Plane-adjusting Hammer Part 1
My wife, Lindsey, and I headed up to the local mountains in our trailer last week, so I was unable to post as we were prepping for our trip. Back at it now.
As before, I’m posting an older video series I made for my handplane course. I made four videos showing the making of a sweet little brass-and-wood-headed hammer, useful for adjusting the plane blade on a wood plane. Of course, you could use it for other things, but because of the head materials, it can’t be used for pounding nails, etc. I have a vague memory of a student who tried to pound a nail with it, using the wood side. That did not end well…
My goal is to post all four videos in the next two weeks. If I was to do this again, I would probably make it a two-part series. The videos are relatively short, but I don’t have time to condense them into two or three parts. You would think that after creating a couple hundred videos, I’d be faster at this…
As was typical when teaching many of my classes, I purchased a quantity of the required materials and distributed it to my students, charging them my cost. That helped them and me; they didn’t have to purchase a small amount of 7/8″ brass bar stock (the cutting charge probably would have been more than the stock) and I didn’t have to deal with varying quantities and qualities of stock the students brought to class. Win-win. It was technically against the rules, but the alternative wasn’t worth the hassle.
You (dear reader) are on your own. The materials are listed on the plan of procedure (see below). The brass may be the most difficult thing to source. McMaster-Carr sells a 12″ length of 7/8″ free-machining brass bar for just under $32. Not cheap for one hammer, but if you go that route, make a few of them. People love them; my wife wanted one just to have it on her desk (I lacquered the head to keep it from tarnishing). Here’s hers, which is now several years old.
You could also use 3/4″ bar, but the 7/8″ works best. I have tried both and the 3/4″ is a bit too light.
Watch part one of the series here.
