The question behind this project: what can be done with a pile of scrap that most people would throw out? The maker turned it into a real-sized clenched fist that works as the striking head of a hammer, mounted on a contoured wooden handle. Bonn described it as a test of personal skill and something interesting for subscribers, and the level of finishing backs that up in my eyes.
Everything began on paper: a hand was traced with a pen, measurements and finger segments sketched out, then paper templates were cut. An angle grinder sliced thick steel plate and round bar into finger joints, and a torch tacked the parts together while they sat clamped in a bench vise. Layers of weld went over the outside to fill the gaps, and grinding discs, hand files and a rotary die grinder with carving burrs carved out the knuckles, skin creases and fingernails. Metal rods and springs reinforce the head from within, while a flattened steel tube forms the socket for the handle.
That handle started as a rectangular block of wood, shaped with a cutting attachment and a wire brush, then finished with hand sandpaper and a dark stain. A slot was cut lengthwise into its end, the handle was driven firmly into the socket, and a metal wedge locks it there. The plastic ties that held the wedge during assembly, snipped off once the head was seated, strike me as a tidy little trick.
Six days went into it at around ten hours a day, and the finished hammer was demonstrated by pounding on a wooden log. One open point remains: only a few photos of the result exist, since filming kept the maker busy, and whether anyone eventually buys it from the shop is still to be seen.
Project by Bonn. Watch it on their YouTube channel: