is this a body hammer?

[skipskip]

I bought a box of body hammers today and this was in it.

I assume it was used for body work, but is it actually a body tool?

looks more blacksmithy to me

for extra credit, what is it called?


SEP 131 by skipskip, on Flickr

[oldgoaly]

blacksmiths  "flatter"  but  tinsmith's are known to use lighter ones.    please post pics of the other hammers!

[rusty]

We seem to be doing hammers this week ;P

>please post pics of the other hammers!

Yes Yes Yes!

[keykeeper]

Original post shows a boilermakers hammer.

The reply with three pictured are, top to bottom:

1.Boilermaker flatter
2.Body dolly w/handle
3. Body Dolly w/handle

All struck tools used in smithing such as flatters, butchers, swages, fullers, etc. will have a substantial mass above the handle hole, otherwise the hole will distort after being struck.

[skipskip]

pics of the hammer pile.

one snap-on,one matco, several fairmount and a couple shy ones who wont say their name.  and a tack hammer, tho I can see how that would useful in bodywork.


SEP 144 by skipskip, on Flickr

more at the end of this set :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skipskip/sets/72157635423756558/

[oldgoaly]

body men would tack in the upholstery back in the day before all the plastic
door skin hammer is nice

[Nolatoolguy]

Isn't it a short handle for a blacksmiths hammer, wouldn't they want there hand a little farther back?

[Branson]

Isn't it a short handle for a blacksmiths hammer, wouldn't they want there hand a little farther back?

Not necessarily.  The first thing my first blacksmith teacher did to a new rounding hammer was cut the handle down to 10 or 11 inches.  He was a third generation traditional smith from a German family.  Short handles seem to be a German smithing tradition.  They work just fine.  The way I was taught, you don't swing a hammer like a carpenter does, so the length of the handle doesn't add much of an advantage.

[john k]

The *flatter* and other struck blacksmith tools, I often find with any old thing for a handle.  Cut down shovel handles, even pitman arms.   No need for a good heavy  handle on a struck tool, it is just needed for holding the head in place.   Ideally the smith had a helper that would bring the iron to the anvil while hot, then the smith would place the struck tool where needed, and strike it with a heavy hammer.  Heavy as in 3 lbs. or a bit more.    Those are some nice tools.   Now who has some pics of *slappers*?

[skipskip]

Isn't it a short handle for a blacksmiths hammer, wouldn't they want there hand a little farther back?

That was my thought, but all these hammers came from a body shop, and I guess they were modified to make body work easier.

Or being a CB, he used whatever handle he found around the place.