Nailward Hand Forged Steel Rip Claw Hammer with Hickory Handle & Elder Futhark Rune Line | Carpenter Workshop Gift | RK-1436

Nailward is a hand forged claw hammer, made as a tool rather than as an ornament that happens to be hammer shaped. The head is drawn out from 1095 high carbon steel, with a slightly domed striking face on one side and a curved claw on the other, and it sits on a straight grained hickory handle that carries a cut line of Elder Futhark runes along the shoulder. The lower half of the handle is wrapped in a black rubber over grip and finished with a steel end cap.

The claw hammer is older than most people assume. Roman carpenters were already using iron hammers with a forked claw for pulling nails, and examples turn up on sites across the empire. The shape barely changed for the next eighteen centuries because the problem it solves did not change. Ours is forged, ground, heat treated, hung and engraved in our Memphis, Tennessee workshop, and it ships ready to work.

Specifications

Why the claw is curved and the face is domed

Look at a hammer head properly and every part of it is answering a question. The claw is split into two tines with a narrowing V between them, and the V is cut so that a nail shank wedges in it before the head of the nail can slip through. The curve matters as much as the fork. A curved claw gives you a rolling fulcrum, so as you lever the handle back the contact point travels along the curve and the mechanical advantage stays useful through the whole pull. A straight ripping claw does not roll like that. It is better for tearing boards apart and prying, and worse for drawing a long nail cleanly.

The face is slightly domed rather than dead flat, and the reason is that nobody swings perfectly square. With a flat face, any small tilt in the swing puts an edge of the face into the timber and leaves a crescent shaped bruise around the nail. A domed face lets you drive the last blow home and set the nail head just below the surface without printing the outline of the hammer into the wood. That is why the domed face is standard on finish hammers and why cheap flat faced hammers leave your work looking chewed.

The eye, the hole the handle passes through, is the third piece of engineering. It is not a parallel slot. It flares slightly toward the top so that the wedges driven into the end of the handle spread the wood outward and lock it against the taper. A properly hung hammer cannot come off the handle by swinging it, only by cutting it off.

The steel, the hardness and the hickory

The head is 1095 high carbon steel taken to 54 to 58 HRC. That is a deliberate window. Too soft and the face mushrooms and the claw bends the first time you put a real pull on a sunk nail. Too hard and the face chips, which on a hammer is genuinely dangerous because a chip leaves at high speed. The mid fifties is where a struck face stays flat and a claw stays springy, and it is where working hammers have sat for as long as anyone has been measuring hardness.

The handle is hickory, which has been the standard striking tool handle in North America for two centuries for a reason no synthetic has beaten. It is dense, it is stiff enough to transmit the blow, and it has an unusual ability to absorb the shock that comes back up the handle. Grain direction matters more than species here. The growth rings should run in line with the head, not across it, so the handle flexes in the plane of the swing. Ours are selected that way. The rubber over grip on the lower half is not traditional and we are not going to claim it is. It is there because it makes the hammer far more comfortable to hold with a wet or cold hand, and the steel cap on the butt protects the end grain if you set the hammer down hard.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the leather. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this hammer the handle shoulder is the engraving field, so your name, your date or your chosen design takes the place of the rune line shown. We can also cut a short mark into the cheek of the head if you would rather have it in the steel. More on the engraving page.

Handling, bench use and display

This is a hammer for carpentry and general bench work. Hold it near the end of the handle rather than choking up near the head, because the length is the whole point of the lever and choking up throws away most of the energy you are trying to deliver. Let the weight of the head do the work and keep your wrist loose.

If you are buying it as a gift or a workshop piece rather than a daily driver, it displays beautifully on a wall rack or a French cleat board with the runes turned outward, and the polished head will stay bright indoors with almost no attention. What we would ask is that you do not use it as a general purpose bashing tool on masonry or on hardened steel. A high carbon face driven into concrete or into another hardened head can chip, and hammer face chips are the classic workshop eye injury.

Care

Wipe the head down after use and put a light film of oil on it if it is going into a damp shop or a truck box. Polished 1095 will spot with rust quickly if it is left with sweat or damp sawdust on it. Any light rust comes off with fine steel wool worked with oil.

The hickory wants an occasional rub of boiled linseed oil, especially if the shop swings between damp and dry, because a handle that dries out shrinks in the eye and starts to loosen. If it ever does feel loose, drive the wedges rather than ignoring it. Do not soak a loose head in water to swell the wood. It works for a week and then leaves you with a rusted eye and a rotted handle. Our general steel notes are on the steel care page.

Forged in Memphis

The head is forged, ground and heat treated in our Memphis, Tennessee workshop, the handle is selected for grain and shaped here, the hang and the wedging are done here and the runes are cut here. It is not a factory head from an importer catalogue with a rune sticker on the side. That is why our lifetime warranty against defects in the forging, the heat treat and the hang carries no end date and needs no receipt.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Hammer texture on the cheeks, the exact sweep of the claw, the figure and tone of the hickory and the depth of the cut runes all vary because each one is forged and hung by hand. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a working hammer or a display piece

It is a working hammer. The head is 1095 taken to 54 to 58 HRC and hung on a wedged hickory handle, which is how a real tool is built. It happens to look good on a wall, but nothing about it is decorative only.

Is this a blacksmith hammer

No, and we want to be clear about that. This is a carpenter pattern claw hammer for driving and drawing nails. A blacksmith wants a cross peen or a rounding hammer with no claw and a very different balance. We make those separately.

Curved claw or straight rip claw, which is this

This is the curved rip pattern, which is the better shape for drawing nails because the curve gives a rolling fulcrum through the pull. A straight claw is better for prying boards apart and worse for pulling a long nail out clean.

Can I put my own name on the handle

Yes. Use the rune converter on this page for Elder Futhark, or choose your own design in the engraving option. Your chosen engraving takes the place of the rune line shown rather than sitting next to it, and we can cut into the head cheek instead if you prefer.

Will the head come loose over time

It is wedged with a wood wedge and a steel cross wedge, which is the proper hang, so it should not. If a shop swings between very damp and very dry the hickory can shrink slightly. Drive the wedges a touch and oil the handle rather than soaking it in water.

How long does it take to ship

Processing is one to two weeks because each head is forged, treated and hung to order, then shipping is free within the United States. Returns are accepted within seven days. Custom engraving adds a few days.

What is in the box

• One hand forged 1095 steel rip claw hammer, hung and wedged
• Hickory handle with rubber over grip and steel end cap
• Elder Futhark rune line cut into the handle shoulder
• Care card with oiling and handle notes
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

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