The Handyman's Book of Tools, Materials, and Processes Employed in Woodworking. Paul N. Hasluck
and does less damage than a light hammer necessarily applied with great force.
FASTENING HAMMER-HEADS TO SHAFTS.
The most simple, and the most generally trustworthy, method of fastening a hammerhead on a shaft is by means of a hard wood or metal wedge driven into a slit in the handle after the head has been put on (see the sectional view, Fig. 325). If a hammer head gets loose after wedging, it can be permanently tightened by driving in a few short, stout nails beside the wedge. The reason is that a nail will force its way into the handle, which may be sufficiently dense to resist the hardest wedge. Soaking in water is another common method of tightening the head. There are many ways of wedging the heads of hammers in place, all more or less satisfactory, but for wooden wedges one of the best methods is to bore with a bradawl two sloping holes (Fig. 326), as at A and B (Fig. 327), through the outer end of the handle and the wedge, after the latter has been driven tightly into the handle. Then drive into each a strong wire nail, and file it off close. Even if the wooden handle or the wedge itself shrinks somewhat, it is almost impossible for the latter to work loose and fall out, and so allow the hammer-head or other similar tool to fly off while being used. Another method is to make with a sharp chisel two or more cuts on each side of a red hot iron wedge (see Fig. 328), so as to raise the surface into something like teeth on a very coarse single-cut file; then drive in the wedge as tightly as possible. Another method is as follows:—Having fitted the hammer-head upon the handle to the line A B (Fig. 329), take the head off again. Bore a hole at c c through the shaft about 3/8 in. above the line A B, and groove each side of the shaft from the hole to the top. Put a piece of steel wire through the hole, and turn it up in the grooves, letting it project as at D D (Fig. 329). Put on the hammer-head down to the line A B. Drive in a wedge w (Fig. 330), fold the wire to lap over the wedge from each side; this prevents the wedge from coming out. The head may work itself loose a little in time; if so, steep it in water a few minutes, and it will be firm again. It is doubtful if this method holds as well as the nailed wedge.
Fig. 325.—Wedged-on Hammer Head.
Figs. 326 and 327.—Fastening on Hammer Head with Nailed Wedge.
Fig. 328.—Iron Wedge.
Fig. 329.—Fastening on Hammer Head with Wired Wedge.
MALLETS.
Mallets are used by the woodworker for driving wood chisels, for knocking light framing together, and for other purposes where the use of a steel-faced hammer would leave unsightly marks and probably damage both tools and material. Suitable mallets are illustrated by Figs. 331 and 332. The first of these shows the ordinary mortised beech “square” mallet; a convenient size for this head is from 4 in. to 6 in. long, and about half as thick. The square handle is slightly rounded to suit the hand. Perhaps a more convenient tool is the American pattern shown by Fig. 332, in which all the sharp edges are chamfered off, and the handle is round and easier to grasp. In some kinds of American mallets the handle screws into the head. English mallets are of beech, and American ones of hickory or lignum vitæ. The round mallet that is bound or cored with iron is not recommended for joiners’ use. If the sides of a wooden mallet are slightly convex, there will be less risk of damaging the work when knocking it together. The mallet itself is, in both form and material, a very old tool. Those figured on the tombs of Egypt might have been drawn from present day stonemasons’ mallets, they are so like them. The Egyptian mallets—or hammers, as they would be called now—are indented in a deep circular ring, as though used all round against the very jagged head of a metal chisel.
Fig. 330.—Hammer Head with Wired Wedge.
Fig. 331.—English Mallet.
AXES AND HATCHETS.
These are both percussion and cutting tools, as they combine the offices of the hammer and chisel. The distinction between axes and hatchets is that axes are used with the two hands, and have long handles, and may be swung as sledge hammers. Hatchets are used with one hand; they have short handles, are much lighter and thinner than axes, and are employed more in the trimming than in the felling of timber. Both narrow and broad axes are employed in forestry, the woodman’s choice being affected by the size of the timber and the character of the fibre. A hatchet is handled with the centre of gravity nearer the cutting edge than an axe. A few types of axe heads are here illustrated. Fig. 333 shows the Kent or English pattern, Fig. 334 the Scotch pattern, and Fig. 335 the Suffolk pattern; Fig. 336 shows the Kent or English pattern of felling axe. The handle used with these generally is of the shape shown by Fig. 337. The well-known American wedge-shape axe-head is illustrated by Fig. 338. Of hatchets, Fig. 339 illustrates the Kent or English pattern, and Fig. 340 the Canada or American pattern.
Fig. 332.—American Mallet.
Fig. 333.—Kent Axe Head.
Fig. 334.—Scotch Axe Head.
THE CUTTING EDGE OF AN AXE.
The cutting edge is nearly always convex, as shown in all the types illustrated. The junction of the light and dark shading in many of the illustrations denotes the extent of the bevel. The object of having a curved cutting edge is not only to prevent the jar and damage which might be done by the too sudden stoppage of the rapid motion of the heavy head in separating a group of fibres, but also to facilitate that separation