Unusual Hammer found near 1855 road

Iron Buzz

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Oct 12, 2016
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South St Paul, MN
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Could be new, could be old, but it was found in a farm field near where an 1855 road is marked on the old plats. Notice how far forward the handle was, and the unusual downward curve to the back part. I can find plenty of vaguely similar hammer heads online, but nothing quite like this one. Wondering if anyone knows the purpose?

Notice that it is only 3 inches long and weighs only 14 ounces.

Devon's Hammer 1.jpg

Devon's Hammer 2.jpg
 

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looks like a well used cross peen. used in many trades for hundreds of years .
images
 

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Cool little hammer head.
I've found a number of these and always enjoy them.
These were individually hand forged, so each one is different.
Really hard to say what it's true purpose was, but it looks like it was pounding hard on something.
So I would say it might have just been a blacksmith's tool.
 

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Cool little hammer head.
I've found a number of these and always enjoy them.
These were individually hand forged, so each one is different.
Really hard to say what it's true purpose was, but it looks like it was pounding hard on something.
So I would say it might have just been a blacksmith's tool.

Notice that it is only 3 inches long and weighs only 14 ounces.
 

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looks like a well used cross peen. used in many trades for hundreds of years .
images

I hunted an iron furnace in the Shenandoah Valley that was destroyed by Union troops. We found a couple of hammers like that.
 

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It is about the shape and size of a shoe hammer but the mushroomed head tells me that it didn't drive tacks or nails, it lived a hard hammering life.
 

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For miniature horses no doubt.

When I was a kid my dad had such and it was small. Horseshoe nails are small and very sharp. The wear on the head of the hammer says that it was probably used for other purposes.
 

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I do a little blacksmithing as a hobby, and I believe it is a "top tool" for "fullering".
A top tool is a handled tool that is not swung, but put placed on the hot steel, and then it is struck with a hammer.
A fuller is any shape of tool meant to thin the steel into the desired thickness, such as forming a tenon on the end of a piece.
 

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