I Think I've Got A Busted Leatherworking Hammer

[SociallyIneptBoy]

So I've started gathering tools to get started on leatherworking as a hobby. In the course of doing this, I recently purchased a used Osborne #66 on eBay, the head of which appears to be extremely warped and misshapen to me. The "claw" and mounting portions of the head are not perpendicular to the handle and and almost appears to have been twisted. The striking surface is not remotely symmetrical. Looking at it from the top down, the right-hand side of the striking surface sticks out further to the side than the left and curves forward, while the rest of the surface is mostly flat. Also, the metal between the striking surface and the rest of the head is pinched in quite a bit more on the right than on the left. This thing more or less looks like it's been in a car accident.

Am I just so much of a newbie that I don't realize that this how leatherworking hammers are supposed to look, or is my gut right and I just got sold a lemon?

[camano ridge]

You don't say what kind of leather work you are doing. For the most part you want a Poly or leather mallet or maul. If your hammer does not look like the one in this link then you probably have one that has been abused. http://www.frankfordleather.com/tools/osborne-66-shoe-hammer.asp You did not post a picture of your hammer. Judging from your description it might take a little more then refacing on a grinder to have a usable hammer. You should not use metal to hammer most of your stamping setting tools etc. You will tend to mushroom the ends. So unless

you are going to be driving a lot of tacks or use the hammer for smoothing (does not sound like it will work for that in it's condition) I would set it aside and get a good poly or rawhide mallet or maul.

This picture show the face of the hammer a little better.

Edited March 22, 2015 by camano ridge

[electrathon]

You have a cobblers hammer, not a leatherworhing hammer. You need a poly hammer.

[DavidL]

Its hard to tell without seeing a picture. Most hammers used in leather working are poly, rawhide, plastic. The metal hammers are not to be used with metal tools but I have seen them use a hammer to flatten seams or manipulate leather to form around a last. The face of these hammers are rounded to not mark the leather. If it really is warped and not how the hammer is suppose to look you could try to get a refund.

[TinkerTailor]

While i have never seen this hammer, it may be crooked because it is a right or left handed hammer for hammering the tops of welts on shoes. If it is offset and canted, it makes room for the knuckles and prevents the hammer from marking the vertical surfaces of the shoe/boot. Some axes are made this way for the same reason. I think they also make metal finishing hammers this way as well

[SociallyIneptBoy]

Thanks for the input guys. The picture that camano posted is of the one I have. You can see the words "C.S. Osborne 66" written on handle if you look closely enough. Osborne advertises it as a leatherworking hammer, and actually has a separate hammer advertised as a "shoe hammer" (the 65), but from what I've seen, given the style of it's head, it's generally accepted as a cobbler's hammer.

Here is the link to their hammer section if you want to see what I'm talking about.....http://www.csosborne.com/l-hammers_1.htm

I got it for the purpose DavidL mentioned, flattening seams & shaping leather, as well as for closing seams when gluing pieces together. That's why the shape of the striking face is a problem. The main thing I want to do is make small, thin minimalist wallets, so the warped portion would end up striking the table and causing the rest of the hammer to hit at an angle, which would defeat the purpose of using it, and it's almost useless for shaping, since the warped portion would have a substantial chance of digging into the leather and leaving gouges. I'll be getting a poly mallet for hammering punches, chisels, etc... as well.

I would have posted a pic last night, but it appears that either the forum software they use here doesn't allow for normal attachment methods or I don't have them enabled yet since I'm new. I'm gonna try a few things after I make this post, but I've got no idea if any of them are going to work.

Edit: Ok, I've figured out how it works now. That is one convoluted method of handling attachments.

Edit 2: Didn't realize how bad the first pic was. Attached a second, clearer picture.

Edited March 23, 2015 by SociallyIneptBoy

[electrathon]

I tried to get a pic of the front of a hammer. There is about a 2 degree or so radius on the striking surface. Your hammer should not have a flat face. As a comparison, ball peen hammers are almost the same on the face of the flat side. You do have the correct style for pounding flat seams/folds in leather, just yours is mis-shaped.

[SociallyIneptBoy]

Ok, that's about what I expected. Thanks again for your help.

[TinkerTailor]

I looked at the pictures again and now i think it has been ground to clean it up. I think the seller cleaned (read: totally destroyed) up the face on a bench grinder and the concave would be the radius of the wheel. Because it was a bench grinder, the handle probably got in the way of turning it 360 to get a good face shape. Also, If you look at where the handle comes out the top, there are wear and work and use marks in the wood that have been recently ground away. Some bozo Effed it up with crappy grinding. Shoulda just wire wheeled it, or left it alone.

You could just re grind it to a very slight dome fairly quickly with carefull use of a bench grinder or with a sanding disc on an angle grinder, and the hammer in a vise. This method would allow you to get a better dome without taking out the handle.I like the discs because they are easier to control, easier to swap for higher grits, cheap, and dont leave divets as easy as stones...Plus a piece of sticky back sandpaper won't explode unexpectedly and shoot chunks of rock at mach 7.6 towards your eyes balls.

If you are buying tools for working not for show, buy the crappy looking ones and renovate them yourself. Shiny tools are way more expensive, cause they are really new, or have been polished and fixed up. If you are buying more than a few tools, its pays to restore them yourself. Its not expensive to get a basic setup for cleaning up tools, and its not that hard. 100-200 bux should get you a cheap bench grinder, some wire wheels and buffers, a vise and a dremel with attachments. Also some sandpaper and cleaning/protecting/polishing liquids. I wont open the pandoras box of what chemicals/solvents/finishes to use for what, but i will say that Evaporust is a rust removal solution that works really good. Soak and buff. No sand or grind.

Also, cleaning and restoring a tool is the first step to making your own tools. That is the best if you can do it, in my opinion. I get a double boost of pride when i get to say, "I made that piece, AND i made the tools i used to make that."