51 - Band Saw Upgrade, страница 13

Magnetic Tack Hammer

A simple idea that saves a lot of time and frustration. Thafs the reason I like this magnetic tack hammer. It makes it easy to hold a workpiece in position with one hand — and drive in a small nail or brad with the other.

Split End - If you take a look at the photo at left, you can see how this works. The tack hammer has a long slot in the head and a narrow "split" at the end. This split is what allows the end to be magnetized.

Third Hand - The magnetized end of the hammer holds the brad like a "third hand." As shown here,

Bail-Peen Hammer

I often need a hammer designed for working with metal. That's when a ball-peen hammer comes in handy.

Rounded Ball - One thing that makes a ball-peen hammer so useful is the rounded ball on the end of the head opposite the striking face.

The ball is ideal for shaping soft metal. A good example is shown at left The wood and metal parts of this project are held together with short pieces of brass rod. Here, the ball is being used to peen the ends of the rods over like a mushroom to draw the pieces together.

this frees up one hand to stretch a web tightly across the chair rungs. A quick rap of the hammer sets the tip of the brad in the rung. Then flip the head of the hammer and drive in the brad with the square end.

Styles - Just a note about different styles of tack hammers. Instead of the square striking face as shown above, some tack hammers have a round face. But I haven't found that the shape makes much difference.

Tack. A

A magnetic tack hammer lets you start tiny nails (or brads) with one hand.

General Purpose -

But aside from the ball, this hammer is a great general purpose tool. I use it for everything from striking punches and cold chisels to setting the depth of a plane blade and knocking parts of a tool into alignment

Weight - Once again, ball-peen hammers are available in a range of weights (4 to 32 ounces). I've found that an 8-ounce hammer like the one shown above handles most jobs.

Ball-peen. A

Whether you're shaping soft metal or knocking parts of a tool into alignment, a ball-peen hammer is just the ticket.

No. 51 ShopNotes 13

Quite frankly, this hammer looks funny. It has a long "nose," short claws, and a machined striking face on each side of the head (like a Warrington hammer).

But when I used it to help build a deck recently, I was impressed.

Nose - On several occasions, f had to pound nails into pieces that were partially obstructed by other parts of the deck. Thafs when the long nose came in handy — it provided the extra "reach" I needed.

Nail Slot - Another feature I liked is a recessed groove in the nose that holds a nail. With the nail in the groove (a magnet keeps it from falling out), I was able to hold boards in position with one

hand then start and drive nails with the other.

Cafs Paw -Even the claws are different. To dig out embedded nails (inset photo), the claws taper to a sharp point like the claws of a cat. And since the claws are quite short, it also increases leverage when pulling a nail.

More Details - In addition to all that, this hammer has a 13"'-long fiberglass handle, a 20-ounce head, and a rubber grip. All in all, it adds up to an excellent framing hammer. (A mailorder source is listed on page 31.)