Traditional Knapping Hammers?

[Nameless Hunter]

The Pennsylvania Gazette
April 5, 1750
Annapolis, in Maryland
Feb. 14. Some days ago, as a man in Talbot county was hammering the flint of a loaded gun, she went off, and shot an elderly man, who was near him, in one of his thighs, with seven swan shot, in a terrible manner; tho' it was thought he would recover.

Makes me wonder if he might have some ancestral linkage to **** Cheney...

 

[Notchy Bob]

Antler may very well have been used too pressure flake the flint edge..

But probably not for hammering….

This thread may be a good place to bring up an unidentified accoutrement. I found this old pouch and horn outfit a little while back, on the Cowan's Auction website:

No, I didn't buy it. The thing that puzzles me is that little bar of lead, hanging off a string on the right side of the picture. Here is a closer look:

The caption states this lead bar is .5" x .5" x 1.3", "attached with string." Normally, when we see a chunk of lead, we think it is raw material for bullets, but I would think it odd to take the trouble to perforate the lead bar and hang it that way, if the plan is to simply melt it down. I think it was there for a purpose. I was wondering if this little bar of lead might be held as you would hold a pencil, and tapped on the edge of the gunflint to refresh the edge. It would not spark, so would be safe in that respect, but I don't know if it would be hard enough to do the job. Other than light "hammering" jobs like that, I can't think of a use for it. It just doesn't strike me as something that would be carried about as a "lucky charm."

What do you think?

Notchy Bob

 

[smo]

I can see where it would possibly/ probably work for freshening a flint edge..

That’s a new one on me…

 

[Musketeer]

Antler may very well have been used too pressure flake the flint edge..

But probably not for hammering….

It works well. I keep a piece of tine in my bag for that purpose (pressure flaking).

 

[smo]

I think the spine of a knife was probably the tool of choice.. They already had it with them anyway.

Possibly a more refined Gentleman of the day would have required a special tool for refreshing the flints edge.

But a knife works well! Not much trouble too cup your hand over the pan while holding the barrel.
I would still recommend dumping the prime at least…

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

Something to think about or speculate about. What we call the frizzen was at one time called the hammer. One method to knap the edge of a flint is to lower the **** then lower the hammer (frizzen) so the edge of the hammer is touching the leading edge of the flint. With your thumb on the hammer, lift the ****. The pressure of the hammer on the flint will chip off a few flakes of flint and sharpen the edge. Of course the priming had been dumped prior to the "hammering" of the flint, so the priming had to be renewed.

Kind of risky in a way. While the soldiers were hammering their flints, their muskets were inoperable. I would assume that would have been the time for an ambush or considerable hilarity at the foolishness of the soldiers to be disabling their muskets.

I think this is a very sound theory. I have have seen this method done. I use the round part of my turn screw or the back of my knife blade to knap my gun flints sharp.

 

[toot]

Two Feathers, let's see if you can open this one.

it doesn't open up, but the picture is large enough too see, thanking you.

 

[Packrat]

I got my 1816 musket down yesterday, closed the frizzen, (Hammer) on the musket at half ****, touching the frizzen, tapped it with a rubber hammer and chips did come off the flint, cocked and tried it and lots of sparks. Don't know aabout the abuse of the pins

 

[gunnyr]

Two Feathers, let's see if you can open this one.

I have used tools of brass and copper like this while in the military, in powder magazines.
gunnyr

 

[hanshi]

If anything has an "easy way" to do it, I don't do it. Kind of contrary that way. But the hard way is great; because if I can't do it I have a ready made excuse.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Gentlemen (and the rest of you varmints), I thought we had pretty well said what we needed to say about this topic, but this very evening I was browsing around, looking for old hunting pouches online, and what should appear but this:

This was identified as a "gun hammer," and is in the Winterthur Museum Collections. This picture is larger than life. The dimensions provided on the website (click that link, above) are 0.591 (H) , 5.906 (L) , 2.283 (W). I take that to mean the little hammer head is .591" square and 2.283" long, and the total length is 5.906", which would be about right for what we would call a "knapping hammer." There is a date of 1771 on the other side of the hammer head. It is made of wrought iron. You can see the cross peen is somewhat mushroomed, which tells us this little tool has seen some use, but it also tells us which end of the hammer was used preferentially. The flat face of the hammer shows virtually no wear.

I am inclined to believe that this tool was used for hammering flints. It is too small to be any good for seriously hammering anything else. As discussed in the posts above, the sharp edge of a gunflint can be restored with a variety of tools, and maybe a dedicated hammer like this would not be necessary for the less affluent folks. This is the first and only genuine antique "gun hammer" I have ever seen, leading me to believe they must not have been common. This one is made of wrought iron, which will not spark as readily as steel, but it will spark, and we wonder if a tool like this was being used when the elderly gentleman mentioned in post #13 was accidentally shot.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[FishDFly]

Safe work practices back then were not as important as they are today.

 

[George]

This is the first and only genuine antique "gun hammer" I have ever seen, leading me to believe they must not have been common.

Something they called "gun hammers" were frequently advertised.

The South-Carolina GAZETTE
October 29, 1753
CHARLES-TOWN
B & NEYLE, have just imported, in the Alexander, Capt. Carking, from London.... black Pepper and Spices, F and FF Gun powder, all sorts of Shot and Bullets, very neat fowling Pieces and trading Guns, Pistols, gun Locks, gun Hammers and Worms with sockets, powder flasks, cartouch Boxes, shot and bullet Moulds, bar and [sheet] Lead, silver and mourning hilted Swords, cuteau and sword Belts, sword Blades, fencing Foils...

The South-Carolina GAZETTE
July 4, 1754
ARCHIBALD & RICHARD
CHARLES-TOWN
HAVE just imported, in the Anne, Capt Elmes, from London ….brass candlesticks, single and double gun powder, bullets and all sorts of Wilson's neat fowling pieces, gun hammers, powder flasks,

The Pennsylvania Gazette
September 18, 1755
Just imported in the ship Myrtilla, Richard Budden...fuzees, fowling pieces, gun hammers and screws,

The SOUTH-CAROLINA GAZETTE
May 6, 1756
Location: CHARLES-TOWN
.... snuff boxes, shoes and knee buckles, lancets, gun hammers, snuffers, wafers, sealing wax and quills, ink powder.…

The South-Carolina GAZETTE
December 8, 1759
....mohair and metal buttons, Wilson 's fowling pieces and brass mounted pistols, powder horns, cartouch boxes, gun hammers, curry-combs and brushes,

The South-Carolina GAZETTE
June 13, 1761
CHARLES-TOWN
... large and small powder flasks with springs, steel spurs whole and half hunter, twig whips, spatterdashes, neat light fowling pieces, inferior ditto, socket worms, gun hammers, cartouch boxes, belts and hangers, penknives,

Spence

 

[Notchy Bob]

Thank you, @Spence10 ! You are an awesome resource.

Several times recently, we have briefly discussed artifacts related to shooting, and the fact that we have changed the names of so many of them. "Possibles bags," "tow worms," and "short starters" are all modern terms for shot pouches, gun worms, and straight starters, respectively. The tool which is the subject of this thread is generally called a "knapping hammer" these days, but we now have reasonable assurance that "gun hammer" was the phrase in use back then. Words are artifacts of the time, and an awareness and acknowledgement of proper terminology is essential to understanding how the guns that interest us were used.

Anyway, it appears the short answer to @Two Feathers' question would be "wrought iron."

Thanks to all who contributed to the thread.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[Two Feathers]

Thank you, @Spence10 ! You are an awesome resource.

Several times recently, we have briefly discussed artifacts related to shooting, and the fact that we have changed the names of so many of them. "Possibles bags," "tow worms," and "short starters" are all modern terms for shot pouches, gun worms, and straight starters, respectively. The tool which is the subject of this thread is generally called a "knapping hammer" these days, but we now have reasonable assurance that "gun hammer" was the phrase in use back then. Words are artifacts of the time, and an awareness and acknowledgement of proper terminology is essential to understanding how the guns that interest us were used.

Anyway, it appears the short answer to @Two Feathers' question would be "wrought iron."

Thanks to all who contributed to the thread.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

Hello Notchy Bob and @Spence10
I'm very closely watching this thread. Thank you to all who contributed, from me as well. Your time, to input is much appreciated.
Eloquently stated Notch Bob.

I guess we modern folk have not only changed the vernacular, but brought a little "modern" safety sense to the the subject? Wrought Iron...who'da thunk it? No wonder there are accounts of people being shot while Knapping their gun flints? I guess it comes down to; do you want to be PC, or do you want to be safe? Thanks to all, but especially thanks to Notchy Bob for his help with my dilemma. I was going at this from a completely wrong direction. I'm glad I asked.
God bless:
Two Feathers

 

[M. De Land]

I don't believe a 17 century long hunter would ever carry a knapping hammer or pan brush into the mountains. Weight and space were far to precious to waist on superfluous items .

 

[Notchy Bob]

I don't believe a 17 century long hunter would ever carry a knapping hammer or pan brush into the mountains. Weight and space were far to precious to waist on superfluous items .

I can't argue with that! However, while long hunters loom large in blackpowder folklore, I don't think there were really all that many of them. There were a lot of town and village folk, tradesmen, shopkeepers, farmers, cattlemen, and others who could go out for a day hunt and come home to a warm bed in the evening. Which is not to say they would have carried a "gun hammer" every time they went out, but I suspect there might have been a few of these stowed in tool drawers or on the mantlepiece "back at the house." I think it is likely they were not universally used... This thread has discussed a number of alternate techniques for refreshing the edge of a gunflint, but considering the number of advertisements @Spence10 quoted in his last post, they must have been more common than a lot of us realize.

I think it may relate, in part, to the fact that this is strictly a flintlock tool, and would have been unnecessary with a percussion gun, and the percussion system was becoming known nearly 200 years ago. Considering the small size of this artifact, and the fact that it was obsolete nearly two centuries ago, it is easy to see why they are not common now. Also, there are a great many museum curators and even antique dealers, bless their hearts, who are virtually clueless with regard to firearms and old specialty tools. I expect there may be a few old gun hammers "out there," mis-identified and ignored, stowed in drawers or boxes, or down at the bottom of a barrel of assorted junk in a roadside antique shop.

I would agree, though, it would seem unlikely that everybody would have carried one in his pouch every time he went out. As for longhunters, it is my understanding that most of them, even in the east, had packhorses to carry the bulk of their gear. Something like this would not add much to a packhorse's load. I also think that thin, pointed, tapering "handle" on the gun hammer pictured might have been useful as an awl or fid, or a tool for tightening the top-jaw screw on one's firelock. So, considering that this might have been a colonial-era "multi-tool," it can be viewed in a slightly different perspective, and it could have been a useful item to carry along after all.

We can only speculate.

Your comments are appreciated!

Best regards,

Notchy Bob