I bought a box of body hammers today and this was in it.

I assume it was used for body work, but is it actually a body tool?

looks more blacksmithy to me

for extra credit, what is it called?


SEP 131 by skipskip, on Flickr

blacksmiths  "flatter"  but  tinsmith's are known to use lighter ones.    please post pics of the other hammers!

We seem to be doing hammers this week ;P

>please post pics of the other hammers!

Yes Yes Yes!

Original post shows a boilermakers hammer.

The reply with three pictured are, top to bottom:

1.Boilermaker flatter
2.Body dolly w/handle
3. Body Dolly w/handle

All struck tools used in smithing such as flatters, butchers, swages, fullers, etc. will have a substantial mass above the handle hole, otherwise the hole will distort after being struck.

pics of the hammer pile.

one snap-on,one matco, several fairmount and a couple shy ones who wont say their name.  and a tack hammer, tho I can see how that would useful in bodywork.


SEP 144 by skipskip, on Flickr

more at the end of this set :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skipskip/sets/72157635423756558/

body men would tack in the upholstery back in the day before all the plastic
door skin hammer is nice

Isn't it a short handle for a blacksmiths hammer, wouldn't they want there hand a little farther back?

Quote from: Nolatoolguy on September 18, 2013, 02:05:18 AM
Isn't it a short handle for a blacksmiths hammer, wouldn't they want there hand a little farther back?

Not necessarily.  The first thing my first blacksmith teacher did to a new rounding hammer was cut the handle down to 10 or 11 inches.  He was a third generation traditional smith from a German family.  Short handles seem to be a German smithing tradition.  They work just fine.  The way I was taught, you don't swing a hammer like a carpenter does, so the length of the handle doesn't add much of an advantage.

The *flatter* and other struck blacksmith tools, I often find with any old thing for a handle.  Cut down shovel handles, even pitman arms.   No need for a good heavy  handle on a struck tool, it is just needed for holding the head in place.   Ideally the smith had a helper that would bring the iron to the anvil while hot, then the smith would place the struck tool where needed, and strike it with a heavy hammer.  Heavy as in 3 lbs. or a bit more.    Those are some nice tools.   Now who has some pics of *slappers*?

Quote from: Nolatoolguy on September 18, 2013, 02:05:18 AM
Isn't it a short handle for a blacksmiths hammer, wouldn't they want there hand a little farther back?

That was my thought, but all these hammers came from a body shop, and I guess they were modified to make body work easier.

Or being a CB, he used whatever handle he found around the place.