Shop Made Machinists Hammer

Discussion in 'Machine Tools' started by Rob Pulham, Dec 22, 2021.

  1. Rob Pulham

    Rob Pulham Happily making models Staff Member Administrator Feature Contributor

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    A while ago when making the improvements to the tail stock of the Unimat, I mentioned that I planned to make a machinists hammer.

    Well, I made a start and ,machined up the body of the head the screw in faces, and the shaft but hadn't done anything about the handle by the time I sold the Unimat.

    Primarily this was because I had struggled to thread the 8mm stainless rod that I used for the shaft and was awaiting delivery of a new set of metric taps and dies to complete it. The taps and dies duly arrived but by then I was on with other things so it was being used just with a the bare rod as a handle. I had managed to thread the end that fits into the head it was the handle end that I had struggles with. About 3 weeks or so ago I got around to threading the handle end of the shaft but was undecided as to what to make the handle from. I had a choice of some 16mm diameter aluminium rod or some of the acetal rod that I had made the faces from. which is just over 20mm diameter. In the end I opted for the acetal. but it wasn't until yesterday that I got my finger out and made the handle.

    Having drilled and tapped it 8mm. Instead of knurling the acetal rod to create the grip, I decided to turn concave grooves using a HSS tool bit that I had ground into a curved end but hadn't tried out on anything.

    Once that was done it was just a case of fitting them together. In the end I had to cut a few threads of ether end to ensure that no threads were visible where the shaft enters the head or handle as I hadn't really thought too much about how much thread I was creating versus how deep I could actually tap each piece.

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    Aside from regrinding a few tools to sharpen them, this is my first real go at grinding a tool from a blank to create a particular shape. My plan with this one is to have a go at turning a chimney at some point.

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    Once I screwed the faces onto the head and the handle onto the shaft I couldn't get them off again without risking marking them up so I wasn't able to take any photos of it further disassembled.

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    This is the finished hammer which has turned out rather better than I had hoped when I started out. It's main function will be to ensure that materials are seated properly in the mill vice of lathe chuck but I am sue that I will find other uses for non marking brute force....
     
  2. Vinylelpea

    Vinylelpea Full Member

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    As they say don't use force, use a bigger hammer. :avatar:
     
    Rob Pulham likes this.

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