The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Old Hammer

I think this is cool. I hope you agree.
I found this old sledge hammer in an old car at the junk yard. It was in terrible shape (and still is). The striking surfaces were deformed and mushroomed over the end section of the handle, (kind of like a bullet deforms after hitting a solid object).

The striking surface of the hammer is made of a soft metal and I will assume it has lead in it.

Tonight I took some pictures and noticed a patent number on the handle. My plan was to ask forum members if this hammer is used for body work.

Here's the cool part: I Googled the patent number and SHAZAAAM! The actual patent for the hammer popped up complete with a line drawing. This hammer is older than I am! Hah! I think the Internet can do some pretty cool stuff!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures of this antique. I have tried to reform the hammer head surfaces into a more useful shape and the metal is soft enough that I can do it.

Anyone know what type of work a hammer like this would have been used for?

http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt269/fastboatman29212/old%20hammer/102_0601.jpg

http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt269/fastboatman29212/old%20hammer/HammerPatent.jpg

http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt269/fastboatman29212/old%20hammer/102_0610.jpg

http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt269/fastboatman29212/old%20hammer/102_0605.jpg

http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt269/fastboatman29212/old%20hammer/102_0604.jpg

Hammer Patent Link

soft head [or soft face] hammers [or mallets] are used in a variety of work where you don't want to mar the surface of what you're striking - in manufacturing, tool and die work, machine work for a lot of striking, like seating bearings or punching - many aspects of woodwork, like log building to drive large chisels or wedges .... many uses - heads can be lead, copper or brass and some have replaceable faces, many now are hard rubber or soft plastic filled with BB's to add weight

if you're careful you should be able to heat that with a torch and dress it back to shape, it's worth cleaning up and saving for sure, just use care, lead melts at a low temperature .... I have a much valued and well used old copper head hammer, use it a lot working on my mill machinery

Bill

or melt out the lead, make a new form using a tin can coated with wax and pour yourself a new one!

Back in the day
I had a vehicle with custom wheels that were held on by "Knock Offs".

You bolted a wheel adapter to the car. To get the wheels on/off you used a lead hammer like that to strike the center knock off.

looks like lead to me, just don't eat it! i have several old copper ones too.

The old British sports cars like MG, Jag, Triumph, Austin Healey, etc. used knockoff wheels, with a big wing nut holding the wheel on. A lead or brass hammer was standard equipment for wheel changing. Yours looks like it's seen a lot of hard use changing wheels over the years.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3243/2964520982_49abf9d1ce.jpg

Jerry

Used these at work. When the heads got deformed and unusable we sent them back to Imperial in Rockford where they molded new heads on them. They became obsolete when the new dead blow hammers came out. became cheaper to buy the dead blow than to get new lead heads molded on.


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