Claw hammer question...

[WoodenNutmeg]

I have a few questions about this cast steel claw hammer pictured below. Being that it was under patent in 1862 by the Connecticut Arms & Mf'g. Co. what were the primary uses of this item? Would this item have any possible field uses? If anyone thinks they can shed some light on this very interesting piece, I'd greatly appreciate the information.

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb249/digthefuzz/hammer.jpg

Bryan O'Keefe, Esquire

[Charles Heath]

Driving nails. Pulling nails. The claw hammer can also be used for opening boxes, which eventually develops the ripping hammer head. I like that nail puller on the side, and one can readily see why iron would fail. Nice wedge job, too.

[WoodenNutmeg]

So, it would be assumed that this was primarily a shipping and receiving tool for the company? Very interesting indeed. Thank you, Charles.

[Charles Heath]

Tools do talk. Take a look at the face and see if the wear is consistent with driving nails. Check the claw for chips indicating a lot of pulling nails ha happened over a lifetime. The same goes with the notch on the side of the head. As to whether or not this was a tool employed by shipping or receiving at the arms firm, well, that may be a stretch. I'm thinking the patent lends credence to their manufacturing of the hammer instead. Take some time to visit a few tool price guides (even the online variety) and see what turns up. Yours is a nice hammer, and in great condition.

Wait until you see one of those five-in-one hammers in a period catalog and scratch your head over that one.

I hope Bro. Yoder sees this thread.

[Rob Weaver]

That hammer has a very period look to it, notably the sharp curve of the claw and the round face of the hammer. The handle is nice, too. Really hand tools like that didn't change much until after WWII, and some until very recently.
I thought once about assembling a period tool box and did a lot of research before abandoning the idea. Small hand tools like that realistically would be lying all over the historical landscape.

[mboyce]

The nail slot on the side may atually be for starting a tack or small nail. I have seen somthing similar to this on a modern hammer, and it you set the nail in it, and gave it a whack, so you didn't smash your fingers.

[58 lorenz]

A number of arms makers have made tools in the past. Mossberg and Winchester,to name two.





Doug Price

[Rev]

My grandfather had a hammer that was very similar. It was a ' furniture hammer'. The head weight was around 12 ounces. That slot was a nail/tack starter, not a puller. If one was seen trying to use it as a puller there was discipline to follow. It was not designed to withstand the stress of pulling. He had many woodworking / joinery tools that were very old. I now have most of them.

[Hank Trent]

I thought it was a nail starter too. Tried to find the patent with no luck, but did find an 1877 patent for a similar hammer with the groove in question attached separately, rather than cast, and it says "Heretofore the nail-starter has been constructed with the hammer forming a component part thereof. In my invention the nail-starter is made separate..."

http://www.google.com/patents?id=r99tAAAAEBAJ

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Parault]

Where would one find such an interesting item? To the best of my knowledge I have never seen one even in a museum. Thank you for posting this,so if I come across one I will know what it is and impress my friends with the information.

[WoodenNutmeg]

The hammer, both pictured and discussed above, is currently for sale.

Please PM me or e-mail me at bryanokeefe@hotmail.com with offers.

[Bob 125th NYSVI]

Just looking at the 'nail holder' on the side the shape is very similiar to the type of nail used to mount horseshoes.

Farriers are always looking for someplace to keep extra nails handy.

Maybe it is a farriers hammer?

[Hank Trent]

Just looking at the 'nail holder' on the side the shape is very similiar to the type of nail used to mount horseshoes.

Farriers are always looking for someplace to keep extra nails handy.

Maybe it is a farriers hammer?

Are you proposing it was a slot for storing nails, to "keep extra nails handy"?

I really can't see it would function any differently from the similar nail starter in the patent I posted earlier in the thread, and the patent makes the use very clear and explains the shape. The V is for holding the head of the nail, not the shaft.

In the patent drawing, Figure 2 shows a nail in the slot, and it's inserted at right angles to the hammer, with the head in the slot far enough down to fit, and the point sticking away. The slot is "V" shaped to accomodate different sizes of nails, so the nailhead can be slid down until the edges grab it.

From the patent: "It is only necessary to give a blow sufficiently hard for the nail to stick, then draw the hammer away from the nail, and the nail is left started ready to be driven in the usual manner."

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[WoodenNutmeg]

There ya go!

[Pvt Peck]

Nick:
Thanks for finding and posting the patent info, that is some neat stuff there!

Mr. Nutmeg:
Could you PMme with a rough idea of what you would lie to get for that spiffy "improved" hammer?

Edward Parrott
"nail starting hammers mess"