hammer restoration

I indirectly inherited this forging hammer from my maternal grandfather (Michael Marovich, 1907-1972) who was an engineer (machinist, not pilot) for Illinois Central Railroad on Chicago's south side.  His commute was a walk across the street to and from the train yard and main shop.  He would occasionally bring work home to 'make and fix things'; I don't know any specifics beyond that as I was five when he passed, but I can recall his basement shop in some detail. 

Never having gotten into blacksmithing myself, I've used this as a mid-weight construction/ demolition hammer and finally got around to replacing the split handle and refurbishing the steel head and wedge.

36 ounce head and original tenon wedge.

The maple handle stock came from a butcher block remnant and was roughed out using a ryoba saw and chisel.

The final shape was carved with a file, chisels, spokeshave, and block plane.  It's not the traditional symmetric form of a forging handle, but I rarely use the cross peen so it's shaped more like a framing hammer contoured to my hand.

The tenon was formed with saw, chisel, and file. It took about an hour of layout, cutting, test fitting, and fine tuning to get a proper fit.

Rebuilt hammer.  The head was finished with automotive wax and the handle with teak oil and furniture wax.

Detail of refurbished head, wedge, and new handle tenon.

Thanks for the hammer and lifelong inspiration, Papa.