[David Dunlop]

The next step was sorting out fixing the hammer I had in a stable correct position to work on. My portable bench vise came in handy here. The first step was to fit a small strip of oil board over each jaw of the vise to avoid marking up the head of the hammer. I then fit the hammer into the vise just firmly enough I could still move it back and forth in the jaws. Also checked to ensure the handle was dead vertical to the floor.

I could then set the vise close enough to the edge of the bench the hammer sat freely out of the way. With the help of a spirit level, I was able to adjust the hammer handle until the two reference marks were dead horizontal. Photos 1 and 2 here.

With the paint mixed, off came the lid and a quick check confirmed the level of the paint was low enough that it would not spill out as the hammer handle displaced the paint when immersed in it. Since the paint was a liquid and seeks its own level, I really only needed to reach the top of the reference mark on the back of the handle to get it right, but I had to raise the paint can slowly enough to allow the meniscus to just come up the the required point and then lower the can back down.

There were a couple of points to consider now. Most important was the handle is at an angle now and all the excess paint is actually draining towards the front and bottom corner of the handle. That is OK for a short while as that means the excess paint is draining away evenly from the angled line you have just created, and you want that initially.

I held the paint can under the handle until the steady flow of paint ceased and the subsequent drops became infrequent and made sure a pile of rags was on the floor directly under the handle. At this point, the paint is still going to flow down the handle slowly, but you now want this to flow evenly around the entire handle so the thickness of the final paint layer is even around the entire handle. That means slowly moving the hammer handle back to a vertical position; the 3rd photo. At this point, I used paper towel to draw off excess paint from the very bottom of the handle, several times over the next hour, to reduce a ridge accumulation of paint around the bottom rim of the handle as much as possible.

24 hours later, the paint was dry and I was able to remove the hammer from the vise. I am quite pleased with the result in the last photo. A bit glossier than the varnished areas, but a little careful rubbing down after the paint has hard cured in a couple of weeks, will solve that problem.

If I ever do find an example of the original BULLDOG diamond decal to work with, I am also going to have to add a small black paint and metal stamped ‘R’ to the side of the handle to clearly ID it as a replica.It is what it is, not what somebody might want it to be after I am all dust and ashes.


David