Polish Cobbler's Hammer?

[MtlBiker]

I just received my first real leather cobbler's hammer... it's made by Osborne.

The head isn't as smooth or blemish free as I'd expected... should I worry about it?  Or should I try to polish it up (if so, how)?  I've read that these hammers need to be absolutely perfect so as not to mark up the leather and that you should always be careful with them and not use them for anything other than pounding down your stitch line.

What would you do?

 

[chuck123wapati]

22 minutes ago, MtlBiker said:

I just received my first real leather cobbler's hammer... it's made by Osborne.

The head isn't as smooth or blemish free as I'd expected... should I worry about it?  Or should I try to polish it up (if so, how)?  I've read that these hammers need to be absolutely perfect so as not to mark up the leather and that you should always be careful with them and not use them for anything other than pounding down your stitch line.

What would you do?

 

i would hit a piece of leather with it and find out!

[fredk]

If thats as rough as it looks in the photo - send it back. That ain't fit for use

Go on ebay and buy an old second had one which will be in better condition

I know, in UK, but just to show you that you can get a good second-hand one cheap

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374065234354?hash=item57180681b2:g:CHQAAOSwQMhieAwk

[MtlBiker]

1 minute ago, fredk said:

If thats as rough as it looks in the photo - send it back. That ain't fit for use

Go on ebay and buy an old second had one which will be in better condition

I know, in UK, but just to show you that you can get a good second-hand one cheap

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374065234354?hash=item57180681b2:g:CHQAAOSwQMhieAwk

Thanks Fred.  It is indeed rough, but I'm going to first try what @chuck123wapati suggested.  Hit some leather and see what it looks like.  Have to wait until the end of the day and I go home though.

I'm very reluctant to send the hammer back.... do you remember a month or two ago when I posted about an Osborne edge creaser I'd received?  That was so sharp it was cutting the leather instead of just creasing it.  I eventually received a replacement from my dealer for it (Osborne replaced it for them) and the replacement was virtually just as bad.  I've since moved to the knockoffs that are available for dirt cheap through Amazon and they are much MUCH better that the two from Osborne.  I don't want to send the hammer back because I'd surely be labelled as a chronic complainer by the dealer.  (That might not be wrong, as I think if you're paying for something it should be usable for the task it's designed for.)

Anyway, if this marks up my leather, I'm going to find out how to buff out that roughness and polish it.  I just didn't have to expect to do have to do that.

 

[chuck123wapati]

8 minutes ago, fredk said:

If thats as rough as it looks in the photo - send it back. That ain't fit for use

Go on ebay and buy an old second had one which will be in better condition

I know, in UK, but just to show you that you can get a good second-hand one cheap

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374065234354?hash=item57180681b2:g:CHQAAOSwQMhieAwk

lol i use an old #2 crispen cobblers hammer, it is made with marks on the face.

Just now, MtlBiker said:

Thanks Fred.  It is indeed rough, but I'm going to first try what @chuck123wapati suggested.  Hit some leather and see what it looks like.  Have to wait until the end of the day and I go home though.

I'm very reluctant to send the hammer back.... do you remember a month or two ago when I posted about an Osborne edge creaser I'd received?  That was so sharp it was cutting the leather instead of just creasing it.  I eventually received a replacement from my dealer for it (Osborne replaced it for them) and the replacement was virtually just as bad.  I've since moved to the knockoffs that are available for dirt cheap through Amazon and they are much MUCH better that the two from Osborne.  I don't want to send the hammer back because I'd surely be labelled as a chronic complainer by the dealer.  (That might not be wrong, as I think if you're paying for something it should be usable for the task it's designed for.)

Anyway, if this marks up my leather, I'm going to find out how to buff out that roughness and polish it.  I just didn't have to expect to do have to do that.

 

just touch it up with some sandpaper and get back to work. lol

[Samalan]

My hammer is like a mirror you could see your face in it I did and now it has a crack in it shit just kidding but it is like a mirror.

[MtlBiker]

32 minutes ago, Samalan said:

My hammer is like a mirror you could see your face in it I did and now it has a crack in it shit just kidding but it is like a mirror.

Was it like that when you got it?  If not, what did you do?  Sandpaper?  Like 2-4000 grit?

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by MtlBiker
typo

[battlemunky]

I have a Wuta hammer with a round face on one side and square face on the other. It wasn't as rough as yours but it still wasn't what I thought it should be so I sanded and then stropped it to a mirror polish. Mainly just because I could though... :-)

[Leescustomleather]

If you take your time and polish it, then it will mean more to you and you will treasure it for as long as you own it. But you are right it should have come that way especially the circumference of the face with that hard transition, shoddy workmanship indeed.

 

[dikman]

Looks like it's been "finished" with a fairly coarse grit belt. You can make it better (with a bit of work) by working through several grades of abrasive paper, finishing with a fine grit used wet and then polishing it. If you know someone with a belt grinder and buffer then even better, won't take long.

[DBV]

I just had to get up and look at my CS Osborn and it is smooth as a babies butt. Bought it about 4 years ago. 

[Squid61]

Make it as smooth and shiney as you think it should be or you will never be happy with it.  I use a $3 WallyWorld hammer that is just as sold, never caused an issue with the leather.  I'm probably the most destructive thing in my " shop" (one end of the kitchen table) not my economy tools.

[fredk]

When I first read the title of this thread I thought; do cobblers in Poland use an especially interesting 'ammer?  

[Northmount]

I've been using an automotive body hammer.  Not polished or or buffed up.  It works fine for tapping down stitching.  Really, you are just trying to tap the thread down so it doesn't stand really proud above the leather.  As long as the leather is not wet, it's not likely to leave impressions in the leather.  It should smooth out the feed dog marks and presser foot marks.

Looking at your new hammer, I would smooth it out more than what it is.  I don't like the pit in the face.  Some gentle work with a smoothing file should make quick work of it.

 

[bruce johnson]

Late to this party but I can address a few things

The creasers you mentioned - I buy them a couple dozen at a time. They bear no resemblance to the original style creasers that worked. The new ones have the sharp edge you described. The head is all the same no matter the size, the channel is what changes on them now. sometimes the channel is somewhat in line with the axis of the head to the tool and sometimes not. Do not confuse these with real creasers. I make other tools out of the new ones.  

The hammer - some new ones come smoother than that, some don't. You can use some sandpaper on a soft surface (mouse pad) and smooth the surface and break over that sharp transition without affecting the slightly domed face too much. Go through a few grits up about 2000 and then polishing compound. I probably end up with as many used hammers as anybody, and maybe half end up in the garbage. Too many deep pits to make them worth the time (even using mechanical means to grind) or cracks is the usual reason. The cracks don't always show up until you get them almost finished and the surface really smooth to highlight the defect. I rehandle a bunch in the summer when the humidity is low. I enjoy that but it is really a time drag and by the time I'm done, not worth it if I was a production accountant. 

 

[chrisash]

Mine is very different its just a small handle metal hammer with the head covered in soft goat veg tan stuck to it so only leather on leathern contact, seems to work well for me hammering down wither glue pieces or stitches (actually hammer is the wrong term tap is the correct way i do it)

[Samalan]

14 hours ago, MtlBiker said:

Was it like that when you got it?  If not, what did you do?  Sandpaper?  Like 2-4000 grit?

It was smooth when I got it but then where I have a lot of metal working machinery part of which are 2 polishing lathes I figured I'd polish it took about 5 min like battlemunky say's you can do it by hand just as good and depending on certain things by hand can be even  better take your time it's worth doing.

[MtlBiker]

12 hours ago, Northmount said:

I've been using an automotive body hammer.  Not polished or or buffed up.  It works fine for tapping down stitching.  Really, you are just trying to tap the thread down so it doesn't stand really proud above the leather.  As long as the leather is not wet, it's not likely to leave impressions in the leather.  It should smooth out the feed dog marks and presser foot marks.

Looking at your new hammer, I would smooth it out more than what it is.  I don't like the pit in the face.  Some gentle work with a smoothing file should make quick work of it.

 

Turns out that the pit in the face doesn't show/mark the leather if I pound it.  BUT... the sharp transition from the face to the sides does mark the leather.  So I willhvae to round that edge off and at the same time I'll polish the face and get rid of that pit.  It's the pits! 

 

[MtlBiker]

5 hours ago, chrisash said:

Mine is very different its just a small handle metal hammer with the head covered in soft goat veg tan stuck to it so only leather on leathern contact, seems to work well for me hammering down wither glue pieces or stitches (actually hammer is the wrong term tap is the correct way i do it)

Good idea to glue some soft leather on the face of the hammer.  I'm first going to try to round off that sharp transition (it does mark the leather) and polish it.  And I may end up putting some leather on the face.  Thanks.

[MtlBiker]

1 hour ago, Samalan said:

It was smooth when I got it but then where I have a lot of metal working machinery part of which are 2 polishing lathes I figured I'd polish it took about 5 min like battlemunky say's you can do it by hand just as good and depending on certain things by hand can be even  better take your time it's worth doing.

I'm going to try doing this by hand.  I'll first take a fine file to the hard transition edge which does leave a mark, and then I'll sue fine sandpaper and eventually some polishing compound.  I'm sure I'll get it into better shape, but I'll keep in mine @chrisash's suggestion to put some soft leather on the face.

[PastorBob]

hahahaha....I thought this was about a Polish (as in Poland) hammer...wondered how they made 'em different.

[chuck123wapati]

been using this cobblers hammer for years with no marks whatso ever. Guess I'm stupid or somthin because i cant get it to mark the leather unless i beat the hell out of it or catch an edge.

[MtlBiker]

6 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

been using this cobblers hammer for years with no marks whatso ever. Guess I'm stupid or somthin because i cant get it to mark the leather unless i beat the hell out of it or catch an edge.

That looks more like the top of a salt shaker than a cobbler's hammer!    But with my hammer, it wasn't the small scratches and pitting on the face of the hammer that marked the leather but rather the sharp transition from the face to the sides.  I've rounded that off and will finish with polishing (POLISHing) it tonight but I'm sure it won't be leaving any more marks.

[fredk]

chuck, I think that hammer of yours is a sheet metal workers, 'metal shrinking' hammer

The lines in the face cause the sheet metal to pucker and gather together, to shrink sheet metal

High quality versions of these actually have a face which revolves slightly on each strike. The use of these is a long lost sheet metal worker's art

[Samalan]

37 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

been using this cobblers hammer for years with no marks whatso ever. Guess I'm stupid or somthin because i cant get it to mark the leather unless i beat the hell out of it or catch an edge.

sometimes we do stuff just because it fun or we know how  I polished my hammer just because I could do it in 5 min.