Thread: Hammers

Yep, love my Japanese tools, I have two hammers/gennos, a short head for chisel work and and a longer head for normal use. The short head has a straight handle and the longer head has the bent handle. I hardly ever use a claw hammer (odley enough)
one face is curved for driving in nails etc the other pace is flat for hitting chisels.

Here is the explanation from So at Japan Tool.
Trusted handmade genno maker from Sanjyo, Niigata. Now that Hishikan's Hsagawa-san has passed, you might be able to say Tenryuu is the only cost effective quality genno maker. The two striking surfaces are hardened separately from the center of the body, i.e. both ends hardened more, the center less, to create the more expensive laminated gennou's feel with affordable price.

you can see both in the pics below. I used the short head for the chisel work and I used the long head to knock the dovetails together. I could have used either of them for either job. the short head is also slightly larger in diameter which makes it a little better to use with the chisels.
The last shot is off So's web site it shows the genno up close. My handles are a little different.

Yes, I've used them without any issues. Are you investigating any particular issue?

I actually prefer using a wood or rubber mallet than a steel chisel. Some would say you'd lose some energy because the wood/rubber would absorb a certain amount, and I suppose that's true, but I really prefer the gentler feel of the rubber particularly (and, its less noisy). Also, the wood and rubber don't crush the chisel handle as much (if at all). Mind you, if you hit your thumb, it still hurts

I bought a really inexpensive (I'm a cheap-tool buyer el supremo) steel genno (Dogyu brand) and decided to polish off (dull rather than shiny) the surface. I noticed that the ends are harder than the middle (as evidenced by the change in steel colour) even on one of these hammers. Of course its all done by machine, but again, you get some of the benefit of hard ends and softer middle.

Originally Posted by Sheets

I actually prefer using a wood or rubber mallet than a steel chisel.

Me too, Sheets.

In my case, I make up different wooden mallets to suit different purposes. For example, long and squarish for wood planes... with a flat end for blade taps and a roundish end for the body taps. The square profile allows the chipper to be struck without contacting the blade.

I also like the balance and clean profile of an engineers hammer (I have three sizes) for when I need a steel hammer, rather than use a claw hammer... unless I'm on the roof banging in and bending nails...

.....

Yes, I use a number of wood mallets also. It depends what I am working on which one I pick up, sometimes its just whim. The steel hammers give you more touch if you are working on something where you need more feel or touch. A bit like using a steel hammer to put your dovetails together.

Thanks for the clues..anyone had a go at the one made by Blue spruce? It won best new woodwork toy for 2009 i think.
http://www.bluesprucetoolworks.com/c...S&keywords=all..

I found a couple of links where some guy had one of the Bluespruce and Swiz mallet...and his words beat the crap out of it. The wooden mallet didn't look so great but the Blue didn't look as if it had a mark at all.

This one ...



It is excellent. Nice balance and very hard wearing ... but not for steel capped chisels. I only use them on wood.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Thanks for the pics Dereck..So i'm guessing your really happy with it..

That hammer is made for western tools only. It won't work on Jap tools and I really plead that you don't attempt to use such a hammer on a slick just because it isn't capped.

I love my Jap hammers. I have two hammers, one smaller for splitting stones (350g head) and a bigger for striking nomi's with.

I could go on about the positive sides of a good Jap hammer all day but in short they have had more attention paid to them, better translation of force, better steel, better construction yada yada. Japanese hammersmithing is a very hard thing to do.

edit: What the heck. It's just polymer fluid-filled maple. You can make a hammer like that by getting a stabilized block of maple off ebay. The more I read about it the more I'm turned off by the design aspects. This hammer does NOT belong with Jap tools - western tools - beat your brains out hammering chisels but please don't use it instead of a proper Gennou.
It would even look better since you can easily get stabilized burls too, maple burls are quite beautiful and I don't believe it would matter if it's stabilized. (You can see how the chisels on their page are made by ray cut maple burl, most likely from the same stabilized lot.)

What weight of hammers do I need? I assume that I need at least 2, one for mortices and one for dovetail work? Can I get by with some cheapo ones? I am getting more conservative in my old age.

Neil

Sorry, can't advise you Neil as I make and use wooden hammers for chisel and plane work, rather than metal hammers. A dense hardwood is almost as heavy as metal and more forgiving than steel on planes and chisels. l also find that wooden hammers give better feedback than metal. I learned this when I was doing wood sculpture.
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Originally Posted by NeilS

Sorry, can't advise you Neil as I make and use wooden hammers for chisel and plane work, rather than metal hammers. A dense hardwood is almost as heavy as metal and more forgiving than steel on planes and chisels. l also find that wooden hammers give better feedback than metal. I learned this when I was doing wood sculpture.
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I know what you mean about using hardwood mallets. They just feel better. However, Gidgee (as one of the heaviest hardwoods) has an RD of about 1.3 while steel is about 7.8. I think the malet has to be considerably bigger to approach the same weight as a steel hammer.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

I know what you mean about using hardwood mallets. They just feel better. However, Gidgee (as one of the heaviest hardwoods) has an RD of about 1.3 while steel is about 7.8. I think the malet has to be considerably bigger to approach the same weight as a steel hammer.

Regards
Paul

Agree with your assessment, Bushmiller, but the other variable is how hard you need to strike with the two. A hesitant tap with the steel hammer delivers the same force as a confident strike with the wood. It depends a bit on what you get used to and what you prefer.
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Wood on wood and steel on steel.

The wood mallet is above. The steel gennou is below (375 gm):



Regards from Perth

Derek

For heavy daily chisel work on timber even just an OK traditional japanese hammer will last for years while any sort of wooden mallet no matter how hard it is will just be sawdust on the floor. In a shop situtation for light work I can see it would just be a matter of taste. Also a properly fit hoop on a Japanese chisel will survive heavy blows for years with just a bit of maintenance. Another great feature of the genno is that they come in so many different weights. Alx