My name is Tom Lipton and I have a hammer addiction. A viewer suggested short tour of my ever expanding collection of hammers and impacting type tools.
Hi Tom, I am loving your videos! I have been a "Handy" guy forever and over the last year I have really become focused on engineering, machining, industrial processes, history of precision industry etc. Keith Fenner's videos got me started and your videos make me determined to get into this field. I aim to start studying in 2014. Thanks for all your efforts!
I love hammers. I had to build a multi level shelf to organize most of mine. It helps to be able to see at a glance the different types of hammers at once, sometimes gives you alternative ideas just by looking at the variety. Great collection! Cheers to Hammer Addicts Unanimous.
I have to say , this is the first video I've seen like this and I really did enjoy it. I love tools of all types and enjoy working with my hands . Thanks for the great video.
Came for a quick look at a hammer rack of impressive proportion. Stayed for some great wisdom and insight into what all those different hammers could be for.
I was looking forward to seeing the slate roofing and other unique specialty hammers with odd shapes, but standard for their craft. Found the explanation of copper hammers enlightening. Thank You Tom.
Hi Mike, Thanks for the comment. Us hammer addicts have to stick together. Mallets don't count? That means I'll have to build a segregated rack for them and keep them away from the real hammers. Regards, Tom
very nice collection of hammers, quite expansive. In our workshop i'm the 1 with the hammer addiction, i've got nearly 30 and am only a a 4th year Appy. Nice idea on the racks i'll have to make 1 to suite. cheers from Australia.
Hi Toly, We seldom make our own handles here in the US. I never thought about it until you mentioned it. I have experienced hammers wanting to do a twist when hitting with them. I always attributed the twisting to a long hammer head length or glancing blow. Thanks for the comment and good information. Regards, Tom
Hi Tom, This morning first to the supermarket and purchased a bottle of liquid frying butter (Blue Band) for 1 Euro 50 and a bottle of olive oil for 80 cents. First I made a steel plate template with the hole-pattern for pilot holes. The holes of 4mm we drilled with olive oil, it was a bit smoky but it worked well. The 18mm holes we drilled with Blue Band. A few drops is enough and it smells like Brussels waffles. Henk
16:24 Yep. I have one that the handle broke during a hip case so the OR tech pitched it. I was doing the Anesthesia so I got first dibs. Has brass faces. Use it all the time.
Hi Tyler, Excellent question. Pretty hard to answer in a few short sentences. The hammer face density governs the type of blow delivered. A couple of basic examples. Rawhide is non marking but produces a slow low velocity impact that doesn't stretch metal. A metal hammer produces a sharp high velocity impact that can stretch and displace metal. This subject would be an excellent article for a more in depth explanation and demonstration. Regards, Tom Lipton
I'm really enjoying your channel. Lots of great stuff. As a blacksmith, I too have hammer issues. You can let yourself off the hook on the bottom row, mallets don't count :) The hot cut is a struck tool, also not a hammer! The big odd one is a tire hammer, from the split rim days, but the handle looked a little short. Keep it up, these are great!
Hi Tom, Until it started to rain this afternoon, it change in a kind of white lumpy alien substance!! On a scale of 1 to 10 for the olive oil a 6 and a 7 for the Bleu Band. Tomorrow we will continue with the drilling and cleaning the beams with a high pressure steam cleaner. Henk
Hi Gordon, I don't have any if you can believe it. I prefer the cast iron rawhide. The reason is rebound. I want just a little rebound so you don't have to work so hard. Many of my hammers are for sheetmetal where you are doing thousands of hammer blows. I tried deadblows a long time ago and found them tiring because of no rebound. I am convinced I need a couple so I'm looking at the Lixie's trying to decide which ones. Thanks for the commet. Best, Tom
I have 7 hammers and constantly want for more but would always ask myself “how many hammers do you need?” This video has answered my question to myself
Hi Tom, Life is full of surprises! Yesterday, I have two lathes and a milling machine given to me, for a very ridiculous small amount of money and a BBQ ( Knuth Servoturn 410 , V-turn 410 , WF 4.1 mill ) Out of my family business. And this morning my German contractor has given me the keys to my new home and rebuilt workshop. Thee months earlier than planned. So I'm busy the next few months. With setting up my old / new workshop. Or was it planned by my girlfriend and family?!?! Henk
Love the idea of the hammer rack, so much for the hammers I want to know more about the rack. It looks like you used unistrut for the rails, is there anything to keep the hammers from turning sideways and falling through. I have several drawers of hammers and would sure like to use those drawers for something else. Plus it would sure make it easy to find the hammer I wanted to use. Thanks for the video, I have been trying to figure out what to do with them. There is a place here that buys scrap metal and I just purchased a bunch of brass hammers most had the handles sawed off but I got 4 good ones with handles for scrap price, to add to the collection. It is truly unreal what people scrap out, one day I found a complete set of number, letter and fractional bits by Hout and only one was missing it cost me 6 bucks. I guess a tool is worthless to someone that doesn't know how to use it. That place is unreal, you never know what you will find there. Thanks again Tom, sorry for the babbling.
Hey Mystery, The rack doesn't have any features to keep the hammers from rotating. There are enough features on most hammers that make them want to hang in that direction. The trick is to fill the rack so they can't rotate! I need to make another one as this one is filled to maximum capacity, Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Tom
Hi Henk, Not sure what's happening to your comments. Maybe there are so many yours are on another page. Typically there are several pages of comments for each video! Thanks for the preliminary report on the Redbrick safety sneakers. We are waiting for the full report from our Dutch tool testing lab. Regards, Tom
Hi WW, I have made a few hammers for doing compound sheet metal work. As far as metal hammers go I would probably go the forging route if I really got it bad. Regards, Tom Lipton
Hi Henk, Sounds like an excellent workspace. Can't wait to see some pictures of the shop. Do your safety sneakers squeak on the new floor in your shop? Best, Tom
The "Removable face, split head type" are great! I have one with nylon+wood and another with ribber+brass. I should get another for copper and make some pin heads for the other side.
William Weightman Hey William, I have some tinners maple mallets but I never liked them because they have no mass to them. I have several Garland mallets of the same size I think I'm going to convert one to hard rock maple faces and try it out. Thanks so much for the suggestion. Cheers, Tom
Someone gave me a hammer like the dody hammer described, one end is just like your body hammer, but the other side is long and pointy, maybe 6 inches long.....can you tell me what it's used for?
I have always had a weird headphone addiction. They always fascinate me and I've spent way too much money on them. What's even weirder is they are in style now. Guess I'm just ahead of my time :).
As for Ball Pein hammers I use the Vaughan 8 and 12 oz hammers which seem to only come in a blue color these days, which isn't bad considering I love blue.
This video should be legally required viewing for all wives, girlfriends and sisters who for some reason do not understand the greatness of.Toolaholism.
Don't judge me but all I own is one Eastwing claw hammer and one tiny hammer I made from 1/4 square stock and 1/8 th rod. I used it for pinning balsa down to make planes 32 years ago.
A friend of mine had to move out of the house he'd grown up in, and was going to throw away the hammer heads he'd inherited from his dad. Call it 35 pounds of steel. I wasn't about to let them get junked out, so I "threw them away" in my truck and over the past few years since then I've fitted new handles into almost all of them. I've learned that fitting new hickory handles into old hammer heads takes patience. One of the oddballs I got turned out to be a Cobbler's Hammer (I was wondering who would make a claw hammer and not cut the center groove between the tangs, it just seemed so stupid); another hasn't been ID'd yet, but I'm thinking I might have seen something like it when I watched a demonstration of how a track gang straightened railroad track back in the day (I think it might be a railroad spike hammer). I got a good axe head (warped and weathered handle, gladly replaced), several geology hammers, a small sledge and a variety of carpentry hammers. I was tickled to see you have a cousin to the brick mortar chipping hammer that I got (mine saw use recently when a neighbor was laying used brick over sand for a new walkway; he was just a little surprised that I had the exact right tool for the job). My wife doesn't understand hammers. I found out that she'd used one of my jewelry hammers (it's actually a "Flatting Hammer") to drive some small nails. She didn't understand why I got upset or why I had to replace it. She'd scarred the face and made it unusable for flatting. Her rationale for picking it was because it was girl-sized. Maybe I should get her a girl-sized pink hammer, and tell her to leave the rest alone. I love the idea of having a "Roll-Away" for the hammer collection. It's so much cooler (and more compact) than peg board. You forgot the seat-of-the-pants Engineering Rule: "Figure out what will do the job, then double it" (you knew you were likely to get more hammers anyway, right?). If it were me, I think I'd go for an A-Frame approach, with racks on the front and on the back, and try to keep the center of gravity in between the wheels. The less-often used tools could get relegated to the backside racks. Anyway, thanks for the tour!
Hi Kurt, Thirty five pounds is a clear indication of the hammer addiction syndrome. I got a really neat miniature claw hammer at one point. My wife snapped it up as soon as she saw it. By the way she has a decent tool collection of her own. Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Tom
Hi Tom, I'm very busy the last few weeks. Not much You Tube for me the past weeks. It was a rainy day today, so I had time for your request try to break off a couple taps. Tapping ( M 12 ) with liquid frying butter really worked well. But one hour after tapping the tap is corroded. I believe it's because of the salt that is in the butter. Best, Henk and Shopdog Finn
Informative; thanks! Good explanations. I do woodworking, not metal work -- but I enjoy my hammers and mallets. I counted 40 of 'em a few months ago -- mostly variations on claw hammers -- but I possibly have a few scattered about that I missed... --GG
oxtoolco Well, I don't have a **unified** picture of my hammers. But here's a blog entry of most of my stash, from about two years ago -- gyegreene.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/hammer-down-rabbet-ears-hammer-down.html About a week after taking that photo, I found a stash of about eight other hammers. And I've acquired a few more since then. ;) I also "made" this handplane blade-adjusting hammer: it's based on a $3 hammer from a Japanese import store, but I clad it in a piece of copper pipe, so I wouldn't bung up the end of the handplane blade: gyegreene.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/diy-handplane-adjusting-hammer.html I give it an "A" for design, but a "B" ("B+"?) for execution. Finally, here's some photos on most of the hand tools I got from my grandfather's estate -- gyegreene.blogspot.com.au/2007/09/grandpa.html -- including four wooden mallets that he had made (he did woodworking.) Also: In my tally of "hammers", I forgot about mauls and sledgehammers. So, about three more... ;) --GG
Hi Henk, What were your approximate speeds? Sounds like the waffle oil works ok. Please do a test on tapping with these oils. Tapping involves higher pressures than drilling so it would be interesting to hear how they perform with thread cutting. Good report. It appeals to my cheapskate side. Best, Tom
Great video Tom. This is off-topic, but what boots do you go for? Is it hard getting a balance between safety and comfort? I weld / fabricate in foundry boots - safe, but very uncomfortable. Can you recommend good shop boots?
Hi Henk, I have heard of some shops that use olive oil. Never tried it myself but fundamentally there should be no problem. You might try something more high temperature like Canola or Peanut oil. They won't perform quite as well as lubes optimized for metal cutting. Try a little and report back. Definitely skip the fish oil. Your shop would have a "unique" aroma. Regards, Tom
Those aluminum bronze hammers and tools are also, typically, non-magnetic and useful in facilities with big/strong magnetic fields like rooms with a NMR or a MRI.
+Jason Deck Hi Jason, You are correct. We have a full set of these tools at work that we use when we work with permanent magnet assemblies in our Undulators. Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Tom
Neat! The NMR facility I worked in that had the tool set had a lot of signage around the tools and on the tool box warning about how dangerous and toxic the tools were. Apparently the company that made and sold them used to make some of them out of beryllium alloys instead of aluminum bronze, and needed to warn people about how toxic beryllium is.
Hi Henk, Another viewer suggested Rapeseed oil or Canola oil. Did you try those in your test? Maybe you can get the heart healthy low sodium version of the butter. Cheers, Tom
Hi Nini, Yeah try pounding a rivet with a tube of lipstick. Somehow just not as satisfying. My favorite color of lipstick is Prussian blue. Cheers, Tom
+1903tx Hi 1903, Yes I have a few deadblows in my collection. They end up near the mill for seating parts in the vise. Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Tom
4 years later and lot of paperwork, laws, misunderstanding by two governments, more laws. I have 660 square meters of workshop floor now!!! I love Otto!! my German contractor.
Use ear protection for sure when using a railroad track anvil. I don't know the alloy of RR track but it has an ear splitting ring when struck with something hard.
love the rack. It is similar to mine. Methinks you could quadriple the number of hammers if you angled the storage.....but why would you want to quadruple the storage....Ywer missing claw hammers, jewellers planishinbg hammers, Jointers mallets, and I don't think you got half enuf in the way of blacksmith hammers. Thanks for the post and ideas....
I watched this video once before years ago and apparently my wife was watching over my shoulder. I still remember her comment, "men are weird" lol. I recently organized my hammers and apparently I'm a collector as well. I dedicated a deep drawer in an old file cabinet too keep them together. I have two favorite hammers, in case your interested. One is a 6, maybe 7 pound bronze head baby sledge hammer. I actually found this thing on the road as a young man. The soft forgiving nature of the bronze head has given it the title of favorite hammer and has made countless jobs easier. I polish it up and reface it as needed. My second is a small all brass one. Maybe its my favorite, but in a different way. Its head is similar to a ball peen but much more refined. Made by someone long ago as maybe a school project?? 8 or 9 inches end to end.. Whoever built it had ability. The knurling, threading and turning is fantastic. I used this hammer as a delicate "tapper" for many years. I've refaced it a few times over the years. Then my young son noticed the end was actually a fancy cap that unscrewed. How I missed that is beyond me. Anyways, inside, wrapped in a single wrap of soft cloth was a small extremely well crafted brass screwdriver, about 3"long, that threaded into the hammers handle. Cool by itself, but there was one more secret. That 3 incher had a hollow body and the cap had tiny internal and external threads. What the heck. Another tiny screwdriver was hidden inside that. Maybe an inch long, an 1/8 in diameter. Beautifully turned and knurled. The flat head is maybe 1/16" wide and under a magnifier it is spot on! Both shafts appear to be flawlessly polished and hardened tool steel. I often wonder what else this person built. Watches? Jewellery? I guess we'll never know. I guess I am weird. Have a good day Tom. Thanks for the video.
Hi Jeff, Smack! That was the sound of a high five. Go take a look in your wifes closet. How many "cozy" jackets does she have? Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Tom
Im glad you liked hearing about it. I have a soft spot for abandoned home built tools and I know why. My grandfather joined the british army at 13 because war was better than what he had at the time. sad. He was POW at least twice I know about. He didn't like to talk about it. Anyways, while POW he was involved with making tools for escape attempts. He was successful at least twice, so whatever they did worked. After the war he came to Canada and eventually got a job working on a Canadian jet project called the Avro Arrow. He was very, very proud of that part of his life and was quick to tell strangers everything about how he worked with titanium and blah blah blah. LOL Later he went on to build electrical transformers at a small plant near Toronto (Ajax). I can still see and smell that place in my mind. The sparks from welders, the whirring of the lathes, the feel of pcb oil on my hands....... A VERY pleasant boyhood memory that I could talk all day about. They used to let me wander around and get into mischief unattended!! I was kind of like a shop dog with no fur. Fast forward many years to when my grandad retired. He had a small shed in the back yard full of his homebuilt tools and minimal income. He always used to tell me that it would all be mine one day, and if I looked after them they'd do everything I ever needed. He wanted me to have them. Fast forward again a few years. Grandad got ill, and while he was in the hospital fighting for his last breath, someone cleaned out his shed and took anything and everything of value. No insurance, no one caught, just gone. Since then any homemade tool brings back a flood of mixed emotion. One day I hope to find a well built homemade bench top lathe that I can afford. What a beautiful little lathe his was. Sure I could probably throw something together, but that wouldn't be the same. I guess I want to fill a void in my life. Kinda stupid, but just one of those things. No need to reply, just wanted to brag about my grandad! Cheers
+oxtoolco you have a lot of very nice hammers. You make me feel better about my collection. I used to think I had a problem, until I saw your rack. So thanks for that.
oxtoolco I'm jelly over those rawhide mallets you got there. I bet I got a couple hammers you'd like too though. At least I don't see anything quite like them in your collection. That is my criteria for buying hammers today. They have to be something different than what I already have. A guy can only use so many ball peens and claw hammers. Oh, and they have to be cheap too. You were crazy to buy that one hammer off ebay. But you seem to be already aware of that.
Hi Tom, I do not know. Now it's a rough liquid-tight concrete floor. The floor comes when everything is in place. It will be a two-color epoxy resin quartz gravel floor. Next week the first thing we are going to do, columns for the mezzanine and the 5 Tons overhead crane. Videos and photos will be on display within a year, i hope on my channel ( The New Saffie ). Henk.
Hi Tom, We have the 4 mm holes drilled with a hand-drill from Fein ( BOP 13-3 0 and el cheapo hand-drill stand with the base rotated 180 degrees and clamped onto the beams, with a load speed of approximately 640 rpm. And the 18 mm holes with the magnetic base drill Holemaker PRO35 and annular cutter with a load speed of 300 rpm. I will comply with your request to try to break off a couple taps. But where does the bill go :-) Henk.
Hi Tom, My name is Henk and I am A Toolholic to. But I have it under control now, I never buy more than 5 pcs in a month. Otherwise I get in to big problems with my girlfriend! Greeting from Europe.
Hey Tom I'm currently enjoying your book, lots of good info. Will Comi-fornia not let you import a lead hammer, or do you just not like them? I'll be honest I'm a little weary of them myself.
Hi Matt, I have a few lead hammers. They are great for certain kinds of jobs. I find them way too soft for regular use. They are pretty tame if you paint them so you don't transfer the lead to your skin. Probably not a good idea to belt sand the faces either. Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Tom
This may be a dumb question but could you explain when to use what hammer? I know many times you don't want to damage or mark the thing your trying to move, I don't understand the difference between the rawhide mallet, rubber, plastic, brass and bronze and lead hammers. I just know that they are designed to be less damaging.
Hi Tom,First time watching you , been watching the "Kieths" channels and Have watched them all so now it is time to add another to my play list. Two questions? Didn't see any Lath Hammers in you collection?? I know it is a lost art but they are pretty cool hammers.Second, I love your rack. Do you have any details or drawings of how you put it together? I have Three draws full of my hammers plus one at my mom's house that were my fathers who was a carpenter for 50+ years. I would love to build a nice way to display them like you have.JoeR
Hi Joseph, Thanks for the compliment on my rack. I'm blushing. The rack is basically two sides made from 3/4 plywood and then a couple of rails at different elevations made from narrow unistrut to put the handles through. Hope this helps. Cheers, Tom
Hi Tom, I have a quick question. Do you happen to a home recipe for biodegradable cutting oil? I can order the ECO cutting oil, but it takes a few days. I thought of sunflower or fish oil. Environmental official he hides in the bushes and he has an eye on us / me. I buy tools rather than pay fines. Henk
Tom, I have a piece of rail that I've already pre-drilled on each corner so that I can eventually bolt it down for a small bench-top anvil. The top has some pitting in it. I've been planning on using my South Bend shaper to turn it into a more proper looking anvil, but I'm wondering if I could clean up the top or if that would destroy the work hardening of the surface (I have no idea how deep that would go in a rail). Thoughts?
+Sharky's Hey Sharky, My experience with railroad rail is they are not that hard. I have cut them in saws and milled the top surface with high speed end mills with no problems. I say go for it. Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Tom
Thanks! I was a bit worried that it might be problematic. I cut the length from a scrap piece at one of the shops where I'm doing my pipefitting apprenticeship. The true vertical Marvel-Spartan bandsaw sliced it like butter.
Wow. you have a very interesting collection. I don't have many hammers myself. started doing carpenter work this summer. I have since realized that I need more hammers. I'm up to 4 and looking for more. Do you have any suggestions for a good framing hammer?
@@oxtoolco I found an old 10 lb crosspein style sledge hammer. Any tips on rust removal? I want to clean it up and replace the handle. Maybe use it if its still in good shape after I get through the rust.
Наука
A striking collection.
that pun peined me
"yeah, I use this one pretty often"
*Blows the dust off it*
Oh, Tom.
It works if you work it.
I can't believe I watch this whole video.... And believe it or not I enjoyed every moment. THANKS...
Hi Brian,
Thanks for the comment. I just got another one last weekend.
All the best,
Tom
Hi Sam,
Thanks for the comment. Spread the word to other addicts near you. Tell them you found a new dealer.....
Regards,
Tom
Hi Tom, I am loving your videos! I have been a "Handy" guy forever and over the last year I have really become focused on engineering, machining, industrial processes, history of precision industry etc. Keith Fenner's videos got me started and your videos make me determined to get into this field. I aim to start studying in 2014. Thanks for all your efforts!
Awesome hammer collection Tom , thanks for showing us .
Hi Toly,
I need a new rack soon. I just got two more recently to add to the collection.
Best,
Tom
I love hammers. I had to build a multi level shelf to organize most of mine. It helps to be able to see at a glance the different types of hammers at once, sometimes gives you alternative ideas just by looking at the variety. Great collection! Cheers to Hammer Addicts Unanimous.
+SaucyTreasures Hi Saucy,
High five for hammers! Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
I have to say , this is the first video I've seen like this and I really did enjoy it. I love tools of all types and enjoy working with my hands . Thanks for the great video.
Byron Nickels Hi Byron,
Welcome to the show and thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Tom,congratulations...awesome hammer rack and collection.
Loved seeing you in the Caltech shirt. Great memories of Pasadena when my son was attending college there.
Very interesting, all the little anecdotal details that determine tool design are fascinating. That stuff about the anvil especially!
Hi Tandirt,
Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Yep, gotta get'em out of the drawers. Adam Savage says "Drawers are where tools go to die..."
StepCorn Grumbleteats yeah well savage is a hack anyways so who cares
Thanks for this. You helped me recognize my addiction before it became an issue. I have a small collection. Around 20-25 at the moment.
+OH LAWD JASUS Hi Jasus,
You know there is no known cure right? Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Nice collection Tom, thanks for sharing.
Hammer time!
Great collection :)
Came for a quick look at a hammer rack of impressive proportion. Stayed for some great wisdom and insight into what all those different hammers could be for.
I was looking forward to seeing the slate roofing and other unique specialty hammers with odd shapes, but standard for their craft. Found the explanation of copper hammers enlightening. Thank You Tom.
Hi Spoon,
Thanks for the comment. Try a copper hammer. You will never use your brass ones again.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the comment. Us hammer addicts have to stick together. Mallets don't count? That means I'll have to build a segregated rack for them and keep them away from the real hammers.
Regards,
Tom
very nice collection of hammers, quite expansive. In our workshop i'm the 1 with the hammer addiction, i've got nearly 30 and am only a a 4th year Appy. Nice idea on the racks i'll have to make 1 to suite.
cheers from Australia.
That's some weeeeird addiction dude! (just wait till you see my transformer collection haha! )
Hi Toly,
We seldom make our own handles here in the US. I never thought about it until you mentioned it. I have experienced hammers wanting to do a twist when hitting with them. I always attributed the twisting to a long hammer head length or glancing blow.
Thanks for the comment and good information.
Regards,
Tom
Thanks Tom, you really nailed that one.
I am a carpenter. I swing an old Belkmap Bluegrass BG47-16 it is a16oz curved claw with a wooden octagonal handle. It is my FAVORITE
Hi Tom,
This morning first to the supermarket and purchased a bottle of liquid frying butter (Blue Band) for 1 Euro 50 and a bottle of olive oil for 80 cents. First I made a steel plate template with the hole-pattern for pilot holes. The holes of 4mm we drilled with olive oil, it was a bit smoky but it worked well. The 18mm holes we drilled with Blue Band. A few drops is enough and it smells like Brussels waffles.
Henk
16:24 Yep. I have one that the handle broke during a hip case so the OR tech pitched it. I was doing the Anesthesia so I got first dibs. Has brass faces. Use it all the time.
wow,amazing hammers collection
I love the Cream in the back ground :)
Hi Tyler,
Excellent question. Pretty hard to answer in a few short sentences. The hammer face density governs the type of blow delivered. A couple of basic examples. Rawhide is non marking but produces a slow low velocity impact that doesn't stretch metal. A metal hammer produces a sharp high velocity impact that can stretch and displace metal. This subject would be an excellent article for a more in depth explanation and demonstration.
Regards,
Tom Lipton
Just like a gun safe, as soon as you get it home you've outgrown it. Pretty cool stuff.
Great collection! They tend to accumulate pretty fast :) I'm not quite to this level though
I'm really enjoying your channel. Lots of great stuff. As a blacksmith, I too have hammer issues. You can let yourself off the hook on the bottom row, mallets don't count :) The hot cut is a struck tool, also not a hammer! The big odd one is a tire hammer, from the split rim days, but the handle looked a little short. Keep it up, these are great!
Nice collection.
Hi Tom,
Until it started to rain this afternoon, it change in a kind of white lumpy alien substance!! On a scale of 1 to 10 for the olive oil a 6 and a 7 for the Bleu Band.
Tomorrow we will continue with the drilling and cleaning the beams with a high pressure steam cleaner.
Henk
Hi Gordon,
I don't have any if you can believe it. I prefer the cast iron rawhide. The reason is rebound. I want just a little rebound so you don't have to work so hard. Many of my hammers are for sheetmetal where you are doing thousands of hammer blows. I tried deadblows a long time ago and found them tiring because of no rebound. I am convinced I need a couple so I'm looking at the Lixie's trying to decide which ones.
Thanks for the commet.
Best,
Tom
Hi Jack,
Ain't it great! I just smoked a big bowl of hammer handle shavings.
Thanks for the comment.
Best,
Tom
Could you maybe do a "blacksmithing tools" video? great collection by the way!
I was hoping you'd pull out a Roman hammer. But the rawhide ones are of interest. I think those are on the purchase list now.
I have 7 hammers and constantly want for more but would always ask myself “how many hammers do you need?” This video has answered my question to myself
Hi Tom,
Life is full of surprises! Yesterday, I have two lathes and a milling machine given to me, for a very ridiculous small amount of money and a BBQ ( Knuth Servoturn 410 , V-turn 410 , WF 4.1 mill ) Out of my family business. And this morning my German contractor has given me the keys to my new home and rebuilt workshop. Thee months earlier than planned. So I'm busy the next few months. With setting up my old / new workshop.
Or was it planned by my girlfriend and family?!?!
Henk
Awsome! Just Awsome!
Love that you have the bone hammer. I use mine for meat tenderizing.
+jae1235 Good idea! Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Tom you need a sign " Don't force it get a bigger hammer"
10/10 Tom looks great
Love the idea of the hammer rack, so much for the hammers I want to know more about the rack. It looks like you used unistrut for the rails, is there anything to keep the hammers from turning sideways and falling through. I have several drawers of hammers and would sure like to use those drawers for something else. Plus it would sure make it easy to find the hammer I wanted to use. Thanks for the video, I have been trying to figure out what to do with them.
There is a place here that buys scrap metal and I just purchased a bunch of brass hammers most had the handles sawed off but I got 4 good ones with handles for scrap price, to add to the collection. It is truly unreal what people scrap out, one day I found a complete set of number, letter and fractional bits by Hout and only one was missing it cost me 6 bucks. I guess a tool is worthless to someone that doesn't know how to use it. That place is unreal, you never know what you will find there. Thanks again Tom, sorry for the babbling.
Hey Mystery,
The rack doesn't have any features to keep the hammers from rotating. There are enough features on most hammers that make them want to hang in that direction. The trick is to fill the rack so they can't rotate! I need to make another one as this one is filled to maximum capacity, Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Henk,
Not sure what's happening to your comments. Maybe there are so many yours are on another page. Typically there are several pages of comments for each video!
Thanks for the preliminary report on the Redbrick safety sneakers. We are waiting for the full report from our Dutch tool testing lab.
Regards,
Tom
I'm a cabinetmaker and just started into metalworking. And I thought my hammer collection was bad!
hope i find a ball pien hammer at some point, hard to find in the netherlands. verry nice collection :) also the restoration vid :)
+Leo ten hoeve Hi Leo,
Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Nice video thanks
Hi WW,
I have made a few hammers for doing compound sheet metal work. As far as metal hammers go I would probably go the forging route if I really got it bad.
Regards,
Tom Lipton
Hi Henk,
Sounds like an excellent workspace. Can't wait to see some pictures of the shop. Do your safety sneakers squeak on the new floor in your shop?
Best,
Tom
The "Removable face, split head type" are great! I have one with nylon+wood and another with ribber+brass. I should get another for copper and make some pin heads for the other side.
Hi William,
What wood do you use in your split head hammer? Do you make them yourself? Thanks for the comment and participation.
Cheers,
Tom
I use maple dowel I buy from the hardware store. I work in aerospace and the few times a week I need it, it does well.
William Weightman Hey William,
I have some tinners maple mallets but I never liked them because they have no mass to them. I have several Garland mallets of the same size I think I'm going to convert one to hard rock maple faces and try it out. Thanks so much for the suggestion.
Cheers,
Tom
Someone gave me a hammer like the dody hammer described, one end is just like your body hammer, but the other side is long and pointy, maybe 6 inches long.....can you tell me what it's used for?
I have always had a weird headphone addiction. They always fascinate me and I've spent way too much money on them. What's even weirder is they are in style now. Guess I'm just ahead of my time :).
Jeeze, I thought I was the only one. Will have to video my hammers for you.
Hi Gene,
Looking forward to seeing your collection. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
I used to think that I had too many hammers. Now, I realize that I don't have enough.
As for Ball Pein hammers I use the Vaughan 8 and 12 oz hammers which seem to only come in a blue color these days, which isn't bad considering I love blue.
This video should be legally required viewing for all wives, girlfriends and sisters who for some reason do not understand the greatness of.Toolaholism.
Don't judge me but all I own is one Eastwing claw hammer and one tiny hammer I made from 1/4 square stock and 1/8 th rod. I used it for pinning balsa down to make planes 32 years ago.
I just found your channel. That's it, I won't get any work done for months.
Hi Henk,
The machinery gods are smiling on you. Run with it. Sounds like you need to retain your German contractor for a shop expansion.
Regards,
Tom
A friend of mine had to move out of the house he'd grown up in, and was going to throw away the hammer heads he'd inherited from his dad. Call it 35 pounds of steel. I wasn't about to let them get junked out, so I "threw them away" in my truck and over the past few years since then I've fitted new handles into almost all of them. I've learned that fitting new hickory handles into old hammer heads takes patience.
One of the oddballs I got turned out to be a Cobbler's Hammer (I was wondering who would make a claw hammer and not cut the center groove between the tangs, it just seemed so stupid); another hasn't been ID'd yet, but I'm thinking I might have seen something like it when I watched a demonstration of how a track gang straightened railroad track back in the day (I think it might be a railroad spike hammer). I got a good axe head (warped and weathered handle, gladly replaced), several geology hammers, a small sledge and a variety of carpentry hammers. I was tickled to see you have a cousin to the brick mortar chipping hammer that I got (mine saw use recently when a neighbor was laying used brick over sand for a new walkway; he was just a little surprised that I had the exact right tool for the job).
My wife doesn't understand hammers. I found out that she'd used one of my jewelry hammers (it's actually a "Flatting Hammer") to drive some small nails. She didn't understand why I got upset or why I had to replace it. She'd scarred the face and made it unusable for flatting. Her rationale for picking it was because it was girl-sized. Maybe I should get her a girl-sized pink hammer, and tell her to leave the rest alone.
I love the idea of having a "Roll-Away" for the hammer collection. It's so much cooler (and more compact) than peg board. You forgot the seat-of-the-pants Engineering Rule: "Figure out what will do the job, then double it" (you knew you were likely to get more hammers anyway, right?). If it were me, I think I'd go for an A-Frame approach, with racks on the front and on the back, and try to keep the center of gravity in between the wheels. The less-often used tools could get relegated to the backside racks.
Anyway, thanks for the tour!
Hi Kurt,
Thirty five pounds is a clear indication of the hammer addiction syndrome. I got a really neat miniature claw hammer at one point. My wife snapped it up as soon as she saw it. By the way she has a decent tool collection of her own. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Tom,
I'm very busy the last few weeks. Not much You Tube for me the past weeks. It was a rainy day today, so I had time for your request try to break off a couple taps. Tapping ( M 12 ) with liquid frying butter really worked well. But one hour after tapping the tap is corroded. I believe it's because of the salt that is in the butter.
Best,
Henk and Shopdog Finn
Interesting video... until I saw this video I didn't know that one could have too many hammers...
Hi Zoltan,
How did you know I have a plier collection. Is it that obvious?
Regards,
Tom Lipton
Freaking Awesome.............!
Informative; thanks! Good explanations.
I do woodworking, not metal work -- but I enjoy my hammers and mallets. I counted 40 of 'em a few months ago -- mostly variations on claw hammers -- but I possibly have a few scattered about that I missed...
--GG
GyeGreene Hi GG,
Well it sounds like you have a hammer addiction as well. I would love to see a picture of your collection.
Cheers,
Tom
oxtoolco Well, I don't have a **unified** picture of my hammers. But here's a blog entry of most of my stash, from about two years ago --
gyegreene.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/hammer-down-rabbet-ears-hammer-down.html
About a week after taking that photo, I found a stash of about eight other hammers. And I've acquired a few more since then. ;)
I also "made" this handplane blade-adjusting hammer: it's based on a $3 hammer from a Japanese import store, but I clad it in a piece of copper pipe, so I wouldn't bung up the end of the handplane blade: gyegreene.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/diy-handplane-adjusting-hammer.html
I give it an "A" for design, but a "B" ("B+"?) for execution.
Finally, here's some photos on most of the hand tools I got from my grandfather's estate -- gyegreene.blogspot.com.au/2007/09/grandpa.html -- including four wooden mallets that he had made (he did woodworking.)
Also: In my tally of "hammers", I forgot about mauls and sledgehammers. So, about three more... ;)
--GG
Hi Henk,
What were your approximate speeds? Sounds like the waffle oil works ok. Please do a test on tapping with these oils. Tapping involves higher pressures than drilling so it would be interesting to hear how they perform with thread cutting. Good report. It appeals to my cheapskate side.
Best,
Tom
Great video Tom.
This is off-topic, but what boots do you go for? Is it hard getting a balance between safety and comfort?
I weld / fabricate in foundry boots - safe, but very uncomfortable. Can you recommend good shop boots?
Hi Henk,
I have heard of some shops that use olive oil. Never tried it myself but fundamentally there should be no problem. You might try something more high temperature like Canola or Peanut oil. They won't perform quite as well as lubes optimized for metal cutting. Try a little and report back.
Definitely skip the fish oil. Your shop would have a "unique" aroma.
Regards,
Tom
Those aluminum bronze hammers and tools are also, typically, non-magnetic and useful in facilities with big/strong magnetic fields like rooms with a NMR or a MRI.
+Jason Deck Hi Jason,
You are correct. We have a full set of these tools at work that we use when we work with permanent magnet assemblies in our Undulators. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Neat! The NMR facility I worked in that had the tool set had a lot of signage around the tools and on the tool box warning about how dangerous and toxic the tools were. Apparently the company that made and sold them used to make some of them out of beryllium alloys instead of aluminum bronze, and needed to warn people about how toxic beryllium is.
Hey Tom, why is the end of a tack hammer split?
Hi Henk,
Another viewer suggested Rapeseed oil or Canola oil. Did you try those in your test? Maybe you can get the heart healthy low sodium version of the butter.
Cheers,
Tom
l can so relate to you buddy....like my lipstick collection..
Hi Nini,
Yeah try pounding a rivet with a tube of lipstick. Somehow just not as satisfying. My favorite color of lipstick is Prussian blue.
Cheers,
Tom
Rivit??? sounds interesting!!! can i pin my hair with this highly technical instrument?
Do you not have any dead-blows in the collection?
Btw, I was digging the Boston around @16:30; they're one of my all-time favorite bands.
+1903tx Hi 1903,
Yes I have a few deadblows in my collection. They end up near the mill for seating parts in the vise. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
4 years later and lot of paperwork, laws, misunderstanding by two governments, more laws. I have 660 square meters of workshop floor now!!!
I love Otto!! my German contractor.
Yup, from York, which is in the North of England.
I will look into buying some Blunnies 'elf' boots ! lol
Use ear protection for sure when using a railroad track anvil. I don't know the alloy of RR track but it has an ear splitting ring when struck with something hard.
Hi Norman,
What was that you said?.......
All the best,
Tom
love the rack. It is similar to mine. Methinks you could quadriple the number of hammers if you angled the storage.....but why would you want to quadruple the storage....Ywer missing claw hammers, jewellers planishinbg hammers, Jointers mallets, and I don't think you got half enuf in the way of blacksmith hammers.
Thanks for the post and ideas....
No Starrett center punching hammer with the magnifying glass in it?
I reckon you'd love it.
Anyway, I'm off to get me a piece of train track. :D
PooManchoo2 Shuuush. I don't have one of those cool Starrett hammers and I don't want folks to find out. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
this is cool
I watched this video once before years ago and apparently my wife was watching over my shoulder. I still remember her comment, "men are weird" lol. I recently organized my hammers and apparently I'm a collector as well. I dedicated a deep drawer in an old file cabinet too keep them together. I have two favorite hammers, in case your interested. One is a 6, maybe 7 pound bronze head baby sledge hammer. I actually found this thing on the road as a young man. The soft forgiving nature of the bronze head has given it the title of favorite hammer and has made countless jobs easier. I polish it up and reface it as needed. My second is a small all brass one. Maybe its my favorite, but in a different way. Its head is similar to a ball peen but much more refined. Made by someone long ago as maybe a school project?? 8 or 9 inches end to end.. Whoever built it had ability. The knurling, threading and turning is fantastic. I used this hammer as a delicate "tapper" for many years. I've refaced it a few times over the years. Then my young son noticed the end was actually a fancy cap that unscrewed. How I missed that is beyond me. Anyways, inside, wrapped in a single wrap of soft cloth was a small extremely well crafted brass screwdriver, about 3"long, that threaded into the hammers handle. Cool by itself, but there was one more secret. That 3 incher had a hollow body and the cap had tiny internal and external threads. What the heck. Another tiny screwdriver was hidden inside that. Maybe an inch long, an 1/8 in diameter. Beautifully turned and knurled. The flat head is maybe 1/16" wide and under a magnifier it is spot on! Both shafts appear to be flawlessly polished and hardened tool steel. I often wonder what else this person built. Watches? Jewellery? I guess we'll never know. I guess I am weird. Have a good day Tom. Thanks for the video.
Hi Jeff,
Smack! That was the sound of a high five. Go take a look in your wifes closet. How many "cozy" jackets does she have? Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Im glad you liked hearing about it. I have a soft spot for abandoned home built tools and I know why. My grandfather joined the british army at 13 because war was better than what he had at the time. sad. He was POW at least twice I know about. He didn't like to talk about it. Anyways, while POW he was involved with making tools for escape attempts. He was successful at least twice, so whatever they did worked. After the war he came to Canada and eventually got a job working on a Canadian jet project called the Avro Arrow. He was very, very proud of that part of his life and was quick to tell strangers everything about how he worked with titanium and blah blah blah. LOL Later he went on to build electrical transformers at a small plant near Toronto (Ajax). I can still see and smell that place in my mind. The sparks from welders, the whirring of the lathes, the feel of pcb oil on my hands....... A VERY pleasant boyhood memory that I could talk all day about. They used to let me wander around and get into mischief unattended!! I was kind of like a shop dog with no fur. Fast forward many years to when my grandad retired. He had a small shed in the back yard full of his homebuilt tools and minimal income. He always used to tell me that it would all be mine one day, and if I looked after them they'd do everything I ever needed. He wanted me to have them. Fast forward again a few years. Grandad got ill, and while he was in the hospital fighting for his last breath, someone cleaned out his shed and took anything and everything of value. No insurance, no one caught, just gone. Since then any homemade tool brings back a flood of mixed emotion. One day I hope to find a well built homemade bench top lathe that I can afford. What a beautiful little lathe his was. Sure I could probably throw something together, but that wouldn't be the same. I guess I want to fill a void in my life. Kinda stupid, but just one of those things. No need to reply, just wanted to brag about my grandad! Cheers
A good start.
Hi Fred,
Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Good Day Sir.I found a DIN 8475 100G, do you know what it is? Ty
Hi Bic,
Take a look for Redbrick Smaragd safety sneakers, which are very comfortable.
Hammer time!
Mc Hammer luvs this
+oxtoolco you have a lot of very nice hammers. You make me feel better about my collection. I used to think I had a problem, until I saw your rack. So thanks for that.
+Paul Frederick Hey Paul,
Glad to help out. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
oxtoolco
I'm jelly over those rawhide mallets you got there. I bet I got a couple hammers you'd like too though. At least I don't see anything quite like them in your collection. That is my criteria for buying hammers today. They have to be something different than what I already have. A guy can only use so many ball peens and claw hammers. Oh, and they have to be cheap too. You were crazy to buy that one hammer off ebay. But you seem to be already aware of that.
Hi Tom,
I do not know. Now it's a rough liquid-tight concrete floor. The floor comes when everything is in place. It will be a two-color epoxy resin quartz gravel floor. Next week the first thing we are going to do, columns for the mezzanine and the 5 Tons overhead crane. Videos and photos will be on display within a year, i hope on my channel ( The New Saffie ).
Henk.
You know what's said about hammers?
If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail ;-)
Keep on!
Hi Tom,
We have the 4 mm holes drilled with a hand-drill from Fein ( BOP 13-3 0 and el cheapo hand-drill stand with the base rotated 180 degrees and clamped onto the beams, with a load speed of approximately 640 rpm. And the 18 mm holes with the magnetic base drill Holemaker PRO35 and annular cutter with a load speed of 300 rpm. I will comply with your request to try to break off a couple taps. But where does the bill go :-)
Henk.
Hi Tom,
My name is Henk and I am A Toolholic to. But I have it under control now, I never buy more than 5 pcs in a month. Otherwise I get in to big problems with my girlfriend!
Greeting from Europe.
Hey Tom I'm currently enjoying your book, lots of good info. Will Comi-fornia not let you import a lead hammer, or do you just not like them? I'll be honest I'm a little weary of them myself.
Hi Matt,
I have a few lead hammers. They are great for certain kinds of jobs. I find them way too soft for regular use. They are pretty tame if you paint them so you don't transfer the lead to your skin. Probably not a good idea to belt sand the faces either. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
One can never have enough opinion amplifiers.
This may be a dumb question but could you explain when to use what hammer? I know many times you don't want to damage or mark the thing your trying to move, I don't understand the difference between the rawhide mallet, rubber, plastic, brass and bronze and lead hammers. I just know that they are designed to be less damaging.
Hi Tom,First time watching you , been watching the "Kieths" channels and Have watched them all so now it is time to add another to my play list. Two questions? Didn't see any Lath Hammers in you collection?? I know it is a lost art but they are pretty cool hammers.Second, I love your rack. Do you have any details or drawings of how you put it together? I have Three draws full of my hammers plus one at my mom's house that were my fathers who was a carpenter for 50+ years. I would love to build a nice way to display them like you have.JoeR
Hi Joseph,
Thanks for the compliment on my rack. I'm blushing. The rack is basically two sides made from 3/4 plywood and then a couple of rails at different elevations made from narrow unistrut to put the handles through. Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Tom,
I have a quick question. Do you happen to a home recipe for biodegradable cutting oil? I can order the ECO cutting oil, but it takes a few days. I thought of sunflower or fish oil.
Environmental official he hides in the bushes and he has an eye on us / me. I buy tools rather than pay fines.
Henk
All I can say regarding Hammer addiction is "Don't knock it"
MoK
Hey Mo,
Beats crack any day.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Henk,
Can you give us a better link to your channel. I searched YT and got tired of looking through pages of weird cats.
Best,
Tom
Tom, I have a piece of rail that I've already pre-drilled on each corner so that I can eventually bolt it down for a small bench-top anvil. The top has some pitting in it. I've been planning on using my South Bend shaper to turn it into a more proper looking anvil, but I'm wondering if I could clean up the top or if that would destroy the work hardening of the surface (I have no idea how deep that would go in a rail). Thoughts?
+Sharky's Hey Sharky,
My experience with railroad rail is they are not that hard. I have cut them in saws and milled the top surface with high speed end mills with no problems. I say go for it. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
Thanks! I was a bit worried that it might be problematic. I cut the length from a scrap piece at one of the shops where I'm doing my pipefitting apprenticeship. The true vertical Marvel-Spartan bandsaw sliced it like butter.
Wow. you have a very interesting collection. I don't have many hammers myself. started doing carpenter work this summer. I have since realized that I need more hammers. I'm up to 4 and looking for more. Do you have any suggestions for a good framing hammer?
Hi D,
Welcome to hammers anonymous. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Tom
@@oxtoolco I found an old 10 lb crosspein style sledge hammer. Any tips on rust removal? I want to clean it up and replace the handle. Maybe use it if its still in good shape after I get through the rust.