For the purpose of rehafting, hammers can be divided into two groups. The claw or carpenter ’s hammer usually has a tapered socket and long neck, and is quite simple to rehaft. The wedge is set diagonally. Pin, cross pein, ball pein and brick hammers have a short tapered socket and are more difficult to rehaft, as the shortness of the socket makes it harder to get the handle really tight. The wedge is normally set in line with the hammer head.
Before rehafting, file off any burrs from the inside of the eye or on the outer surface of the hammer head. Ball pein and claw hammers in particular may need to have their working surfaces dressed, first by filing if very pitted, and then finishing off with wet and dry paper.
The basic procedure for rehafting is as for sledgehammers, but note the following:
- Sometimes it may be possible to re-use an old haft, by sawing off the damaged end. Check that the remaining tapered section up to the shoulder is long enough to reach through the socket or ‘eye’. If it isn’t, discard it and use a new haft.
- Using a surform, carefully shape the taper to fit the hammer eye. Check progress frequently by holding the end of the haft against the eye of the hammer. When the haft fits far enough into the head for it to stay on without being held in place, carry out a test fit. This is done by holding the hammer clear of the bench, as shown, and hitting the end of the haft a few times with a wooden mallet until the haft has been driven into the head as far as it will go. If the tapered end of the haft has not reached right through the eye, then knock the head off and remove a little more wood where marked by the head.
- The head of the hammer should be at right angles to the haft, as shown.
- The slot for the wedge should be about one third the depth of the eye.
