Interesting facts about hammers
What is there to say about such primitive tools as hammers? There is a hammer head made of a more or less heavy material and a handle, usually made of wood. And: you hit things with a hammer. But the sheer variety of different hammer models shows us that it is worth taking a closer look.
The parts of the hammer
Most hammers have a steel head. The flat end of the head, the striking face, is called the "web". The other, narrow flattened end is called the "fin", sometimes also "narrow face" or "tiller". Not all steel hammers have different orbits; there are also hammers with two identical orbits. The area between the tracks is called the "house". In the house is the hole for the handle, the so-called "eye".
With steel hammers, the web and the fin are usually hardened, whereby the house is always unhardened, i.e. softer. This makes the striking surfaces robust, but the hammer does not bounce as much, which has a positive effect on the user's muscles and joints. The handle is usually made of wood, but can also be made of other materials such as metal, plastic or composite materials. Some handles have a leather or plastic coating.
Different head shapes
Joiner's hammer In the German form of the joiner's hammer, the fin is offset and shifted downwards. The face is rectangular on edge. It is interesting to note that the size of the hammer is not indicated by its weight, as is the case with most other hammers, but by the edge length of the track (height of the side).
Carpenter's hammer span>With the carpenter's hammer, wood has been replaced as the handle material by a combination of metal and plastic/rubber or metal and leather. The moulding of the carpenter's hammer can be smooth or ribbed. The fluting is intended to prevent the nail head from slipping if it is not hit exactly, but this slipping is usually caused by grease from being touched with the bare hand. Many tradesmen swear by hammers with a smooth face and prevent slipping by lightly scraping them with sandpaper. To do this, place a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface and drag the sheet over it a few times. You will see that the hammer no longer "slips". The fin of the carpenter's hammer is split and the notch is shaped so that it can be used to pull out nails. One of the two ends of the fin is longer and pointed. This allows the hammer to be hammered into beams. The carpenter's hammer can be used like a sappie to lift and align beams. Or the hammer can be driven into a beam with this point so that it is "tidied up" and does not fall off the roof. Carpentry hammers often have a recess with a magnet on the top. This is used to set nails with one hand.
In contrast to carpenters' hammers, locksmith's hammers have a square path and the fin is arranged crosswise in the centre. There are locksmith's hammers that have a sleeve made of sheet metal or plastic at the transition from the handle to the head to protect the handle from damage.
Blacksmith's hammers have a similar shape to locksmith's hammers, they are somewhat stockier and the head is shorter and thicker. Many blacksmiths make their own hammers. Blacksmiths also use hammers that are not struck, but are mounted and driven into the workpiece with animpact hammer, e.g. to punch holes in the workpiece or to cut it open.
Japanese hammer The best known are the Japanese carpenter's hammers "Genno". These are hammers with two faces, one straight and one slightly convex. The convex side is used for the final blow when hammering in nails. Due to the curvature of the striking face, the nail head can be countersunk without leaving an angular impression. Less well known is the use of the curved striking face to join precisely fitting joints. To do this, the wood of the mating surfaces is compressed by hitting it with the convex side until the joint slides together more easily.
Moisture in the air causes the compressed wood to swell again and the joint becomes firm and tight. The webs of Japanese hammers are also hardened in such a way that the house is soft so that the hammer does not bounce. These hammers are often made of two types of steel. For this purpose, the tracks made of highly hardenable steel are welded onto a hammer body made of soft steel.
Hammers with heads made of soft materials
With "soft-face hammers " , the aim is to ensure that the workpiece or tool is not damaged by the hammer. To achieve this, the material of which the head or striking surface is made must be softer than the material it strikes. Rubber, plastic, rawhide, wood and soft metals are used as head materials.
Rubber mallets are very soft and therefore very gentle on the workpiece, but the head is very elastic. This means that a large amount of the impact energy goes into deforming the head. Tougher materials such as plastic ( e.g. nylon) or rawhide are more suitable. Hammers withsoft metal heads, e.g. brass, are often used for fine adjustment work. These deform during use and therefore wear out.
Models that are composed of several materials in order to combine their properties are also popular among soft-face mallets. One example of this is thesetting hammer for wood planes with a brass head and a wooden striking surface. The brass side is used to strike the iron to adjust the chip thickness. The wooden side is used to strike the wooden wedge and the planer box when removing and loosening the iron.
The hammerswith wooden heads form a large group. Starting with the club-like mallets for hitting splitting knives when splitting shingles, through various assembly and adjustment hammers, to the mallets and mallets used for chiselling and carving. These hammers are often made by the craftsmen themselves.
Themallets and mallets differ in the shape of the head. The head of the mallet is not square, but round. The rounded striking surface of the mallet means that it does not have to be turned in a particular direction and no torque is exerted on the forearm. This is why this shape is favoured by sculptors and stonemasons who have to strike in a wide variety of directions. Mallets usually have a shorter handle, which enables finer, more sensitive work. The round shape of the mallet also has the advantage that there is less risk of injury if the mallet slips. This is why farriers also use round shoes for various types of work on the hoof, so as not to injure the horse if it moves while working.
There are not only many different head sizes for the mallets, but also models with a brass or plastic head. Depending on the craftsman's preference, he can choose from a wide range of options. What all mallets and mallets have in common is that the striking surface is at an angle to the longitudinal axis and not parallel to it. Instead, the striking surface is in line with the wrist, as they are struck more from the wrist than from the elbow.
Handle length
What is the handle length all about? Depending on whether the blow comes from the wrist, the elbow or the shoulder, or two-handed from the whole body, the handle must have a corresponding length. If the hammer is struck from the wrist (e.g. mallet), it is often only a little more than a hand's width long. When striking from the elbow (e.g. locksmith's hammer), it must be approx. 30 to 35 cm long (one cubit long). Sledge hammers that are struck from the shoulder or two-handed usually have handles 60 to 120 cm long. On some hammers, the handle is thickened or tapered so that two hand positions are possible. With a short grip, the hammer is used for striking from the wrist (sensitive and precise), with a long grip for striking from the elbow (more traction, less controlled).
Speciality hammers
There is a whole range of special hammers with different head shapes, different moulds of the striking surfaces and made from different materials. We would like to pick out two models here as examples.
Theveneer or rubbing hammer is not struck, but the veneer is rubbed with bone glue using the very wide fin. The hammer head is preheated in the glue boiler for this purpose. The French model, in which the handle and head are made of metal, is somewhat less susceptible to moisture than the German model. The German veneer hammer has a heavier head and can therefore store more heat, but its handle is made of wood, which suffers in the water bath. With veneer hammers, it is important that the fin is cleanly rounded and smooth so that the veneer is not damaged when rubbed.
Aglazing hammer is used to fix the glass pane with glazing corners or small nails before cementing. To avoid damaging the glass pane, the hammer is guided in contact with the glass, which is why the tracks are triangular in shape. In our model, the triangular track can be rotated so that the handle can be held in any direction, but the track still always rests on the glass. The nails can be aligned with the opposite round track. Other models have two triangular tracks arranged at an angle of 60°. These hammers are also used to attach picture frame backs. Although the back panel of the picture frame lies between the hammer and the glass, it is safer to guide the hammer resting on the back panel.
In our tool knowledge video, Peter Lanz presents other hammers and their applications.
