Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: 'Ammer 'Andle

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Upper Hutt, New Zealand
    Posts
    215

    Default 'Ammer 'Andle

    Scratching around for projects in the lock down I remembered my Dad's old Warrington hammer head which has been lying in the bottom of my tool box for near 30 years. It's a Stanley No.2 (12 oz.) and was probably the first tool I ever used. Whenever I asked if I could help him while he was making something, he'd give me this hammer, a handful of nails, a block of wood and tell me to hammer all the nails in. I never did discover why he wanted them .
    The handle is black cherry and shaped using a spokeshave, chisels and rasps and files then sanded through the grits. I used the same jig I'd made for a walking cane shaft (see earlier post).
    Tip: Because the shaft profile is oval, I found it paid to establish the stub that goes inside the head first and dry-fit the head before shaping the rest of the shaft. That way I could ensure that the long axis of the oval shaft profile was aligned with the axis of the head (hope that makes sense!). The wedge is made from Matai which is close grained and tough. I still need to insert a couple of metal wedges laterally in the head. Finish is BLO and once cured, I'll wire wool in some wax.

    This should have taken a day to complete but I kept being interrupted by SWMBO with her Honeydew projects.
    Pete
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. # ADS
    Google Adsense Advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Posts
    Many





     
  3. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Leopold, Victoria
    Age
    65
    Posts
    4,677

    Default

    That's come up really nice. Fitting the head first so that everything was aligned correctly was smart thinking. Wouldn't have been better if it was a bought one and now it's truly an heirloom.
    Dallas

  4. #3
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Woodstock (Cowra)
    Age
    74
    Posts
    3,372

    Default

    My very first job as an apprentice for the first week was cutting and nailing Hwd skirting blocks, the cuts on some blocks had a remarkable resemblance to creeper cuts and a lot of blocks I'm sure were held in place by the weight of lots of bent nails
    The person who never made a mistake never made anything

    Cheers
    Ray

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    South Australia
    Posts
    4,470

    Default

    Nice fix, I use my Stanley Warrington all the time.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Mareeba Far Nth Qld
    Age
    83
    Posts
    3,069

    Default

    I was taught as an apprentice, to put a "new" hammer handle in a short length of 50mm steel water, and leave it in the sun for an hour or two hours to dry out a bit. The idea was that the wood would swell as it absorbed moisture from the atmosphere.

    Jim
    Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important...

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    Ferny Hills
    Age
    78
    Posts
    94

    Default

    Hi Pete, I can relate to your story about your Dad giving you a hammer, nails and a block of wood. I not only was given the same task, only with a claw hammer which was also used for the follow up one of pulling all the nails out and hammering them straight for reuse - i still will reuse a nail on an appropriate task!

    I hope that you get a lot of enjoyment out of your "new" hammer.

    Owen

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Millmerran,QLD
    Age
    73
    Posts
    11,094

    Default

    Pete

    Seeing as how you have adopted use of the dropped "h" for this old tool, perhaps you should bestow the name "Henry" or more pointedly " 'Enry" on it.

    You are of an age where if you followed boxing as a lad you would have been familiar with British boxer Henry Cooper, who was one of the few men to put Muhammed Ali on the canvas. In fact if his eyes did not cut so easily I would suggest he would have been World Heavyweight boxing champ. Anyway that is a bit of background, but coming from the east end of London he tended to drop his "Hs" and his natural left hook became known as:

    " 'Enry's 'Ammer."

    Good job on the 'ammer.

    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Upper Hutt, New Zealand
    Posts
    215

    Default

    [QUOTE=Bushmiller;2182275]Pete

    Seeing as how you have adopted use of the dropped "h" for this old tool, perhaps you should bestow the name "Henry" or more pointedly " 'Enry" on it.

    Paul, that sounds like a plan. How does 'Pete's Pounder' or maybe 'Woodhutt's Whacker' sound? Any other suggestions? Pete

Similar Threads

  1. Ammer Gandad
    By Dalboy in forum TOY MAKING
    Replies: 13
    Last Post: 18th December 2015, 12:43 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •