Would You Pay 100 bucks For A Hammer?

[crokett]

even a 120 year old one? I was at a yard sale today and the guy had 2 cooper's hammers there for 100 bucks each, made in 1889. To me they just looked like old hammers. The cooper's hammer has a wide curved blade where the claw normally is, sort of like an adze. You use it to carve bowls, chair seats, etc. I figure if I really want one then I can get an old claw hammer for 2 bucks somewhere and make one in my dad's forge.

[jonmulzer]

The wide, curved blade on the cooper's hammer (if that is what it is) was not used for carving. They are used to tighten the hoops on barrels.

$100? Yeah right. What is it with everyone thinking their tools are made of gold here lately? I see them at yard sales and on craigslist all the time for prices that are twice what they should be and sometimes more than they are worth new. Are there really that many suckers out there that have no idea what items are worth and paying these exorbitant prices? Or do they just not sell them?

On a sorta related note, I picked up a Dewalt biscuit joiner this week for $50 and you can't tell it from a new one. I was wanting a PC, but for that kind of deal I can do without the face frame biscuit option.

[Bob Crosley]

Yeah, I just saw a very old saw on craigslist here, and the guy want's $150 for it.

Of course, it's not just limited to old tools. Another guy is selling a tile saw for $150. Claims it retails for $399. It's the same Lowes special I just bought for $59.99.

Takes all kinds.

[TheChief]

Part of my Navy career was spent in DC as a "systems engineer" for a new construction project. In that environment a $100 hammer is a flippin' bargain.

[crokett]

John, he called it a cooper's hammer. I thought it was a little odd. The blade was shaped to be used to hollow out bowls, etc. So maybe it wasn't a cooper's hammer but he wanted 100 bucks for each of the ones he had. I did buy a Miller's Falls #900 for 8 bucks. It will need a LOT of rehab though.

[jonmulzer]

I know what you are talking about, and it probably is a cooper's hammer. Short handle? Was the "adze" end sharp or blunt? I have seen some old ones exactly like you are talking about and they were used to set hoops on barrels. The end that looks like a cutting edge is either squared off or rounded and is used to set hoops when building barrels. You strike the edge of the hoop with a downward, rotating motion and when you come into contact with the steel hoop the handle should be at roughly a 45 degree angle relative to the barrel sides. The end was rounded out like an adze so that it was easier to get a good strike. Who knows? Maybe the first cooper's hammers were fashioned from an adze?

If it could be seen that it had a sharpened edge up until the end of it's working life and the handle was over a foot then it was an adze most likely. Or a form of cooper's hammer I am not familiar with. Either way, the guy was nuts on the price.

[crokett]

The adze end was sharpened. It was also curved along both the axis parallel to and perpendicular to the handle. This made me think it was used for carving otu bowls, etc. I would think a cooper's hammer would be curved along the axis perpendicular to the handle but otherwise be flat.

[jonmulzer]

They are rounded it both directions, just like an adze. Usually not as deep a curve as an adze parallel to the handle. The key to this not being what he said it was is that it was sharpened. When you are coopering something you have no need to hollow that I am aware of. I have seen hoop hammers/cooper's hammers just like you describe but with a very short handle and the adze looking end is blunt or squared so it makes good contact with the hoops when tightening.