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| Adam |  Its Hammer timeJuly 22nd, 2005 11:43 AM July 22, 2005 It's Hammer time! I got a package from an eBay seller! Because of my short term memory, I rarely know what is inside of a package ahead of time. This large box came and I was trying to figure out what was inside, as was my wife. I assured her that it was not a big âol expensive thing (not having a clue to what had just arrived). Long story short, the box, bubble packaging, a heavy cardboard envelope, an envelope within the envelope and finally the heavily bubble wrapped hammer! My brother's tape wrapped present wrapping record has finally been topped. It is in good condition, Where as the heirloom I own is in fine condition. I thought the first hammer was an excellent or mint hammer. The original family member had used it and I had mentally idealized it. No big deal. I've already restored the handle's leather washers. Over the years the individual vertebrae (if you will) had expanded and shrunk at different rates and the grip looked rather uneven. The first hammer (wonderful to have comparisons while restoring) told me that this was not in the tool's design. Sanding the end-grain leather just made a slight mess and "fuzzied" (technical term) the handle's finish. Turns out a little, 6 inch, bastard cut, flat file did the trick in leveling the washers. Then... I sanded them with a fine grit piece of sandpaper to reduce the number of file tooling marks (some have been intentionally left in). At this point the hammer's beautiful black handle is decidedly brown. Brown is OK as a color. It's the more likely color used for a leather handled tool (i.e. my leather handled, new, Estwing Ball Pein hammer). But, the first hammer definitely says NO. I keep my black shoes shined. The soles "dressed" black. And, if the finish on the shoes wears I have black leather shoe dye. Hot Dog! The hammer handle is now completely black. Iâm going to have to get real leather dye from a shoe store (alcohol-based), as opposed to the water-based pigmented dye the retail stores sell for future restorations. The leather has three coats of black (NOIR) paste type shoe polish. Donât worry about the grip. I did mention leaving some tooling marks in didnât I? I consider the handle done. The rest of the tool is going to be a challenge. There is a black finish I have not encountered before (heirloom aside). It is not chemically blued. No a paint. And, is so well bonded to the metal that rust can camouflage in with it and not be detected until it is wire brushed (brass wires). The hammer is so old that other than the Craftsman logo, and REG TM M (inside double dashed lines) there is NO model number. In order to find this thing's place in Craftsmanâs past, Iâm going to have to visually check every Hand Tool catalog I acquire until BINGO is arrived at. It's a rough job. But, Someone has to do it. On a sad note, the former owner of the hammer had used one of the cheeks to hammer with. And.. You guessed it! They used the logo side of the hammer. But, now I have TWO hammers (of this type). One for use and the other to be stored, oiled and polished in reverence (heirloom). Iâll post more status later. Oh yaa...., thereâs more. You betcha. |
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