Hammer Handpieces

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi All, I tried a hammer handpiece for the first time the other day.
Jeez, gotta get one of those. I have a little question, though, is
there a way to keep the hammer from unscrewing itself as you work?
Or is there a hammer handpiece that addresses this problem with, say,
a set-screw? Please pardon me if this has been addressed previously.

-Dana Carlson

2

Hi Dana,

I’ve not had this problem with my hammer handpiece, but I’ve used it
on similar tool that uses changeable tips in another industry.

Cut a piece from a rubber band. Insert it into the hole before
screwing in the tip. The force from the compressed piece of rubber
should prevent the tip from unscrewing.

Here’s how I’d go about it.

  1. Measure the depth of the hole the tip screws into. (If the hole is
    ’bottomless’ this won’t work.)

  2. Measure the length of the tip that screws into the handpiece.

  3. Subtract the tip length from the hole depth.

  4. Cut a piece from a wide rubber band. It should be just narrow
    enough to fit in the hole. The length should be a little longer than
    the length in step 3. The rubber should be compressed a little when
    the tip is screwed in fully.

A little experimentation may be required to get the length of rubber
correct.

Good luck!
Dave

3

Dana, you need to tighten it on better. Insert the steel rod that
comes with the handpiece through the hole in the point and use this
rod as a lever.

If there is no rod, then any tough steel will do. I use a drill bit
or broken off burr.

A good pair of pliers will also tighten it on… I often just grab
my offset stone setting pliers… and it’s done.

Andy Cooperman

4 
    is there a way to keep the hammer from unscrewing itself as you
work? Or is there a hammer handpiece that addresses this problem
with, say, a set-screw?

The GRS hammers use set screws. But they are air hammers, running on
the GRS machines, not a flex shaft. The fordom power graver also uses
set screws, and it’s essentially a powerful hammer handpiece. But
it’s a whole system, not just a handpiece.

On most handpieces, the two solutions I know of are 1: tighten the
bit really tight. Use the hole in the bit to wrench it down. This
works if you don’t change bits often, and so long as the threads on
your bits are still reasonably good. 2: in use, hold the tip of one
finger on the bit, not just near the end of the hammer. Actually, I
like this anyway. The bits don’t need to be moving much, only
delivering their impact. Holding a finger tip on the bit reduces the
actual travel of the bit back and forth while not much reducing the
impact. The result is increased control over where the bit is
hitting, while at the same time your finger is keeping the bit from
unscrewing itself, which as you note, is REALLY annoying.

HTH
Peter Rowe