Fellow Orchidians,
I am looking for handles for chasing hammers for a fellow jeweler and
myself to replace several that are failing us. I’m having a heck of a
time locating them. We need at least six and will buy up to twelve.
Thanks.
L.J. Smole
White Fox Workshop
Ozark Mountains, USA
Try Allcraft in New York City. Daniel R. Spirer, G.G. Spirer Somes
Jewelers 1794 Massachusetts Ave Cambridge, MA 02140 617-491-6000
@spirersomes
www.spirersomes.com
Regarding Laura Jo and handles for chasing hammers… I, too, have
looked frequently in my area for hammer handles. I’m in need of small
hammer handles to use with delrin heads that I intend to be shape. All
the handles I find are too large.
Any sources? Thanks…
-Alice, the one who is skating on all horizontal exterior surfaces
for the second icy day in a row.
LJ Smole –
My first thought was to look in the Rio Grande tools & equipment
catalog; didn’t see any. My second thought was “aren’t there any old
timey woodworkers who know how to make a hammer handle” up there in
the Ozarks? There might not be any old timey woodworkers left, but is
there anyone with old timey knowledge? Seems that custom hammer
handles might be a wonderful thing. Has anyone ever had their hammer
handles custom made? Are there ergonometric designs for hammer
handles?
Christine, in Littleton, Massachusetts, USA, where she saw two deer
on her morning walk.
well I make almost all my hammer handles ,I used to engineer them
,into shape , but I stopped doing that and went with more of a natural
found shape with less human alteration to the wood… there is a lot of
great wood all around us and for such a tiny project you should be
able to find something ,you don’t need sophisticated tools either.a
knife, a file ,a vice would be great help,and about 2-3 hours.
good luck
Hratch Babikian
The Frei and Borel Catalog lists replacement handles for chasers
hammers. Their web address is http://www.ofrei.com
Timothy A. Hansen
TAH Handcrafted Jewelry
305 N. Second Ave. PMB #131
Upland, CA 91786-6028
phone: (909) 920-3909
web-site: www.home.earthlink.net/~tahhandcraft
e-mail: @Timothy_A_Hansen
I have been making my own handles since I was an apprentice (it was
required). I like cherry, since it is quite springy. you can shape
the handle with a rasp or spokeshave, until it fits nicely in your
hand. I like my chasing handles long and thin, with a round grip (not
the pistol-shaped grip you usually see in catalogs). Sand it, oil the
wood, and insert it in the head. Do some fancy inlay, while you’re at
it…you are probably going to see this tool in your hand every day
for a long time.
A good handle can make a large difference in the way your hammer
works. I have used commercially made hammers and handles, and I find
them hard to control and fatiguing to work with. Mine are a joy. If
you want, I’ll be happy to post the dimensions of my handles for you
to copy.
Doug Zaruba
While I’m not quite an “old-timey” woodworker, I still do a bit. I
almost never buy a hammer handle. I prefer to make them. Find a
woodturner. Although a handle can be made with little more than a
pocket knoife, this is probably the best way to go. The turner can
most easily make a round handle. For chasing handles, the round type
with a bulb in the hand is the most traditional. “Pistol-grip”
handles are a relatively new development, and are really hard to
handle if you use the ball-peen on the back of a chasing hammer. If
you want oval handles, have them turned round to the maximum
dimension, and planed, sanded or whittled to the oval. I know there
are bunches of them out there. If you don’t know how to find a
woodturner in your area, you can through the American Association of
Woodturners at http:\www.woodturner.org.
LJ Smole –
My first thought was to look in the Rio Grande tools & equipment
catalog; didn’t see any. My second thought was “aren’t there any old
timey woodworkers who know how to make a hammer handle” up there in
the Ozarks? There might not be any old timey woodworkers left, but is
there anyone with old timey knowledge? Seems that custom hammer
handles might be a wonderful thing. Has anyone ever had their hammer
handles custom made? Are there ergonometric designs for hammer
handles?
Christine, in Littleton, Massachusetts, USA, where she saw two deer
on her morning walk.
Handles for chasing hammers the contenti company sells them cut and
paste this url you’ll be there .
www.contenti.com/products/hammers/270-657.html
Talk to you later Dave Otto
You might try Centaur forge.
They carry the German - French Peddinghause hammers and have
replacement handles… Which ones might do???.
http://www.centaurforge.com/HammersSpecialty_Hammers.html
1-262-763-9175
1-800-666-9175
I have a print catalog – the site hammer handle section seems to not
work right for me.
Jesse
My husband, a jeweler for the past 25 years carves his own chasing
hammer handles and has made them for other jewelers, as well. He
charges $15.00 and the handles are made from oak, maple or
walnut…depending on what’s available. He does need to the have the
head in his possession when making the handle so that he can fit it
properly.
You can see the hammer handle on our website at
relianceforge.com Click on the picture
for an enlargement.
Sincerely,
DebraWhitlock
RelianceForge
You might try contacting Bill Fiorini, a master craftsman making
handmade hammers and chasing tools. He runs:
Koka Metalsmiths PO Box 237 Dakota, MN 55925 phone/fax 507-643-7946
Another excellent craftsman/toolmaker is Jim Cooper. He might still
be at this address:
Chestnut proprietor: James D. W. Cooper National Ornamental Metal
Museum Inc. Metal Conservation and Restoration Services 374 West
California Avenue Memphis, TN 38106-1539 phone -901-774-6380 fax
774-6382
I’ve never had much luck finding handles for chasing hammers, but now
I just forge my own hammers (blued and inlayed with fine silver) and
carve my own handles out of osage orange (pretty stuff).
Unfortunately, I don’t have time to put these into production, even
if I could get my price.
David L. Huffman
I was able to pick up several hammer handles a few years ago… but
for the life of me, can’t remember where. Maybe a flea market or tool
store. Not mail order or traditional jewelry supplier.
The problem I have is that the handles are oval in cross-section, and
the Delrin heads I made have round holes. That’s because, of course,
the bit I used to drill the hole is round. Still haven’t decided how
to attach an oval handle in a round hole, but will probably involve
some shims, wedges and a healthy amount of epoxy.
One of these days…
Dave
Dave Sebaste
Sebaste Studio and
Carolina Artisans’ Gallery
Charlotte, NC (USA)
dave@sebaste.com mailto:dave@sebaste.com
http://www.CarolinaArtisans.com http://www.CarolinaArtisans.com
I was able to pick up several hammer handles a few years ago… but
for the life of me, can’t remember where. Maybe a flea market or tool
store. Not mail order or traditional jewelry supplier.
The problem I have is that the handles are oval in cross-section, and
the Delrin heads I made have round holes. That’s because, of course,
the bit I used to drill the hole is round. Still haven’t decided how
to attach an oval handle in a round hole, but will probably involve
some shims, wedges and a healthy amount of epoxy.
One of these days…
Dave
Dave Sebaste
Sebaste Studio and
Carolina Artisans’ Gallery
Charlotte, NC (USA)
dave@sebaste.com mailto:dave@sebaste.com
http://www.CarolinaArtisans.com http://www.CarolinaArtisans.com
G’day; as someone else has remarked, it isn’t difficult to make
handles to suit one’s own needs. If you only want something simple
then buy a length of good wooden dowel of the right diameter,
preferably a fruitwood and buy also a wooden ball - from the same
place probably. Partway drill it and fit the end of the dowel into the
hole. Cut off the old broken handle close to the head, hold tightly
in the bench vice and use a large punch or bit of steel rod to hammer
out the remnants, and shape the end of the dowel to fit the oval hole
(knife, sureform tool, coarse file, sanding disc…) Drill a 3mm hole
across the handle about 2cm down where the bottom of the head would
come and make a sawcut down the handle as far as the hole (the hole is
to help avoid splitting). Whittle a little wedge from hardwood, coat
it with epoxy and drive it hard into the sawcut after driving the
hammer head in place. When the glue is dry, cut off the excess and
sand nicely. If you were to use dowel a little bigger than the hole in
the hammerhead, you could whittle that down to an oval shape to fit
the hole in the head.
Making your own soft hammers from delrin, nylon, whatever? Cut the
cylinder of material to the length right for you, and drill a
transverse hole through it at the centre of the length. That hole
should be slightly less in diameter than whatever handle you have.
You should get a tapered reamer (any good tool shop sells them in a
variety of diameters) and use it with a twisting motion to produce a
tapered hole in the head material. Treat the handle as I suggested
before, with a hole drilled transversly through the it and a saw cut
down the end of the handle to the hole. Now, when you drive the handle
into the smallest width of the hole on the head there will be room for
the wedge to expand the wood at the top and so stop the head from
flying off. Epoxy or other glues won’t stick to the plastics very well
at all, so treat the wedge and cut with any glue; the fact of the
handle expanding across the hole (a sort of circular dovetail in
fact) will keep it firmly in place. You’ll be good at handling things
with that experience. Cheers, –
John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 of Mapua Nelson NZ