DIY Non-Marring Hammer with an Old School Twist

When disassembling furniture for repair, it is important to keep the parts in pristine condition so when reassembled you can make the piece look brand new.  Sometimes softer woods have a habit of very easily taking dents or nicks.

I ran across a situation the other day where I was disassembling a piece of knotty pine furniture and needed a non-marring hammer to break apart glued joints.  I started by using a rubber mallet, but had to stop when I found it left some dents in the wood.  Wanting to preserve the pieces in their original condition, I knew another solution was out there.

I recalled a while back reading up on furniture restoration, a hammer wrapper with rags could be a substitute for a non-marring hammer.  This sounded like a good time to put it to the test.

To make my hammer, I used:

- 3 pound sledge hammer (or other hammer with flat ends)
- 8 shop rags
- 1 large zip tie

Step 1

Lay all 8 rags flat and place the hammer in the middle.

Step 2

Wrap your rags as evenly as you can around the head of the hammer.

Step 3

Put a zip tie around the rags as close tot he head of the hammer as you can.  To tighten it very tight, use a pair of pliers to pinch near the excess zip tie material and rock it back and forth.  After it is snug, cut off the end of the zip tie.








To my surprise, this hammer left no dents or marks in the wood even though I swung it very hard.  Making it took less than five minutes, but the best part is it was made for free with things most of us already have lying around our garage.

The Idle Woodworker Blog was Featured on About.com

I would like to thank Ryan Kunkle from the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania for featuring my Christmas Platform blog post in his About.com Model Railroad Blog a few days back.  Ryan has some great articles regarding designing and setting up very aesthetic model railroad scenes.

A big reason any I began blogging at the end of last year was the limited information available for certain projects, such as a Christmas Train Platform.  By sharing information and things I have learned, I was hoping to inspire others in their own projects.  

Keep an eye out for upcoming posts as we finish up 2012 and head into 2013.  

I promise to finish the Depression-Era Vanity I introduced you to back in June, as well as test drive and review a hand saw the Great Neck Tools company will be sending my way.  A few other things in the works are farmhouse-inspired kitchen pieces I designed, removing tool rust with electrolysis, and some tools I originally thought were limited, but now cannot live without.

As for the Minwax Facebook contest, I did not win the big trip, but still receive a great consolation prize.  Congrats to Tom P. of Indiana, PA for his truly wonderful restoration of a family heirloom grandfather clock.  I really appreciate all of your votes, it is wonderful thing to know your work is truly appreciated.

Easy Halloween Graveyard Fence

What would your front yard be like on a creepy Halloween night without a graveyard?  A collection of tombstones with a fence out front makes for the perfect trick-or-treating ambiance.  Tombstones can be made or found very cheap at any drug store chain.  To add a little extra something, you can nail two boards together and make crosses to stick in the ground as well.

My Halloween fence was very easy and very inexpensive.  In fact, after it was all said and done, making them took only a few hours and cost me only a few cans of spray paint I had sitting in my garage and about $6 in conduit clamps from Lowes. Even the wood, which can be obtained from shipping pallets, can cost nothing.

Cut angles at the top of your pickets

Step 1 - Cut and Arrange Your Fence Pickets

I started by taking five boards and cutting them at an angle near the top.  It really doesn't even matter exactly what angle you choose, just be somewhere between 30 and 60 degrees.  The randomness of your angles add extra effect to the final product.  Arrange your pickets similar to the drawing to the right.

Basic fence before finishing

Step 2 - Add the Fence Rails

Then I take two slightly longer boards and lay them across the original boards as your rails.  Exact dimensions are not necessary, eyeballing everything is good enough for Halloween decorations.  You may even choose to lay these boards at a slight angle.  After you have everything laid out, nail the boards together.  I used a total of twenty 1 1/4" nails in total.

Pound the stakes in, the slide the straps over them

Step 3 - Add the Stakes

The first time I made these, I pounded wood stakes into the ground and screwed the fence to them.  I thought it was a great idea, but it was a bear getting things lined up properly and securing everything.  Then I came up with the idea of using conduit straps.  By lining up 1/2" green steel garden stakes with the straps, I found this very secure.   The strap/stake concept I used held my fence sections firmly in the ground during Hurricane Sandy this year.

Line up your straps and screw them halfway in.  Pound your stakes in, then slide the fence section down over the stakes.  Tighten the screws on the straps for a good grip. 

Spanish moss adds a nice "aged" touch to the fence

Step 4 - Paint and Decorate Your Fence

To paint this fence, I used a combination of green, black, beige, and brown.  First, I sprayed each color in a large camouflage pattern, using some of each color.  It looked pretty cheesy, but that was only a base coat.  Then, using the darker colors, I sprayed a light mist or black and brown over the whole fence.  It gave it a nice aged look. I finished off my fences by stapling a little Spanish moss or wrapping ivy vine cuttings around the pickets.

Make two, three, four, or as many as you want.  You can start out small and add a few more fence sections every year.  They store flat and out of the way, making this a no-brainer for reusable Halloween yard decorations.  I currently have six in my front yard and am ready for my trick-or-treaters to show up again this year.