plane hammer
#11
Sometimes I seem to look for tools I don't really need. Then I come here and ask for opinions on various tools. After reading the folks comments I leave here convinced I must have that tool. Today's tool is a plane hammer. Presently, I use a $4.99 watchmaker's hammer from Harbor Freight. Why do I need to buy a Veritas, Lie Nielsen, Glen Drake, etc. hammer? Please entice me. Who's product must I purchase? Thanks.
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#12
(05-19-2018, 01:39 PM)JSpill Wrote: Sometimes I seem to look for tools I don't really need. Then I come here and ask for opinions on various tools. After reading the folks comments I leave here convinced I must have that tool. Today's tool is a plane hammer. Presently, I use a $4.99 watchmaker's hammer from Harbor Freight. Why do I need to buy a Veritas, Lie Nielsen, Glen Drake, etc. hammer? Please entice me. Who's product must I purchase? Thanks.
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"Why do I need to buy a Veritas, Lie Nielsen, Glen Drake, etc. hammer? Please entice me. "

First you must understand that "need" has nothing to do with "wants"........secondly, a cheap HF hammer is not worthy of smiting an expensive plane blade...it would be working above it's station......
Crazy
Big Grin
Often Tested.    Always Faithful.      Brothers Forever

Jack Edgar, Sgt. U.S. Marines, Korea, America's Forgotten War
Get off my lawn !
Upset





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#13
(05-19-2018, 01:39 PM)JSpill Wrote: Sometimes I seem to look for tools I don't really need. Then I come here and ask for opinions on various tools. After reading the folks comments I leave here convinced I must have that tool. Today's tool is a plane hammer. Presently, I use a $4.99 watchmaker's hammer from Harbor Freight. Why do I need to buy a Veritas, Lie Nielsen, Glen Drake, etc. hammer? Please entice me. Who's product must I purchase? Thanks.

None. While they are exquisite in conception and design, in the end, they are all hammers. Personally, I use a 1x1 scrap of hard maple to tap my plane irons. 

That being said, if it floats your boat go for it. This is coming from a guy who paid $170 for a TFWW saw vice!!!  So there you go.
Credo Elvem ipsum etiam vivere
Non impediti ratione cogitationis
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#14
It can be hard to predict what will make a difference.  Many decades ago I bought a set of Cinelli handlebars for my bicycle because they looked cool, though I knew they would not make me a better cyclist.  But when I came to a hill, I'd put my head down, see the handlebars, and think "what kind of an person spends that much on handlebars, if he's not going to pedal harder than this?"  And I would.  

If getting the expensive hammer will make your work better or more pleasant, it could be worth it.  Whether it matters at all depends on you.
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#15
There is a type of hammer, that I use....drive a brad, adjust a plane iron, or drive a chisel..
Cool  
   
Cross pean, square head..aka Riveting Hammer.....usually about 7oz.   Used it today, not just for driving a mortise chisel...
   
I needed to adjust the cutter in the stanley 45  a bit to the side...these planes don't have a lateral adjust lever...
Winkgrin
Show me a picture, I'll build a project from that
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#16
(05-19-2018, 08:43 PM)bandit571 Wrote: There is a type of hammer, that I use....drive a brad, adjust a plane iron, or drive a chisel..
Cool  

Cross pean, square head..aka Riveting Hammer.....usually about 7oz.   Used it today, not just for driving a mortise chisel...

I needed to adjust the cutter in the stanley 45  a bit to the side...these planes don't have a lateral adjust lever...
Winkgrin
.......................
I like hammers and have dozens of them..I particularly like the smaller, more unusual types, but don't have a specific one in mind for adjusting a plane blade..I usually just grab the closest one...I made the one shown on the right in the photo about fifty years ago..I used a 3/4" Grade 8 bolt and turned it on my lunch hour at work using the shop's metal lathe...at the time, I was also interested in silver-smithing and lapidary..

The hammer on the left is engraved "From George to Eliza, class of 1903"...it has a storey to tell....

   I suggest you check Ebay and find one you really like and make a bid on it...There's some really nice old hammers to be had and at much better prices than some of the "custom made" hammers....

[Image: IMG_0448.jpg]

[Image: IMG_0443.jpg]
Often Tested.    Always Faithful.      Brothers Forever

Jack Edgar, Sgt. U.S. Marines, Korea, America's Forgotten War
Get off my lawn !
Upset





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#17
I've been using a cheapie little hammer that's kicked around forever to adjust my planes. Then I thought I had to have the LV plane hammer so I got one. I hated it. It's just too heavy. I guess I must have my cheapy hammer perfectly calibrated so I went back to using it.

carl
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#18
(05-22-2018, 09:02 AM)Carl Grover Wrote: I've been using a cheapie little hammer that's kicked around forever to adjust my planes. Then I thought I had to have the LV plane hammer so I got one. I hated it. It's just too heavy. I guess I must have my cheapy hammer perfectly calibrated so I went back to using it.

carl

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Couple more little guys I liberated on a tool rescue expedition recently at Shupps Grove Flea market in Adamstown Pa........

[Image: P1030487.jpg]
Often Tested.    Always Faithful.      Brothers Forever

Jack Edgar, Sgt. U.S. Marines, Korea, America's Forgotten War
Get off my lawn !
Upset





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#19
Had to make a new handle for one hammer..
Uhoh 
   
But this was more for a Cobbler....
Show me a picture, I'll build a project from that
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#20
And for my part, I also like a lighter hammer.   For woodie planes I also like an all-wood hammer, just in case I smack somewhere other than the metal strike button.   My favorite adjuster hammer is a tad over 7 oz.   Tonight I scrounged a dense piece of oak to work up another hammer, this one just about 6 oz total.   I like a bit of "bounce" in the hammer, and these do that for me.

   
Chris
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