Hammer Away!

It’s time for another episode of Sawdust Fitness! In this episode, we will talk about strengthening our arms. That’s right! It’s time to talk about the gun show!

When using a hammer of any kind, you are using mainly the muscles in the arm. What most people don’t realize, those are not the only muscles being utilized. Gripping a hammer properly requires hand strength. The swinging motion, while hammering, brings the shoulder muscles into play. You are using your whole arm while driving that stubborn, bent nail into that two by four.

A lot of people are under the assumption that using a hammer requires brute force. Those folks are rather misinformed. It does require some strength, but mostly it involves technique. The first part is making sure you have a proper posture. Keep those shoulders square! Second, you don’t have to put your whole body into it. That is how accidents happen. Third, despite what some might say, it’s not all in the wrist. Let’s think about this for a second. If you take that hammer and start using just your wrist, you might wind up pinching a nerve. This is the same area where people have problems with carpal tunnel. I have pinched that nerve a few times. Trust me, it doesn’t tickle.

As long as you focus on good posture and use your whole arm, you should not have any problems driving in a nail.

Pounding in a few nails isn’t much of a workout. However, if you hammer in 20 or so nails, then you are starting a workout. You are working the biceps, triceps and the various forearm muscles pretty well. By swinging the hammer, you start moving the blood through your body quicker. Kind of like a light cardio workout. Just as many other aspects of woodworking, the more you do, the more exercise you get. Although, I wouldn’t recommend getting rid of that gym membership yet.

Happy Hammering!

Why I prefer antique hand tools

For those of you who are new to woodworking, it is hard to describe what makes old hand tools so special. I will do my best to convey to you why they are special to me. Who knows, I might even convert a few of you. Let’s get started.

Antique hand tools can be superior to modern hand tools. The first aspect in the superiority of antique tools is durability. Nowadays, things just aren’t built to last. Most things, tools included, are made to be disposable. They are made with inferior materials. The processes used by most manufacturers are to speed up production efficiency. The more items that can be produced, as quickly and cheaply as possible, will lead to more profits. I bought a new saw about a year ago. I was so impressed by how well it worked. The design of the teeth made it cut better and faster. Within the first couple of weeks, three teeth broke off! It had a plastic handle that had a button on the side, so you could remove the blade. You can’t find replacement blades anywhere! What a piece of garbage! You would have to go out and buy a whole new saw!! With an old saw, you could repair it yourself. You could buy a replacement blade. You could even make a new blade yourself. Most often, the teeth on an old saw were less likely to break. Below are pictures of a few of my old hand saws.

                                      

The second aspect is affordability. Since modern tools aren’t as durable, you have to buy replacement parts or the entire tool every so often. With antique tools, you mostly just have to buy a replacement handle….once in a while. I have a nice claw hammer that is about as old as I am. It still has the original handle and I use it more than my modern one.

I consider these two points when I go out and buy any hand tool.

I find modern hand tools to be rather antiseptic. They seem cold and sterile. Whereas, antique hand tools seem to have an essence to them. As if they have a life of their own. After all, they have a history to them. Someone, somewhere, had used it for many years. They took care of it. They sharpened, polished or cleaned it. They took great care of it, so it would give them many years of use. Such dedication to these tools must have imprinted a part of that person to it.

Then you have the patina. Ooohhhh, the patina. It’s that special coloring to the wood and metal as it has aged over the years. It gives the tool that “well used” look to it. People have tried to fake that look on newer tools, but it never comes out quite right. The patina of the tool helps to give it the essence of life. Don’t believe me? Go and buy an antique hand tool. Hold it in your hands. Use it. Then go back to your more modern tool. It’s never quite the same.

Antique hand tools have a different feel to them, as well. They seem smoother to the touch. They aren’t overly shiny, but they still have a unique sheen to them. Modern wooden handles are either plain or have a sealer on them. Antique wooden handles have been oiled. Wooden handles that have a sealer on them still feel a little rough. That maybe due to small particles being trapped under the sealer. Again, go out and try it. Don’t just take my word for it.

So there you have it! I prefer antique hand tools because I find them more durable, more affordable and I like the way they look and feel. I hope you learned something new and are curious to give antique tools a try. After all, just because something is old, it doesn’t mean it’s not useful.

Sawdust fitness?

Welcome back! I’m sure you are wondering about my title for this post. Yes, it truly is about fitness. You are probably wondering how you can get into great physical shape by woodworking. Well, even I’m not crazy enough to make those kind of claims. From my own experience, I have noticed that traditional woodworking can improve your overall health. I’m in pretty good shape. I work out several times a week. I don’t get a lot of cardio workouts, but I do walk to work most days.

Over a month’s time, I had my blood pressure measured before and after a series of tests. The test consisted of me using a hand saw to cut pieces off of a 2 by 4. I performed five cuts with each arm. While cutting the wood, I tried to cut as fast as I could while trying to keep a straight cut. I even had a stop watch to time myself. I know, kind of goofy, but I’m weird like that. I was having fun experimenting!

My blood pressure started at 106/66 before the first test, and 128/64 after the test. By the end of the month, my blood pressure had dropped to 101/52 (before the test) and 101/62 (after the test). Now, I only performed this test three times a week for a month. Granted, it’s not a lot of data to go by, but it does prove there is a good possibility that cutting wood, with a hand saw, could be a decent cardio workout. Not only that, but the first couple of days my left arm was a little bit sore. So were my abs! I’m predominately left-handed, but usually cut wood with my right hand.  When performed correctly and at the proper height, you can get a really good workout. You work your forearms, upper arms, shoulders, chest, upper back, lats, and your abs.

Since I was timing myself during these tests, I noticed that the time it took me to cut off a piece of 2 by 4 had improved by three to four seconds, on average. Since I didn’t sharpen my saw during this time, I can only surmise that the increase in speed was due to an increase in strength. I should also add that I discontinued my regular workouts during this time frame. Again, I don’t think that I have enough data to verify my hypothesis, but it does make you wonder.

Personally, I prefer good old fashioned hand tools over power tools. I think I need to go out and collect some more data on this subject. Happy workouts!