What is the purpose of the split end?

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CAframer

CAframer

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Nov 19, 2003
Posts
3,834
Loc
Orange County, CA
I inherited this hammer from another framer ... and I love it ...so handy for all manner of small stuff ... but I have always been puzzled by the split end ... what is the purpose of the split end?

Please edjamacate me!

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Pulling nails, possibly. I also have that hammer for at the vise.

I was told once that it is a cobblers hammer. Not sure.
 
framah said:
Pulling nails, possibly. I also have that hammer for at the vise.

I was told once that it is a cobblers hammer. Not sure.
Click to expand...

Does not look like it's designed for pulling nails ... it's nothing like a claw hammer.
 
I have the same tool.

I assumed the end was for pulling brads.

Use you teeth to pull the brad 1/2" out of the wood and this tool will do the rest.

Doug
 
Ah ... after a bit of Googling I think I may have answered my own question ... it seems this end serves as a magnetic tack hammer and the split is because it is a horseshoe type magnet ... per this 1886 patent!
 
I have one also! And I always assumed the split had to do with pulling brads too. I knew it was called a tack hammer but I didn't know that was because it was used for upholstery work. I was also aware that it was magnetic since stray bits of metal are always sticking to it. Interesting to find out about the split being part of the magnet.
 
I, on the other hand, was surprised to find that an upholstery hammer is used in the framing business. I had done my own upholstery for years before learning to frame.
 
You made me google a word you made up? That was low ROBO or is that the Queen's language? Sussexian?
 
Many years ago I used to watch a friend, who was an upholsterer, use one of these hammers.

He had a mouthful of cut tacks and would poke the head of one tack out between his lips, collect the nails with the magnetised 'split end' of the hammer, tack it into the chair with one light stroke, rotate the head of the hammer and whack the tack home in one whack with the other end of the head! He was very fast and accurate!

I don't know if he managed to swallow any of the tacks!
 
Here is what a user at http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/...hy-does-tack-hammer-have-split-end-40024.html had to say:

The old time upholsterers would dip the magnetized end into a 5 gallon sized barrel of blued tacks, pull out a bunch, place them in their mouth and proceed to tack away. Each tack was moved one at a time so the head was on the tip of the tongue and the magnetized end was brought to the lips. When the tack moved to the magnet, a soft click was heard then the tack was driven into the frame. The other end was used when the tack wasn't fully seated. This process was repeated until the section was finished. Not as fast as a pneumatic staple gun, but far better holding power.

Even though the tacks were blued, once in the mouth, the saliva started the tack to rust which held it in the wooden frame tightly.

Once the task was ended, the remaining tacks were spit out into another barrel where they rusted into oblivion. This is now a lost art! I learned how to "spit tacks" at the age of 18 and still have my Dads original tack hammer from the 30's here at the house. Pneumatic staple guns have taken a lot of the old time craftsmanship out of the upholstery business.



 
And now for something completely different.

It's about the magnet. As another site said:

Apparently, a "horseshoe-type" split magnet is more powerful than a solid bar-type magnet. At least that's what the inventor claims in the original patent at : http://www.google.com/patents?id=_h...0&as_psrg=1#v=onepage&q=patent:352070&f=false starting at around line 23 in the patent.

tackhammer.jpg
Note the polarity in the patent drawing.
 
Larry Peterson said:
Apparently, a "horseshoe-type" split magnet is more powerful than a solid bar-type magnet.
Click to expand...
Back in 1965 we did experiments in science class with magnets and one of them proved that was indeed true!
 
I didn't know about the split being a horseshoe magnet, but I learned to stretch canvas using an upholsterers hammer. Still have mine. The mouth spitting was new to me, too, usually just spread the tacks out on the work bench.
 
EllenAtHowards said:
I, on the other hand, was surprised to find that an upholstery hammer is used in the framing business. I had done my own upholstery for years before learning to frame.
Click to expand...

I used to work in auto upholstery before I got into framing.

Never used one of those tacking hammers. In auto upholstery you use hog ring pliers. (there's something for you to google) Still have mine.

I have an old Singer treadle operated sewing machine that's probably about 100 years old now. I haven't used it much the past number of years, but I think that thing could sew sheet metal if you wanted...it's really a great machine.
 
I had two of these hammers. They were great but one had the forks a little wider than the other. What drove me crazy when using my tack hammer was that it was basically a tuning fork. I would tack away and the hammer would ring :) Had to slip a piece of mat board in between the forks to quiet it. I can no longer find the singing hammer, I think I got fed up with the singing and tossed it :)

For picking up brads, or upholstery tacks I preferred the tack hammers that had a single top, not split forks. Felt like the tacks sat flatter on it than on the split forks...

Wondered where the saying spitting tacks came from :) Must have been when you had a mouthful of tacks and a customer came in making you spit them all out and start over....
 
I have one of those tack hammers too. Not worth squat if you're stretching canvas since you are supposed to use brass or copper tacks. A bit of ATG on the face of the hammer helps. They are also known as the original fitting tool.
 
Just a tasty tidbit here:
I have been through several upholstery classes and learned that the tacks that upholsterers use are sterilized. We were taught not to reach in the box with our fingers, but to tip a few tacks out or use the magnetized end of the hammer to 'lift' them out. We were to consider holding them in our mouths until we used them as optional! But even though we used pneumatic staplers for the final fastening, we would 'loose tack' the fabric in place until we got it properly stretched/situated. It was hard work but very satisfying and a lot of fun.

Here's my first chair. It was an easy one.

edie the notspitting goddessupholstery class 044-1.jpg
 
The primary purpose of the split end is it gives the wife a reason to get a hair cut and new doo. :shutup:
 
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