i did my saturday morning jaunt to the local flea market this morning and found this hammer. dont know what i would use it for but for 2 bucks it was a cool find. it is really old and really well used.
all aluminum head.
any ideas what it was meant for?
tom
Well I've seen and used brass hammers similar to this. They're used in hazardous areas since they don't create a spark. Also used as a dead-blow hammer, it won't bounce off of whatever you're hitting.
Aluminum is softer and less chance of damaging, i use a piece copper to true up parts in the lathe. Soft but heavy, won't leave dents in the part.
I think it had plastic molded over the ends. Those were used by rail road workers. The ID marks would have been where it is all gouged up on the side.
Had one similar to that to remove the knock-off spinners on the wire wheels of my old '62 XKE. Can't remember if it was aluminum or brass.
Given the very dark handle, and having worked on the railroad, I vote for that environment, possibly in the maintenance shops for a special app on locomotives.