originally Posted by rustynail

A three inch jolt head got three hits and a four inch got four.

My dad used to call bullet head nails "Jolt heads". Never heard that term used since he passed away many years ago.

TT

https://www.autobarn.com.au/kincrome...y-handle-k9101

I've had good use out of Kingcrome tools - but haven't tried this unit.

https://www.tengroup.com.au/products/11435

Worth a look (though I'm not sure that the brand is what it was)

Go second hand : https://www.toolexchange.com.au/our-...-hammers/G5131

Stanley is still in the game, not sure about the quality: 51-534-STA | Stanley Wood Claw Hammer | Gasweld