Cobblers Hammer

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

reedx

Tenderfoot
Apr 12, 2012
87
0
Durham
www.REEDX.net
I've tinkered with leather work for a few years and decided it was time I tried to improve my saddle stitch. The YouTube videos by Ian Atkinson and Nigel Armitage convinced me I needed a cobblers hammer - what other reason could there be for my stitching looking rubbish :lmao:

Anyway, not wanting to pay the money for an Osborne hammer, I picked up an (ab)used example for a couple of pounds. The hammer face was tidied up with emery paper and then mirror polished using Maas - brilliant stuff which I think was recommended by Angst.

20151211_cobblers_hammer.jpg


My question is, apart from bedding down stitching and tapping down folds in leather, how else are they typically used? Particular the other striking side of the head.

Colin
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,209
362
73
SE Wales
Apart from flatting and shaping seams and joins in leather, these hammers are used, both ends, to drive tacks in awkward places on both shoes and saddlery work. There are many, many different patterns of them, and at one time there was a big distinction between Saddler's, Cordwainer's and Cobbler's patterns but I think that was mostly down to craftsmen protecting their trades rather than any practical reason. Saddlers I worked with mostly had a number of different patterns for different jobs, and they were very fussy indeed about having the handles offset to their own preferred angles.

At one time Cordwainers were the people who made new shoes and worked only with new leather, while Cobblers were those who repaired shoes and worked only with old leather, so you can see where trade protection would have been important, certainly to the Cordwainers. Likewise in Saddlery, there were Black Saddlers and Brown Saddlers, the former being those who made top-rate stuff for the gentry, carriage harness and hunting
tack etc., while the latter were the makers for the middle classes and farmers, more workaday than show stuff.
 

Robbi

Full Member
Mar 1, 2009
10,228
1,027
northern ireland
Apart from flatting and shaping seams and joins in leather, these hammers are used, both ends, to drive tacks in awkward places on both shoes and saddlery work. There are many, many different patterns of them, and at one time there was a big distinction between Saddler's, Cordwainer's and Cobbler's patterns but I think that was mostly down to craftsmen protecting their trades rather than any practical reason. Saddlers I worked with mostly had a number of different patterns for different jobs, and they were very fussy indeed about having the handles offset to their own preferred angles.

At one time Cordwainers were the people who made new shoes and worked only with new leather, while Cobblers were those who repaired shoes and worked only with old leather, so you can see where trade protection would have been important, certainly to the Cordwainers. Likewise in Saddlery, there were Black Saddlers and Brown Saddlers, the former being those who made top-rate stuff for the gentry, carriage harness and hunting
tack etc., while the latter were the makers for the middle classes and farmers, more workaday than show stuff.

What a great informative post :). Thanks for that, lots of info there :)
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE