Stone tools 4: Primitive stone hammer 🪨

Just a quickie while I'm working on some projects that might take a little longer: A stone hammer with a handle is a nice step up from a hand-held hammerstone in terms of handling, precision, and force. Plus it's quite simple to make.
A couple of tips from my experience so far:
Pulling the bark off a branch is easiest in spring and summer, less so once autumn sets in.
Willow wood splits easily, but the split often tends to wander towards one side or the other. You can steer it back towards the middle by bending the thicker half more than the thinner one.
There are different sorts of willow and not all of them are flexible enough for this procedure. I have so far found the ones growing right next to the water to be consistently very flexible. Leaving the branch in water for a day will help, too.
As the material dries out, the fitting around the hammer head can get a bit loose. You may then need to re-tighten the knots and the wrapping.
It seems to be a good idea to have more than one hammer in your toolkit. Especially when used to hit other rocks, the hammer head will wear off faster than hand-held hammerstones, due to its smaller size and the higher impact forces.
Update: The head of the hammer you see me making in this video later broke in two after a couple of harder hits. The quartz head held up nicely so far.
#stonetools #primitiveskills

[@rljatfrogpondschool7283]

.....i am so happy to have found your channel

[@JorzzLoverBoy246]

Thx for this video man my cousin is having a hard time hammering some of our wood to make a small shelter and this is gonna help a lot

[@williamwhite9481]

Very nice, maybe try to put a groove around them and wrap the stick inside the groove.

[@MakeItPrimitive]

You can do that to be extra sure. But I've found that if you can get a properly shaped rock, it usually isn't necessary (and with quartz, it would be a lot of work to peck a groove into it). As the willow wood dries out and shrinks, its grip on the head loosens a bit, so I re-tighten the handle after one or two days.

[@williamwhite9481]

@@MakeItPrimitive that makes sense

[@esben181]

You should try to make a flint drill
and use it to drill a hole in a rock

[@StrayOfIndia]

I love how smart we are as humans

[@iamavloger707]

It is night now from 🇮🇳

[@JoeBrignola]

Awsome

[@thedrunkengamerx]

What kind of tree did u pull that branch from? Also, did you dampen that twig before peeling the bark, or does it just come off that easily?

[@MakeItPrimitive]

It's willow. The bark comes off very easily if you do it at the right time of year, in spring and summer.

[@thedrunkengamerx]

@@MakeItPrimitive does this go for weeping willows as well?

[@MakeItPrimitive]

@@thedrunkengamerx I haven't tried it, but probably yes. The specimens in my area are all already old and big, so I coudn't get my hand on any young branches. But all the willows I have met so far were easy to debark. What I can say, however, is that the hanging branches of the weeping willow aren't great for basket weaving, even though they really look like they should be.

[@nomadichunter2818]

Good