Old timer at my shop showed me why my hammer hits kept glancing off

I was struggling with a curved chisel for maybe 20 minutes, getting frustrated because every hit would slide sideways. This older guy, must have been 75, watched for a bit and then said 'you're holding it like a screwdriver, not a hammer.' He took it from me and showed how to choke up on the handle and let the weight do the work. First hit was dead on, no bounce. Had anyone else had a moment where one small grip change fixed everything?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice_kim27d ago

Wait, so the problem was just how far you were gripping up the handle? Or was it more about the angle of your wrist when you swung? Ive seen guys death grip tools like theyre afraid the hammer will fly off, but that always makes things worse because all your muscles tense up. Did the old timer mention anything about your stance or your elbow position, or was it truly just the hand placement that fixed it? Curious if there was more to the lesson.

nina_johnson8626d ago

The old timer actually spent a good 10 minutes on just my grip before he even mentioned anything else. I mean, I see your point about stance and elbow position being important, but for me the hand placement alone was the whole game changer. My wrist angle fixed itself once I stopped choking up so high on the handle.

xena37326d ago

Oh man, that's a good point about the wrist angle. But here's something nobody's brought up yet. A lot of times when you're gripping too high, you actually end up using too much arm muscle and not enough shoulder pivot. That makes your swing come from your elbow instead of rotating your whole upper body, so the hammer head comes in at a weird angle. Once you choke down, your shoulder naturally takes over and the arc of the swing gets way more consistent. That might be why your wrist fixed itself, your whole arm mechanics changed.