[TheForge] Re: Hammers

[Andrew Vida]

Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer wrote:

> The flexing slot thing, as I  understood it, was promoted by Beau
> Hickory  ( no wall flower him) who reportedly saw it on one of St
> Francis'  hammer handles and went home and copied it. Saint F said that
> the lengthwise crack Beau saw was an accident caused by an over long
> wedge in the head of the hammer.

	Wayne Goddard uses this sort of handle.  He augments it
	by cutting a 1/8 kerf up the middle and filling with
	rubber.  I don't recall where he came up with that design.

> There seem to be 2 basic styles of  hammer swinging. One is ballistic,
> where the handle is loosely held at the moment of impact and this style
> benefits greatly by having a narrow handle neck.

	This is how I try to keep my swings.  I hold on tightly with
	the pinky and ring fingers, semi-tight with the middle, and
	loosely with index and thumb.  It is the grip I learned	when 
	training in Japanese swordsmanship.  It works well, but	as I 
	tire, I find I tighten up all around, so it is a thing I have 
	to be very conscious of at all times.  Methinks the nature is 
	to grip tightly and it takes some practice to overcome that 
	particular urge.

	I also suspect that the kamikaze grip may contribute to
	problems with the forearm, elbow and should joints.  If you
	loosen up, you don't get as much impact transmitted back
	into your arm, or at least it feels that way.  The hammer
	blow also feels different, and when you hit right it seems
	to be smoehow more solid and effective.  The art seems to
	lie in keeping enough grip to maintain hammer control.