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hammer eye drift pin

I was down at the feed supply store today buying some perlite to anneal some tool steel in, and I noticed they have a real nice section of hammer handles all made by Sequatchie Handle Works out of Tennessee. I'm figuring on making some hammers (as soon as I figure out how) and I had planned to buy stock replacement handles instead of trying to find hickory and make my own. These handles are really well made and inexpensive. They come with a wooden and steel wedge to use in attaching.

Sure wish they stocked drift pins for their various handles! That would be too easy, though, I guess. Still, it shouldn't be too hard to take a round bar, take a heat, and flatten it to roughly the right shape, and then put it on a big belt sander and get it as close as desired. Boy, it sure would be nice to be able to pick out a factory-made drift pin that's guaranteed to work with e.g. their handle that goes with e.g. their 14" machinist's hammer.

Is my idea the right way to go about making a drift pin to fit an existing hammer handle? Point is, once made you can buy 10 handles for $25 and use your one drift pin for *all* of them ..

Grant Erwin Kirkland, Washington

Reply to
Grant Erwin
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Best if the metal is hardenable - we used to use old truck axles.

JK

Grant Erw>

Reply to
John O. Kopf

I gather that you want to make a hammer which a factory replacement handle fits with no "fitting". This is somewhat debatable - the general rule is that replacement handles are somewhat oversized at the head end to allow for the fitting of the various different possible heads they might get stuck into.

Given the variablity of wood, you might find that not all 10 handles fit as well in the same exact hole. While I freely admit that it can be tedious, shaving the handle to fit the head is the only way to get a really good fit. Charcoal or chalk can help the fitting process by showing you where to shave.

Reply to
Ecnerwal

Doing it right requires a set of three drifts. I made a set and have a write up and pix of them. e-mail me if you want me to send them to you.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Edwards

Are you talking about a B&O hammer? Looks like a railroad spike hammer only smaller. I have a 3lb and 4lb short handled from when I was working around cranes and heavy equipment. We used them for driving out boom and track pins. _____________ / ______ \---------------------- | (_______) _________________| | \_____________ /

Head looks similar to this.

Bob

Reply to
Anon Ymous

I'm not talking about any hammer in particular. I want to *make* hammers. I just don't want to make hammer handles, not having a ready supply of hickory or any particular woodworking skills or inclination. So if I forge out a hammer head then I have to make a hole for a hammer handle, right? That's where I need a drift pin. I can make up some kind of drift pin and drive it through the hammer head, but then it will require a custom fit hammer handle. I want to make a drift pin that will fit store-bought hammer handles, so I can use it to install those hammer handles in my own self-made hammer heads.

Do you want to sell your hammers?

Grant Erw> Are you talking about a B&O hammer? Looks like a railroad spike hammer only

Reply to
Grant Erwin

No thanks, they come in handy all the time.

Good luck with your project, Bob

Reply to
Anon Ymous

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