Tool Talk
Woodworking Forum => Woodworking Forum => Topic started by: Mike H on January 07, 2014, 09:03:23 AM
-
This hammer was sitting on a table outside of a local antique shop
I picked it up and put it back down many times mostly because of chips on bottom of face
Finally this past Sat. I paid 'em $2 for it
I should be able to remember this but what trade was this shape for
I have looked through some books and i-net but can't find where I have seen this before
-
It looks like a variation of the original Maydole adze-eye carpenter's hammer to me.
-
Bill
Thanks for the reply; I typed Maydole adze eye carpenter hammer into Google and
sure enough before long was looking at a pic of something very much like my
latest project. I am assuming that adze eye refers to shape of the "channel" through
the hammer head for the handle. Have gotten the rust under control and tried to smooth
some dings out without changing the shape of the hammer. There is a roughed out
handle that needs shaping. Will post a pic when it gets further along. It occurs to me that this purchase marks some sort of crossing of line from user to collector.
Mike H.
-
It's an earlier style of adz eye hammer, not uncommon. This style was made well into the 20th Century. I have six or seven like this, varying quality. I found one that was marked US, made by Plumb. I also have a Cheney hammer made in this style.
-
It occurs to me that this purchase marks some sort of crossing of line from user to collector.
Mike H.
YUP, you are doomed to wander the earth seeking the elusive tool, much like Diogenes.
Skip
-
You didn't mention what size? These came from 6-8 ounces up past 20 ounces.
I "did" (cleaned up and carved a handle) for a 10oz in this pattern recently.
Standard 16 ounce'rs are very common. Other sizes not as much.
yours Scott
-
your doing the right thing,restore one at a time....dont do like me....welcome and have fun!
(http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll153/richpoor1/th_001-150.jpg) (http://s287.photobucket.com/user/richpoor1/media/001-150.jpg.html)
-
your doing the right thing,restore one at a time....dont do like me....welcome and have fun!
(http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll153/richpoor1/th_001-150.jpg) (http://s287.photobucket.com/user/richpoor1/media/001-150.jpg.html)
What's that hammer head just beneath the one on the upper right? It looks awfully close to the hammer I'm looking for. And what's its weight?
-
if your talking about the masons hammer(no handle),its 12.7 ounces and 7" long,unmarked
-
if your talking about the masons hammer(no handle),its 12.7 ounces and 7" long,unmarked
Haven't seen a mason's hammer with that swell around the eye, except for a Russian one on eBay. Most of the Spanish coopers use a hammer in much the same style, but at 3 to 4 pounds. Not a lot longer, but quite a bit fatter.
-
ScottG
Was just out in shop inspecting last evening's short bit of work on the
handle blank for this hammer. More work needed. Grabbed the hammer head
and brought it in to a little postage scale. 20 oz. and maybe a hair more.
Also have noticed a letter E (Capital) on one side of head;
about 1/16" of an inch high. It is back toward the claws so there
is more than ample room to get MAYDOL in front of the E
-
Can't wait to see the handle!!
And way to go in advance.
I am doing a couple right now. I am not sure I want to show them though. heehehheehehe
Neither are very good.
More port-in-a-storm kind of work.
A hammer and an ax. The hammer has an ax handle because there was a surplus cracked hatchet handle and it wouldn't work for an ax anymore.
So I took a 16oz claw hammer head and cut it down to about 13 or 14 ounces to lighten it up. Still too big for the tiny handle though. :^(
And a hatchet on a stubby handle because I had an old broken handle that would work, if I could get the proportions right,
but I don't think I'm gonna!
Oh well, the hammer was nothing and the ax too and both handles were broken stubs of other handles I couldn't use so there wasn't anything to lose.
I guess I can take a picture if you want. Don't poke too much fun though. heh
The really good news for me is that I am in love with the old industrial angle grinder that I got from a yard sale last fall, and fixed up.
Its heavy as lead but man, but it eats metal for breakfast! I am liking it.
Fast metal removal and serious aerobic exercise at the same time! Whats not to love?
yours Scott
-
1 week later
-
i realize the hammer was only $2 but does it loose value when you restore it. Everyone tells you don't restore old furniture because it looses all the value.
PS You hammer does look amazing now. LOL
-
Not much danger of losing value on this hammer. It isn't going to command a big price any time soon, and it is still worth more than two bucks.
>Everyone tells you don't restore old furniture because it looses all the value.
Everyone is telling you wrong. While a piece of furniture in top original condition or even slightly worn will command a higher price than one that has been restored, the cost of a broken or overly worn piece of furniture (or tool) will increase if it is *properly*(!) restored. There is a whole industry of restoration -- has been for a very long time. And proper restoration is not cheap. At one time I did quite a bit of restoration for several antique dealers, from regluing wobbly chairs to replacing missing veneer, to recreating missing parts and finishes. Dealers don't spend that kind of money if the piece is going to lose value.
The problem is amateur restorations by people who don't understand what they are working with, either wood or finish. I've made money fixing "restorations." I'm currently working on a press-back rocker that was a) painted over with green paint and b) "restored" by pounding a *bunch* of nails into the various joints. The nails I can fix. The corrugated fasteners used to repair splits in the seat are going to have to stay, unfortunately.
-
maybe he meant refinish??,,,,you know pitena ,spell that for me!
-
maybe he meant refinish??,,,,you know pitena ,spell that for me!
Patina.
"Golden patina of age" was a marketing phrase for simply rusty. As in neglected. There's no virtue in preserving neglect, and museum procedures conserve artifacts by removing signs of neglect. They certainly don't hesitate to remove the "patina" of Neanderthal skulls by leaving the dirt on them as they were found. Surfaces of tools are protected with microcrystaline waxes to prevent further "patina" from forming. Nor is the museum practice of putting a handle on, say, a Viking ax so that the viewer will be aware of what a Viking ax looked like as it existed in the 10th Century and was used.
Artifacts are not infrequently restored to some extent for just this purpose. It doesn't detract from the object's value, but rather increases its value for educational use.
But restoration by whom? Not long ago, Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel was extensively restored. A very good thing, as the brilliant colors he used had become dim memories from years of the build up of "patina." Wonderful work! More recently, though, a painting on a church wall in Spain was "restored" by a well-meaning amateur, and the results were appalling to say the least. The face of Jesus was horribly redone, leaving nothing of its original color or design, and making it rather ape-like in appearance. Worse, the restoration has probably destroyed the possibility of ever reversing it. That painting is apparently lost forever.
Old tools are mostly of a quite different category. Deciding to restore or not to restore must be reasonable. Any restoration ought to be competently done. Another part of being reasonable concerns the historic value of the tool (or piece of furniture) and its rarity. One doesn't replace the worn out handle on George Washington's hatchet. It's OK, though, to clean it and protect its surfaces with microcrystaline waxes.
The hammer in question here has no historic provenance. It's one of thousands that have been lying around for decades. It has no maker's name, and so is simply an example of a once common pattern of hammer. It has no value that could be destroyed by putting on a working handle (there's no guarantee that the old handle was original anyway). It might be more valuable with a working handle since using it tells one more about the tool and its time than simply looking at it. Well, a new handle and the rust removal does take it out of the market for rustic interior decoration.
What I really hate to see are the tools one seller puts on eBay with bizarre handles and heads polished till they look almost chromed. Yucky! There was another seller who restored a blacksmith's hammer to the same level of polishing, and commented that it was a Heller, clearly marked, but the mark went away when he "restored" it by grinding and polishing.
Our own Scott G wrote an article on restoring an old hammer head (Scott, can you give us the URL for that article?). He noted that it was a good hammer to rework, as it had no historic significance. A good point to consider for reasonable restoration. It is now a usable blacksmith's hammer, and its value is considerably more than it had been when Scott got it.
-
Here is a 25cent yard sale kids toy hammer head I found, that happened to be real tool steel (for once)
Yup I totally ruined it with a hand carved octagonal spalted hickory handle, and a reshaped polished head.
It used to be a prized relic of the cheapening of American industry,
and now its merely a museum piece, the only one in the world.
(http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/hometools/ham2.jpg)
Here was another perfectly good 50 cent 12ounce claw hammer head I ruined.
It really was worth the ---entire 50 cents-- when I started.
but once again I totally ruined that.
(http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/hometools/ham9a.jpg)
Sledge hammers are supposed to break handles directly below the head. This is the way it has always been.
But here we go again, totally ruined original scrap metal hammer heads, being made into something that will probably last forever if I don't leave them out in the rain.
(hickory may be the best wood on planet earth for a handle, but it absolutely detests water. Even a few nights out in the rain and they are---------- gone.)
(http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/hometools/hammo.jpg)
The thing is,
A complete original finish on an 18th century Newport highboy adds about $200,000 to the value. A dazzling original finish, $400,000.
But the same highboy, damaged as they usually are, with nothing more than a beat to crap, raggedy last trace of finish, sells for 10% of that, at most.
Whether you refinish it or not, its 10% value at best.
The Antiques Roadshow appraisers that can't wait to complain about refinishing cling to a fantasy of complete dazzling original finish, dancing in their minds,..... always.
As if every old piece would have been valuable.
But the truth is, if all old goods had a full original finish, then none of them would be valuable anyway.
Not 1 in 100 antiques have a good enough original finish to worry about.
But the appraisers are always hopeful and willing to make someone feel bad about it, at the drop of a hat.
It wears on me, as if you couldn't tell.
Most of the stuff you see on Antiques Roadshow is actually more valuable refinished that it would have been in the trash condition it started out as.
yours Scott
-
The first thing I do with any of the vintage and antique tools I buy is wash them with trisodium phosphate and warm water to get the dirt off. Even wood plane totes, saw handles, and wooden levels.
Most of these tools have never been cleaned and some are over 100 years old and I get great satisfaction out of it. Often get to a makers mark appear. After washing, I typically use some Watco oil and finishing wax (I do like Briwax). This then, is the state I prefer to use them and it certainly helps with selling them (the few that I do) but I wouldn't call this a restoration.