I was with my boyfriend in B&Q looking for a present for my father but they didnt have any left-handed hammers and they suggested I should look on the interweb as that was the sort of thing they have in America as there arent enough left-handers over here to make it profitible. Anyway as we were walking back to the exit I saw a rack of bits of metal and some of it was twisted like barely sugar and I asked my boyfriend if that was what was meant by wriggley tin. No he replied thats what the actress said to the bishop and then he told me that wrigley tin is just another name for corrogated iron. Then he told ne that the twisted metal was called olivers coz it was all-of-a-twist and that sounded like oliver twist. but was he just teasing me again???
Last time I was in B&Q they had mixed them all up. You need to check the writing on the shank; a left-handed hammer has the writing along the right hand side starting at the hand end of the shank. Of course professional users will know the difference by feeling the weight distribution and - if you watch old-timers at work - you'll see them automatically swap hands if they pick up the wrong hammer by mistake. Long gone are the days when an apprentice would complete his toolbox with the 'wrong' hammer to use in otherwise inaccessible spaces.
Certainly the (usually highly-polished) twisted brass rods that hold/held up the extended roof that made a traction engine into a showman's engine are known as, "Olivers".
All good and well if you possess either the wherewithal to assess your tool's inclination through years of handling , or a convenient line of script upon its meaty shaft - but what happens when no such indications are available?
Well, here's a simple test you can try at home to determine the handedness of your hammer.
Sit yourself upon the floor, legs resting straight out in front of you, knees held tight together.
Take hammer in right hand, raise it above your head until it's directly above your bonce. Close eyes. This is important - if you fail to do so you will not be able to correctly ascertain the properties of your tool.
Now, bring the hammer very smartly down towards your knees.
One of three things will happen:
1: The hammer will strike your right knee. This could indicate a left-handed hammer ( they pitch slightly to the right, you see ). Repeat the test holding the hammer in your left hand. If it strikes your left knee then what you have is an out of balance right-handed hammer. Throw it away. If it hits you between the knees it's a left handed hammer.
2: The hammer strikes your left knee. See above, swap left for right.
3: The hammer falls neatly between your knees. Congratulations, you have a right handed hammer.
There is a fourth potential outcome, in which you completely miss your legs althogether...in which case you're evidently not capable of handling such tools...and you're probably better off being a poet, or something.
This fascinating and wholly accurate means of testing a hammer's handedness was related to me by a wonderful old craftsman, one sunny summer's day as I pushed him around a park in his wheelchair.
Apparently not...it seems that someone gave him a hammer which comprised a right handed head on a left handed handle. Spent 48 hours bashing his knees into a bloody pulp before he finally figured out the problem.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.