[CAUT] Hammer Alignment

[James Ellis]

Ed Sutton said that one-year-old Titebond glue did soften and let the
hammer spin on the shank, but that 10-year-old hide glue didn't.   Come to
think of it, those hammers I have been aligning for the past 25 years by
heating the glue joints could well have been glued on by something other
than hide glue.  I know for a fact that many of them did not have hide
glue, and it could be that none did.  I don't think I have ever had a
hammer come loose that I have aligned by heating the glue just enough to
soften it.  Sometimes I do find some that are loose to begin with, but they
get pulled off and re-glued anyway.  If you heat the thing with a heat gun
(which I don't do), it will heat the shank too, and it could be that you
are twisting the shank instead of slipping the glue bond.

I have some 100-year-old parts in a box that I'm certain are glued with
hide glue, and before I make any more assertions, I'll do some experiments,
see what happens, and I'll let you know.

Jim Ellis