[CAUT] Hammer alignment

[James Ellis]

I have been following this discussion about hammer alignment, and the
latest I read is between Don Mannino and Wim Blees.  Now, I'll comment.

Traditional "burning" the shanks works if the misalignment is very slight.
But if it's more than that, I don't like to do it.  I hate to see shanks
that have actually been burned and scorched, but I do find them occasionally.

I prefer to heat the glue joint and turn the hammer.  I have used that
technique for years, and in most cases it works, and it's permanent.  It's
a lot more trouble than just "burning" the shanks.  I always hold the shank
with pilers when I turn the hammer.  Wim, I do NOT use a heat gun.  It's
just too hard to control, and if one holds it far enough away so that it
does not scorch the wood and burn the hammer, it heats entirely too much
other stuff in addition to the glue joint.  I made a little copper clip
that goes on the end of a low-wattage soldering pencil, and it just clips
over the wood at the glue joint, and gets the glue just hot enough to
soften it.

Don, the hammer does turn on the shank.  It will rotate, and for that
matter, it will come off if you keep turning and pulling on it.  The
technique works for animal glue, and for some synthetics.  But for other
synthetics, it won't work at all.  There are some, I'm not sure which ones,
that will scorch and burn before they soften.  Obviously, this technique
won't work for those glues.  It's lots more trouble than just "burning" the
shanks, but I like the results, and I have done it that way for years.

Jim Ellis