12 year old and a hammer

[AlanB]

So this last weekend, my son decided he wanted to work with me some more on projects. It started as his Christmas gift too me, but I think he really enjoyed it.

He did well, and while I occassionally question my sanity and my safety sense, I also know that you have to jump in sometime, and he is old enough to understand danger etc.

Anyway, to the pointed question, if someone else has pondered this before, I was wondering what they came up with.

He was using one of my very Favorite HF tools (and Dargo's as well) the $3.00 16 ounce hammer. He was doing well, we were installing a galvanized steel roof for a shed, but was really choked up on it.

My thought is to get him a 10oz or so and let him try it and see if he can get his hand back where it should be on the hammer and let it swing, and learn the correct technique or just let him rip with the 16?

I think I will just pick up a small one, and let him decide which he likes best, but was wondering if others had crossed this bridge before me and what they thought?

Thanks

 

[DocHeb]

My thought is to get him a 10oz or so and let him try it and see if he can get his hand back where it should be on the hammer and let it swing, and learn the correct technique or just let him rip with the 16?

I think I will just pick up a small one, and let him decide which he likes best, but was wondering if others had crossed this bridge before me and what they thought?

Thanks

Aim is more important than lettin' him rip. Choking up will let him control the head placement on those nails he's holding with the other hand. I'd bet that if you get a smaller hammer he will still choke up on the handle.

I vote for "choking up" with the 16oz. Don't forget the safety glasses.

 

[2manyrocks]

There's a difference in the quality of the steel in hammers. I would buy him a quality hammer that isn't as likely to chip just because there will be times when he doesn't wear safety glasses. 60 years from now he can pull it out and show his son the great hammer you bought him when he was 12.

 

[RobertN]

There's a difference in the quality of the steel in hammers. I would buy him a quality hammer that isn't as likely to chip just because there will be times when he doesn't wear safety glasses. 60 years from now he can pull it out and show his son the great hammer you bought him when he was 12.

I vote for quality too. I have buggered up a lot of nails and my thumb, mostly because of poor hammers.

Best thing I did was finally going out and buying a good Vaughn framming hammer; I think it is 22oz. I drive nails better, with fewer bent nails etc.

I have been finding, that not only can the metal on a hammer be of varied quality, so can the handle. It is a pain to try and swing a hammer that has a misalighend or twisted handle.

 

[RonMar]

The smaller hammer might help some, but I don't think it will make all that much difference. If it was his first time doing any large ammount of nailing, he is coordinating muscle combinations that he hasn't used before. Those muscles were probably getting tired pretty fast. Once those muscle groups strengthen and he gains more control, encourdage him to work back along the handle. Good place for a physics lesson regarding force, mass and acceleration. He will learn that a head at a longer arc travels faster for the same ammount of arm speed. This delivers more energy and plants the nail with fewer blows. Practical knowledge is the most rewarding and the longest retained IMO.

 

[jeffinsgf]

Personally, I think anything less than 16 ounces takes more skill, not less. Even for a child, I wouldn't think about using anything smaller than 16 ounces for framing nails. Anything smaller than that is for finish nails in trim.

Plumb 16 ounce, fiberglass handle, curved claw. Then a 20 ounce straight claw. Then when he's 16 or so he can decide if he wants his big framer to be 26 or 28.

 

[ToadHill]

I remember my great grandfather, who was a cabnit maker from Germany. I was working with him one time when I was about 12 or 13 and choking up on the hammer as well. He asked to see the tool and cut about 4" off the handle, his comment was "Why swing the weight if you're not going to use the leverage."

 

[EastTexFrank]

I remember my great grandfather, who was a cabnit maker from Germany. I was working with him one time when I was about 12 or 13 and choking up on the hammer as well. He asked to see the tool and cut about 4" off the handle, his comment was "Why swing the weight if you're not going to use the leverage."

That's exactly what my dad did to me about 50 years ago and for the same reason. I still choke up on hammers but if I need the extra leverage to drive one home, I slip my hand back down to where it should be in the first place. So, I don't think changing the hammer weight will change his swing but I'd vote for a good hammer of his own. It's never to early to start collecting tools.

 

[czechsonofagun]

I think the hand moves up and down the handle based on the force needed, right? If I have to nail in 1 inch nail I hold closer and for longer nails I can use the full force. To start a nail I choke the hammer every time.


Also I use a hatchet as a hammer for most of my outside projects, just something I learned at boy scouts. And hammer for me means cross pen - never got used to the framing hammer, not sure I even have one.

 

[jeffinsgf]

If you make your living with a hammer, as I did for a few years of my youth, you don't choke up. If you're looking for control and finesse you use a little less wrist (we called it "pushing the nail"). The power comes from the wrist creating the arc.

 

[dmccarty]

Hammers? This is the 21st century!

Taint ya'll heard of NAIL GUNS!



Finally got one over the holidays since I'm getting to some chores that I am finally getting too. AWESOME!

Still needed a hammer from time to time though.

A few years ago I was putting in some retaining wall blocks for a foundation for our "barn". I was using a dead blow hammer to nudge the blocks into final position. The hammer is pretty light and small compared to a framing hammer. My eldest saw me using the hammer so of course she wanted to mimic me. I told her to watch her fingers and dont hit yourself with the hammer.

I turned my back to level another block and I could hear her walking around hitting the blocks I had already placed. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. THWACK....

Silence. No more rhythmic thudding of the hammer. I turned around to see what I knew had happened. And sure enough she was standing there with the hammer on the ground, one hand holding the other, with a very red face as she tried to decide if she wanted to cry or scream.

She was not hurt much because it was a dead blow hammer. If she had been using a metal hammer I think she would have been hurt pretty badly. It was a good lesson for her though about hammers.

It might not be a bad thing to let your child use a dead blow hammer to beat on some rocks or wood so that he/she gets used to the movement of the hammer. For the nail hammer I would have to say to go with what the kid can use. Might want to take them to the store and let them try out the hammers to see what they are comfortable with using.

And dont forget to look at the nail guns.

Later,
Dan

 

[jinman]

As a kid, I used a claw hammer much more to clean lumber than building. My dad was good at coming home with used lumber since he was a carpenter. I learned how to remove, straighten nails, and keep them in coffee cans sorted by size. Since my father grew up during the depression, nothing was wasted. New nails were what my dad used on other peoples jobs.

As I got older, I became adept at driving steeples into fence posts also. Of course, we also recycled them. I learned how to remove a steeple around barbed wire without breaking the wire. My dad had very little patience with us when we "wasted" or "broke" something.

Growing up around quite a few carpenters, I was harassed unmercifully if I choked up on a hammer. I still can't bring myself to do it today. It took me a long time to even get used to a fiberglass handled hammer. I had one wooden handled hammer that I used so much that any other felt just plain awkward. I have to admit that I got used to my nail guns in only a few minutes though.

 

[AlanB]

Oh, I have nail guns, believe me I have nail guns.

Even the air nailer to drive common nails.

I HATE hand nailing, and am therefore fairly miserable at it, and buddy Doug often reminds me as to just how much I suck at nailing.

That said, there is a place for it, and out in the woods, for a small quick project, it is easier to just hand nail then too drive the air compressor out etc. etc.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

So this last weekend, my son decided he wanted to work with me some more on projects. It started as his Christmas gift too me, but I think he really enjoyed it.

He did well, and while I occassionally question my sanity and my safety sense, I also know that you have to jump in sometime, and he is old enough to understand danger etc.

Anyway, to the pointed question, if someone else has pondered this before, I was wondering what they came up with.

He was using one of my very Favorite HF tools (and Dargo's as well) the $3.00 16 ounce hammer. He was doing well, we were installing a galvanized steel roof for a shed, but was really choked up on it.

My thought is to get him a 10oz or so and let him try it and see if he can get his hand back where it should be on the hammer and let it swing, and learn the correct technique or just let him rip with the 16?

I think I will just pick up a small one, and let him decide which he likes best, but was wondering if others had crossed this bridge before me and what they thought?

Thanks

Alan,

My son is 18 now but when he was 10-12 I had the same issue with the hammer being too heavy and big for his hand size. He really wanted to help me and was getting furstrated with choking up and getting tired, and missing the nail. I took him the next day and bought him a smaller hammer. It was'nt a lot smaller and I don't remember the size. But anyway once I had a board in place I would start a few nails and let him hammer them in. It helped his hand-eye coordination and before long he was starting and driving his on nails. It also did not take him long to move back up to the "big hammer". So I think it is a good idea to start a kid with a hammer that fits their hand and muscle stamina.

He still has that hammer and it is in his tool box. My BIL bought him a tool box when he was nine years old for Christmas and every year gets him a quality tool to put in it. Thats where his big hammer came from.

David

 

[Blagadan]

16oz with a solid wood handle. I dont recommend buying an expensive hammer. My 10 year old son who regularly helps me out with the chores, does not use high end hammers for the simple reason that they will eventually be left outside, in the garden for the rain and weather to ruin.
He has a good enough quality 16oz claw with a hickory handle and he instinctively chokes up depending on the size of nail he drives. Small light gauge nails and he chokes up, for 3 inch nails he holds the end of the handle and takes a full swing as you or I would do. I dont think he'd tolerate having to pound a 3inch nail 8-10 times to drive it in if he had a 10oz hammer.

For your son, I say keep with the 16 and show him how to use it, give him a block of wood or an old tree trunk and a box of 3inch nails and let him practise away there.

My son likes to use my 17oz estwing fibreglass "weight forward" hammer which he says is easier to use, but he aint gettin his dads favourite hammer...

Keep an eye out for a kid size tool belt for your boy. Teaching him to stow his hammer will keep his toes safe from harm and will give him two hands free for climbing ladders and such.

 

[DocHeb]

Think about pulling one of those nails out-what do you pry against?

In the ED we just grab onto the head of the nail with pliers and pull. If it's in the bone - pull harder. I would advise against not doing it at home, since it may not bleed much with the nail in, but if a major vessel is punctured it might let loose after the nail is pulled out. Do-it-yourself does take a little G. Gordon Liddy.

 

[AlanB]

So last night I ran around in circles for a bit, and bought him some stuff. Kind of a late Christmas present.

I bought a 10 oz Hickory handled Rip from Home Depot (china made)
I bought a little HD gift set they had with Husky 25' tape, 6 way screwdriver, razor knife and small level.
I bought a toolbelt from HF that is supposedly made for a man, but looked boy size too me, the pockets were about 2/3 of mine, would not fit a framing square. Oh, and I bought him a cheapie aluminum speed square.

So, he is set up too go, and was fairly excited about his gifts, now we just have to see how quick the shine wears off.

Will just let him make the choice on which hammer to use, I think he will naturally gravitate to whichever one works better for him, but he now has the option.

Scary thing yesterday, had a little time, and looking at Hammers, and paying attention to where they are made.

I think we have successfully run the bulk of steel working overseas for whatever reasons, cheaper wages, less unions, less Environmental regulations, less worker safety regulations, less taxes etc. Whatever the reason, only SOME, not all of the Eastons were made in the US.

That's scary.

 

[Blagadan]

So last night I ran around in circles for a bit, and bought him some stuff. Kind of a late Christmas present.

I bought a 10 oz Hickory handled Rip from Home Depot (china made)
I bought a little HD gift set they had with Husky 25' tape, 6 way screwdriver, razor knife and small level.
I bought a toolbelt from HF that is supposedly made for a man, but looked boy size too me, the pockets were about 2/3 of mine, would not fit a framing square. Oh, and I bought him a cheapie aluminum speed square..

Awsome job Alan. Sounds like you got a helper.

I bought my son his first cross cut hand saw this year, so now not only can he drive nails etc, he can get to cutting and fabricating. Boy, he has made some contraptions recently, that only HIS imagination can decypher. But, hey, who are we to critisize, right? As long as he remembers to keep his fingers away from the sharp blade, he'll be fine.
I thought him, like my dad did for me... "that saw blade..... see it right there...? That blade is trying its damndest to cut your finger off, dont let it win".
My dad thought me that some 30 years ago, and I still hear that statement ring in my head every time I pick up a cutting tool.

Well done to you Alan, more steps taken in teaching your son how to be a man..