Tighten a loose hammer?

[hbmcc]

I have an older $2 Stanley 16-oz carpenter's hammer with a head beginning to loosen up. It jiggles about 1/32nd or less; pretty loose. I think the handle is Hickory but that is based on historical preferences. I just noticed the handle bends to the east, and there is no grain deviation from true N/S face grain. I like to use it with my decking demo because the claw arcs nearly parallel to the handle which improves ease of nail extraction. Normally, I would throw it into a can of BLO and hope. Sorry for such detail....

Is there a safer (better) way to get it fixed? Your thoughts are welcome.....

[Stwood_]

I grasp the handle, and strike the bottom of the handle on a block of wood, concrete floor, steel beam, whatever is handy, driving the handle up into the head.
Then drive the wedge farther into the handle.

[Red Sawman]

I grasp the handle, and strike the bottom of the handle on a block of wood, concrete floor, steel beam, whatever is handy, driving the handle up into the head.
Then drive the wedge farther into the handle.

… after that soak the head in some light oil for a few days ...

[cputnam]

I wonder if Chair Doctor would help?

[hbmcc]

I'm looking at a fair "collar?" on the handle. I'll try to carve some wood away, but the wedging will only be a few fractions of an inch.

I'll tap the wedges a bit, then soak the head in oil.

Thanks, gentlemen.

[Stwood_]

Collar......

A picture would help

[Mike Brady]

"Collar", I think means the ledge of splintered wood that gathers at the base of a loose hammer head.  To effectively tighten that hammer head, that collar needs to be pared away with a chisel (don't use your best chisel).  If you don't do this the hammer head can't be effectively tighted.  After that fix. follow the directions stated for tightening the wedges.  Replacing that handle with a new one, if the hammer is something you want to had to your tool set, is not much more trouble than has been described already.

[andrewb]

I have an older $2 Stanley 16-oz carpenter's hammer with a head beginning to loosen up. It jiggles about 1/32nd or less; pretty loose. I think the handle is Hickory but that is based on historical preferences. I just noticed the handle bends to the east, and there is no grain deviation from true N/S face grain. I like to use it with my decking demo because the claw arcs nearly parallel to the handle which improves ease of nail extraction. Normally, I would throw it into a can of BLO and hope. Sorry for such detail....

Is there a safer (better) way to get it fixed? Your thoughts are welcome.....

I rehab a lot of hammers and typically prior owner has already put a screw in the head to try and tighten things up.  As mentioned, below the head, there may be a "collar" also.  If a collar is there, I'll trim back with a junker chisel (not the nice Japanese ones - DAMHIKT) and remove any screws or nails/makeshift wedges that were hastily added if possible.  I'll use the straight pein face of a rivet hammer to drive any existing wedges in and then I'll carve up some tapered wedges to fill in the leftover screw/nail holes.  If there weren't any screws/nails to remove, I may drill a single smallish (1/8th"?) hole in center of existing wedge to add at least one tapered wedge.  Re: tapered wedge: basically just making a square peg by splitting a small piece off of a normal wedge and trimming the small end enough to fit into the hole.  When driving the tapered wedges, I'll work slowly at first to seat things well then get a little more forceful.  If too much is protruding and wedge is starting to buckle when it's driven, I'll trim down to about 1/4" protruding and pound it until it either drives all the way in or it crumbles off.  If after all of this there's a little bit of handle protruding from the top of the head and there still seems to be some minor gap, I'll use the ball end of a small ball pein hammer to bash whatever's proud until it spreads and fills the gaps.  If anything is still proud after all of the above I'll use a mill file to file smooth.

[Timberwolf]

I'm looking at a fair "collar?" on the handle. I'll try to carve some wood away, but the wedging will only be a few fractions of an inch.

I'll tap the wedges a bit, then soak the head in oil.

Thanks, gentlemen.

....................
I have used thin crazy glue...two or three applications of it...after rapping the butt of the handle very smartly with another hammer...I have also used thin epoxy with good success.

I also wonder about Chair Doctor...Never tried it on metal-to-wood, but it worked on the chairs I tried it on.

[bandit571]

heck, a new handle is what...$5 at menard's?   They even come with new wedges, both a wood one and a steel one....shape for a better fit with a piece of glass...put the hammer back to work...old handle can go on the charcoal, for a bit of Hickory smoke....