Did I hear the word Hammers?

[bruto]

I should probably introduce myself a little, having just showed up a while ago looking up data on my Leatherman.  Anyway, I'm 76 and I've been around tools for a long time, and I tend to collect stuff, and I thought a couple of hammers might be of interest here.  I have lots of hammers. A significant but not complete collection of those that never got rehung hangs on one of my outbuildings.
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I've got way too many hammers of all sorts, from the tiniest ball peens to the sort used to drive circus tent poles, but thought tonight I'd feature a couple of the strangest.  First is a short-lived Estwing model, which apparently didn't sell well.  Too bad because although it looks bizarre it is very tough and nice to use.  It's modular in construction, and head portion is cushioned a little, so it's nice to hit hard.  The second, found long ago at a sale, has a hand forged head and hand made handle.  Some long ago blacksmith made this thing, and now I'm a bit reluctant to use it, but it's beautifully balanced, and if some ultimatum came down that said I could only take one hammer with me, this would likely be the one.

 

[IMR4198]

    Those are some nice photos, bruto.  I have some hammers scattered around the place.  Not sure where they all are.  A bunch of the guys got into collecting axes where I live.  Ray had terminal cancer and had to have something to do.  So he bought a book about axes and starting trading, buying, and selling.  He found a fellow who would make handles so he restored lots of old stuff.  Others got interested as well.  He also started selling Rough Rider knives before they became popular.  All Ray's friends had a RR in their pockets.  Me too.  Best wishes.  Gary (IMR)
 

[Chippyjosh]

I had one of the weight forward estwing when I started as an apprentice. It’s long lost now unfortunately

[Chippyjosh]

My current favourite hammer when installing access control systems. It’s a wiha electricians hammer

[Yadda]

I'll play.

At a recent estate sale, I purchased two well worn, but somewhat unique hammers.  Each hammer cost me $1.  I  was initially drawn to this hammer by the Craftsman handle.  It is a replacement handle, and although covered in paint and glue, it is in excellent condition, and because it is poorly mounted, it will be easy to reuse. Upon closer inspection I  noticed the hammer head had a smooth, streamlined design.  A little cleaning and research led me to the True Temper Dynamic line of tools.  I believe the model number is DH8R.  Most people probably know the True Temper Dynamic line of golf clubs, but they also leveraged that popular branding for a line of tools for decades. I plan to remount this hammer on a better suited handle in the future.

[Yadda]

Bruton,  welcome!

I have a few hammers too. Thanks for starting this thread.

[bruto]

I've got way too many hammers, and they're all over the place, but here are a couple more. 

Over the years I've acquired numerous steel handled framing hammers, which are great.  But in recent years I've come across a couple of wood handled ones, with magnetic nail holders.  Why doesn't everyone do this?  You can use one of these to start a nail one handed anywhere you can reach with the hammer.  Anyway, here's one of those, brand unknown because the head is not stamped.  I can't remember what, if anything, the handle said.  There are several similar brands, I think generically known as "California" framing hammers. I have another but it's at a lake house.  I lost it for a while in the weeds, so I painted it blue.  Whenever I am painting something and have a little left over,  I'm likely to daub it on a tool. It's amazing how easily some tools just disappear as if the earth swallowed them up. These hammers are very comfortable to use and swing, and I use this one a lot around the barn and environs to hammer nails to hang stuff on.

The other one is what I imagine was the smallest Irwin ever made. Hard to see in this picture, but it was chrome plated too.  A classy little hammer, and though a bit limited in power, just right for picture framing and the like.

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[Farmer X]

 

[IMR4198]

The smallest ball peen I own.  It is a 2 oz. Heller.  I actually use it some.  The white Bijou is for scale and why not?  Best wishes.  G
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[Mr. Whippy]

I should probably introduce myself a little, having just showed up a while ago looking up data on my Leatherman.  Anyway, I'm 76 and I've been around tools for a long time, and I tend to collect stuff, and I thought a couple of hammers might be of interest here.  I have lots of hammers. A significant but not complete collection of those that never got rehung hangs on one of my outbuildings.
  [ Quoting of attachment images from other messages is not allowed ]  

I've got way too many hammers of all sorts, from the tiniest ball peens to the sort used to drive circus tent poles, but thought tonight I'd feature a couple of the strangest.  First is a short-lived Estwing model, which apparently didn't sell well.  Too bad because although it looks bizarre it is very tough and nice to use.  It's modular in construction, and head portion is cushioned a little, so it's nice to hit hard.  The second, found long ago at a sale, has a hand forged head and hand made handle.  Some long ago blacksmith made this thing, and now I'm a bit reluctant to use it, but it's beautifully balanced, and if some ultimatum came down that said I could only take one hammer with me, this would likely be the one.

Is that Estwing a slate roofing hammer?
Cool thread btw

[bruto]

That first Estwing is not a slate roofing hammer - poor angle, but it's a standard claw hammer with the checked face generally preferred for framing hammers (where you don't worry about the marks left).  I have a couple of roofing hammers, but made for asphalt roofs.

I have a slate roof and have done some work on it, but usually use either a standard roofing hatchet, or a body working hammer with a pointed peen, which punches the nail holes nicely.  Too late tonight but I'll try to round up some amusing roofing tools later.

[Yadda]

This is the second of two somewhat unusual hammers I bought at a recent estate sale. This is a straight claw, electrician's hammer.  The small face and long poll are designed to make it easier to drive nails in tight spaces. I'm still trying to determine the maker.   The head was painted red at one time.  I don't know if the color was original.  The handle does appear to be original.

[Yadda]

More hammers

[Yadda]

And more....

[Yadda]

And more...

[Farmer X]

And more....

Looks like there are a couple of Estwsings there!

[bruto]

BAck in the 1970's I needed to reroof my old house, which had leaky old locking shingles on top of leaky old wooden shingles and no decking.  Couldn't afford to redo it all properly, so skirted at the edge of legality and shingled over the top of it all.  Since I needed long nails, I figured I also needed a big hammer, so although nearly broke, I treated myself to a big check-faced Estwing framing hammer.  A great tool.  Since then every time I see one going cheap, I get it, and have a few in varying degrees of wear.  If I'm seeing correctly, at least one of those Estwings above is the closed-claw version, made for concrete form work.  You can't of course dig it in, but it's the berries for pulling the double-headed nails used for forms, and the blunt semi-sharp end is great for breaking stuff off, chipping and prying and such, and of course not breakable.  I have one of these, pretty heavily worn.  They originally had a fairly straight end, but they get rounded with use.  They are apparently pretty rare.

[bruto]

Expanding a little on those Estwings, here's a selection of the claw hammers.  There are a couple missing. There's a newer smaller leather handled one that's all shiny and not here, and I think somewhere else is one with really ratty leather, and at least one shingling hatchet and a brick hammer not shown.  But this is the main supply.  On the left are a couple of the 28 ounce monsters, on the far right my first one, a 22 with milled face.  That's the only one left with a milled face.  At least one of the 28's was so beat up I reground the face. The blue one on the bottom is the uncommon closed claw one.  Whenever I have some paint left over from some job I tend to paint tools like this so I can find them in grass, brush, and assorted debris.

I'm in the midst of a long term power failure, so pardon for the sloppy photography because there's no light in the shop.

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[powernoodle]

[Yadda]

@bruto - Nice collection of Estwing hammers.  I have the one Dead On hammer, that is my favorite.

[JowiiYoyo]

Recently bought this hammer. Anyone know what the pike is for?? Looks flat on the picture but it is a sharp point. My best guess is to make an indentation for where you will put the nail but i have no idea thought it looked cool and multipurpose 

1.1 Kg
35 cm

[bruto]

Nail placement seems a stretch, because framing hammers with magnetic nail holders are pretty common, and they work well to put a nail in place with a single blow.

It does look cool and I'd love to have one.  If I did, I'd consider it a likely candidate for slate roofing, where a sharp point would be used to put a nail hole in a slate, which it does quite nicely, and the rest of the claw would still be available for pulling old nails.  But what its actual use is, I'm uncertain.

It appears to have a label still on the handle. Is there a possibility of a manufacturer's name or model number etc.?

e.t.a. I just looked again at the picture, and I don't think it would do so well for slate roofing after all, because, although the prong is pretty pointed, it's still a bit flat.  For poking nail holes in a slate you really want a sharp, round point. In the past I've used a fencing tool, but later found a body hammer with a pointed peen which I sharpened a bit more.   But this does lead me to wonder whether the hammer in question would work well for fencing with the point good for pulling staples.

FURTHER e.t.a.....I just looked around, and though I did not find quite this hammer, I did find something billed as an electrician's hammer which has one elongated claw, made specifically for pulling Romex wire staples.  This would also explain why it is, though narrow, a bit chisel shaped rather than round.  So that's my best guess now. If you've ever had to pull Romex staples, the design makes a lot of sense.

[JowiiYoyo]

Nail placement seems a stretch, because framing hammers with magnetic nail holders are pretty common, and they work well to put a nail in place with a single blow.

It does look cool and I'd love to have one.  If I did, I'd consider it a likely candidate for slate roofing, where a sharp point would be used to put a nail hole in a slate, which it does quite nicely, and the rest of the claw would still be available for pulling old nails.  But what its actual use is, I'm uncertain.

It appears to have a label still on the handle. Is there a possibility of a manufacturer's name or model number etc.?

e.t.a. I just looked again at the picture, and I don't think it would do so well for slate roofing after all, because, although the prong is pretty pointed, it's still a bit flat.  For poking nail holes in a slate you really want a sharp, round point. In the past I've used a fencing tool, but later found a body hammer with a pointed peen which I sharpened a bit more.   But this does lead me to wonder whether the hammer in question would work well for fencing with the point good for pulling staples.

FURTHER e.t.a.....I just looked around, and though I did not find quite this hammer, I did find something billed as an electrician's hammer which has one elongated claw, made specifically for pulling Romex wire staples.  This would also explain why it is, though narrow, a bit chisel shaped rather than round.  So that's my best guess now. If you've ever had to pull Romex staples, the design makes a lot of sense.

Hey Bruto and thanks for your reply! I believe slate roofing is a really good guess since the point is indeed round and quite sharp. I dont know how the picture came out that way..
Here ill post some more upclose pictures of the pike, label and stamp 👌😁

[bruto]

https://en.flobyoverskottslager.se/collections/hammare-slaggor/products/hammare-linjehammare-tors-hammare-dansk-modell?variant=19417395232865

Looks like a lineman's hammer.  And I bet a pretty nice and expensive one too. 

[IMR4198]

   That is one husky hammer.  Talk about leverage with that long spike if you had to pull something.  I like the braces on the shaft.  Best wishes.  G
 

[Farmer X]

I agree with Bruto's assessment. There is a hammer I could post. While it isn't anywhere near as nice as JowiiYoyo's, the price was right.

[JowiiYoyo]

https://en.flobyoverskottslager.se/collections/hammare-slaggor/products/hammare-linjehammare-tors-hammare-dansk-modell?variant=19417395232865

Looks like a lineman's hammer.  And I bet a pretty nice and expensive one too.

This is exactly where i bought it and where i got the first picture from. Tho i fail to understand how a lineman would have any use for the pike  🤔
I have tried google to find out the uses of the pike without succes and when i search for "linemans hammer" i find a bunch of other shaped hammers, none with a pike like this. So far slate roofing makes the most sense for me honeslty.
 

[bruto]

Just guessing here, but the site mentioned "telecommunications" so my guess would be pulling wire staples.  You want a point that will go underneath the wire and pull the staple out without damaging the wire.  Though I suppose also if one is installing phone lines and the like, it's occasionally nice to have something to poke or enlarge a hole.

But if I had such a hammer, and since I actually have a slate roof that occasionally needs repair, I'd likely use it for that, as the pointed peen auto body hammer (sharpened for the purpose)  I generally use now is a little light for hammering and has no claw to remove old nails.  Given that we don't know (or at least I don't know) just what sort of stuff a Danish or Swedish lineman has to deal with, alternate uses make sense.

[JowiiYoyo]

 
Thats some good guessing Bruto. And thanks for all your inputs. I really do like the hammer and the hefty weight.
 

[Yadda]

Cool hammer.