While the main festival seasons for The Joy of Wood are in Autumn and Spring, there are a few festival gigs which fall at other times. Last Saturday was one of those. At the invitation of Stirling City Council, we conducted a woodworking actvity for kids at the Kids Kerfuffle in the park at Jackadder Lake, Woodlands, in Perth, Western Australia. This event was part of their Summertime Arts Festival.
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| A nice quiet start... it didn't stay like this for long! |
The park was just oozing with kids all day, and as usual our Joy of Wood woodworking activity was a very popular thing all day. The festival organisers had provided us with a 9m x 3m marquee, with lots of space all round to enable us to spill out in all directions, which we did of course! We had out 8 benches of various heights, with 27 hammers across them, plus the Sawing Station with 4 saws on it. It was flat out all day, keeping Megan and I very busy as we kept an eye on the young Sawyers, maintained the wood supply, and generally helped out people as they create amazing things from the piles of wood pieces, the nails, pincers and hammers we provided. There were many times in the day that crowds of people were hovering around desperately hoping someone would leave and put their hammer down!
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| People creating wonderful stuff - to the sound of 27 hammers pounding. |
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| Kids and parents together. Nice. |
Hammers. I had several conversations with people about hammers through the day. Several people asked me about the hammers, why we use the particular type, and where they can get them. It's a common discussion point in festival settings, schools, and the public workshops that we run. You see, all 27 hammers we had out at Jackadder Lake were Warrington Cross Pein pattern. No claw hammers.
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| Warrington Cross Pein Hammers come in assorted weights and sizes. |
Cross Pein Hammers are the best type of hammers for kids to use, to learn how to strike a nail.
- They are nicely balanced, making them easy to use.
- They come in a range of weights, so you can have the right a hammer for the kid/age.
- They have two ends! Kids quickly learn the use the narrow end for those tricky corners.
- They have no claw. This helps kids to learn good hammering technique, like changing the angle of the hammer when a nail starts to lean - rather than just pulling the nail out. Of course, a pair of pincers are good companions to a cross-pein hammer, for removing any nails which are too far gone...
Cross Pein hammers are the traditional cabinetmaker's hammer. They are the essential hammer for every furniture maker, fine woodworker, joiner, and serious woodworker. Don't let carpenters and "wood butchers" tell you the claw hammer is the only hammer to have. Both have their place.
Meanwhile, do your kid a favour and give them an appropriate hammer. It will revolutionise their hammering skills. This was evident at the Kids Kerfuffle, which was why a number of parents asked me about the hammers.
These Cross Pein Hammers are a joy to use, as hundreds of people found that day!
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