Ok, I need a real plane hammer. Any tips?

[Derek Cohen]

Here's a different plane hammer, one I use when making delicate lateral adjustments to plane blades: Stanley, Veritas BU and Custom BD.



The hammer is used by jewellers and weighs about 2oz. Brass and nylon and head on an aluminium shaft.

The driver is a hex head for the Veritas Custom plane chipbreaker.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Paul Saffold]

I have the LV and like it but have replaced the wood insert after it sunk below the brass. I will try nylon or HDPE if I have to do it again.

[Dave Anderson NH]

bubingahammer1.jpg2hammers.jpgPat Barry is right. Rev 2 should have a shoulder to support the wood all the way around. I'd also reduce the diameter of the tenon to within the range of 6-8mm.

[Allan Speers]

Dave, I used to have one of your hammers. IIRC I bought it from Steve Knight.


Some scallywag "permanently borrowed" it from my shop years ago, but as I recall, it was absolutely perfect. Great weight & balance for the task at hand. Lignum gives such a nice, controlled thwack, and tough as anything.

[Kees Heiden]

Thanks Dave, that's a very helpfull picture.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Thanks Alan, I've switched the wooden part of the head to Jatoba because high quality Lignum is hard to come by. The interlocked grain combined with the high Janka Hardness makes it just as, if not more, effective than the Lignum and less likely to split.

[Richard Shaefer]

Yes nylon would fair a lot better, but I wanted to make it somewhat special and nylon isn't the nicest looking stuff in the world.

It's really no problem, I learned a lot from this one and the next will be better.

I make these and either sell them or give them out as gifts.
the head and the pommel are massaranduba (bullet wood). the handle is an oak dowel.
you may note from the picture that the wood is dense enough that it holds the handle out straight with a pommel of the same wood.

Hold it by the handle, and it's a great little joinery hammer.
hold it by the head and the pommel works for knocking plane blades.
the wood will NOT break. at a M of R of 27,000 psi and crazy interlocked grain, it's not going anywhere, and I know a few who have tried. It's softer than steel. it won't mar tool steel at all, but you can drive a 12 penny nail into a 2x10 with it

. IMG_3682.JPG

[Allan Speers]

Thanks Alan, I've switched the wooden part of the head to Jatoba because high quality Lignum is hard to come by. The interlocked grain combined with the high Janka Hardness makes it just as, if not more, effective than the Lignum and less likely to split.

Well, if you ever run out of Jatoba, I have more Lignum than I know what to do with! http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...t-I-just-found

Maybe we could do a trade?

[Ron Hock]

These are hands down the best plane hammers I've ever seen or used: http://www.glen-drake.com/Plane-Adjusting-Hammers/

[Patrick Chase]

Did it occur to you that this kind of boutique tool is more a shop decoration than a shop horse? One of my neighbors has some really fancy tools including several Vesper layout tools (worth well over $100 to $150 a piece), and he confesses he relies more on the cheapos for his day to day work.

Late reply here, but I have a Vesper double square that's a daily user. I wouldn't describe that as a shop decoration.

Of course my "cheapo" double square is a Starrett, so the Vesper doesn't strike me as all that exorbitant (the Starrett is also larger and doesn't have thin blades like the Vesper, so they get used for different things).

Measurement tools are one area where I think it's worthwhile to buy the best. One less thing to worry about....

[Steve Voigt]

I've switched the wooden part of the head to Jatoba because high quality Lignum is hard to come by. The interlocked grain combined with the high Janka Hardness makes it just as, if not more, effective than the Lignum and less likely to split.

Dave, I think your hammers look great, and when I made my own, I used yours as a model. But I don't understand the preference for woods like lignum and jatoba. I found that lignum dented my planes and tended to chip. The jatoba might be better on the chipping but would still dent the planes. I've since used walnut and nylon, and prefer those (the nylon is actually my favorite--I don't care how it looks, and really the black nylon looks fine). Can you tell me why you like the super-hard woods? There must be some reason!

[Allan Speers]

Dave, I think your hammers look great, and when I made my own, I used yours as a model. But I don't understand the preference for woods like lignum and jatoba. I found that lignum dented my planes and tended to chip. The jatoba might be better on the chipping but would still dent the planes. I've since used walnut and nylon, and prefer those (the nylon is actually my favorite--I don't care how it looks, and really the black nylon looks fine). Can you tell me why you like the super-hard woods? There must be some reason!

Did you use real Lignum, or the Argentinian "substitute?" I ask because mine never chipped, and the Argentinian stuff is supposedly not quite as robust. As for denting, I thin ANYTHING will compress the wood on a plane, including nylon. That's why strike buttons are such a good idea. - or hammer the entire back end, until it ALL compresses, then no worries.

[Patrick Chase]

Did you use real Lignum, or the Argentinian "substitute?" I ask because mine never chipped, and the Argentinian stuff is supposedly not quite as robust. As for denting, I thin ANYTHING will compress the wood on a plane, including nylon. That's why strike buttons are such a good idea. - or hammer the entire back end, until it ALL compresses, then no worries.

There's a big difference between Lignum Vitae with an elastic modulus of 14 GPa and steel at 200 GPa. The wood is an order of magnitude more elastic and will therefore "give" and spread the impact over a larger area, and that makes it far less prone to denting whatever you hit with it. Nylon is almost another order of magnitude more compliant at 2-4 GPa.

Obviously you will dent the plane no matter what the hammer is made of if you do something stupid like hitting the plane as hard as you can or hitting with the corner of the hammer instead of the face. The existence of such pathological/corner cases doesn't change the fact that there's a HUGE difference between hitting a plane with a wood or nylon hammer vs a steel one in ordinary, competent use.

BTW Lignum Vitae is actually fairly elastic stuff. As noted above its elastic modulus is ~14 GPa, or about the same as Beech or Birch. It has somewhat higher tensile strength, though.

[steven c newman]

Just exactly how hard are you people swinging these "hammers"??? I merely use a tap to set and adjust on the planes that need it. Not like I'm am trying to drive spikes...... Spalted Maple Mallet I use for the chisels, also works quite well onto the strike buttons.

It isn't like I am swinging a framing hammer driving 16s, just taps.

Just exactly, how are you swinging your hammers adjusting a plane?

[Tom M King]

If you buy one with a stuck wedge, it sometimes takes a real Whack to get it loose. The Estwing red and yellow faced mallet is perfect for that. I can smack one progressively harder until I find the right impact, and it never leaves any kind of mark. I actually like buying ones with stuck wedges because once you get it loose, it fits perfectly. They're usually available cheaper too. All my molding planes are really old, with a few being over 200 years old. I'm not hitting them any kind of way with a wooden or metal mallet. If the Estwing had a brass insert on the side of the head, it would be the perfect molding plane mallet since I wouldn't also have to pick up a brass hammer once in a while.