Help with hammer

[blackoak]

Any body know these marks on this hammer. The bottom has a large W with what looks like the letters F and T and maybe another that I can't make out. It is also marked with A-27. Stamped on top is the letters PRR. It's a large hammer measuring 10" long that has a striking face and the other end tappers to a sharp wedge type edge.

[Papaw]

P R R should refer to Pennsylvania Rail Road. The keystone is the state symbol of PA. The Keystone State.
There are some PRR hammers on Ebay, but I don't know the maker of yours.

[Aunt Phil]

Handle says it's a chisel, NOT a hammer.
PRR in the keystonsesays Pen Railroad property.

[Northwoods]

Handle says it's a chisel, NOT a hammer.
PRR in the keystonsesays Pen Railroad property.

Can you explain, please?  Are you referring to the handle's short length?

[leg17]

A blacksmith would position the chisel by using the handle and strike the back of it with a hammer in the other hand.
Google 'top tool blacksmith'.

[Northwoods]

Right!

[blackoak]

A blacksmith would position the chisel by using the handle and strike the back of it with a hammer in the other hand.
Google 'top tool blacksmith'.

I don't know if I would want to strike the face with another hammer, seems dangerous, but who knows.  This is not the original handle that was in it. The original one was about 30" long, but was cracked so I just stuck this one in it. I have no intentions of using it, just one for the collection.

[skipskip]

Woodings, now woodings-Verona  made railroad tools for years

their W looks a lot like the W on your hammer

[leg17]

A blacksmith would position the chisel by using the handle and strike the back of it with a hammer in the other hand.
Google 'top tool blacksmith'.

I don't know if I would want to strike the face with another hammer, seems dangerous, but who knows.

What would you strike a chisel with?

[Aunt Phil]

30" handle would indicate the chisel was destined for track work allowing the man holding the chisel in position to work standing while another man struck it with a sledge.  Track work was man and muscle prior to the 1960s when hydraulic machines began to appear over strong Union objection.  Diesel power units as well as electric power units carried Firemen well into the 60s on most roads.
Rail crews spent months on work trains with bunk cars for living accommodations.

Generally the easiest way to tell a chisel from a hammer is by the size of the handle in comparison to a hammer of about the same weight.  A chisel handle doesn't need to accommodate the forces a hammer handle does, so it's smaller diameter.

[blackoak]

A blacksmith would position the chisel by using the handle and strike the back of it with a hammer in the other hand.
Google 'top tool blacksmith'.

I don't know if I would want to strike the face with another hammer, seems dangerous, but who knows.

What would you strike a chisel with?

Depends on size of chisel and  the job, I would select  one of these most likely for striking a chisel. The striking surface on most chisels that I know of are not harden like the face of a hammer. That's why a lot of the well used wedges, chisel will be mushroomed on top and should be ground back to original shape.

[anglesmith]

The other thing that identifies it as a top tool particularly chisels (hot cuts) is that they were not wedge on. You can see from the photos that the eye has no draft, ie  that it is parallel.  That was done so they could be taken off and sharpened or turned around in the case of handed side cuts.
Graeme

[geneg]

I've always heard of these as coal cutters.  From that description, just assumed that they were to split chunks of coal into smaller pieces.

[wvtools]

I agree with Aunt Phil.  I think it is a track chisel, used for cutting rails. 

I have been told of two different methods of cutting the rails, but have not witnessed either.  One method was to use a rail bender to put the rail under tension and then strike the rail chisel against the side with another hammer.  The other was to use the same cutting method to score the rail, then have a group of men pick it up with tongs and drop it.  The first one was told to me by a guy I trust who said he witnessed his grandfather do it.

[Northwoods]

The Google features folks who claim it can be done by cutting the base, scoring the face with a big handled chisel, and then whacking it really hard.  Lots of opinions and claims there.  One or more of them are bound to work.