The hollow peen hammer could be used to push down steel that has been puckered by pushing a rivet through. That would allow a tight fit rivet instead of a loose fit hinge like on articulated joints. It could also be used to repair the area around the stationary rivet if the sheet metal had been worn to the point the rivet was loose. It would push the sheet metal back in around the rivet and make the fit tight again. This as a repair tool would be less useful in a museum as that kind of wear would generally come from use / donning and doffing.
You and the team should definitely see about following up with The Met if and when they've got updates on the historical provenance of their blacksmith tool collection. Thanks for showcasing this cool bit of living shop history.
@@stevenb7319 a rivet set/snap would be more useful for that, especially given the other face not being a striking face. my two pence it that it could be for hollow planishing on a convex surface. they should try and see what makes sense
Can we please get an update to this one once some of the intern’s research is completed? I’m sure we’d all like to know more of the story when it’s available.
Can we also get a confirmation that they're being paid properly for their work... clearly their skills are invaluable for this project and it seems weird to catergorise them as an intern
@@jamesmartin3256 Being an intern, it would be a surprise if they are paid at all. Sure, sometimes an intern will be paid, but mostly it's for experience related to what the person is studying in school.
My grandfather was a jeweler and watchmaker. I always loved going through his bizarre tools trying to figure out what they were for. When I couldn't figure it out - I would ask him. Now that I have his tools, I wish I remembered everything he told me.
After my grandfather passed I asked for three small things from his estate, two old ratcheting box-end wrenches, and a “Yankee” screwdriver. Every time he’d be in his garage or under his pickup in the yard working on something I was his “gopher”, fetching tools for him, and when not fetching I’d play with those three tools because they had moving parts. They are my most prized tools to this day…
@@matthewnienkirchen8083 When my grandfather passed we cleared out his garage/workshop. He had TWO! tobacco tins FULL to the brim of tiny 12BA screws from spectacles! I tried to count them all but gave up after losing count three times.
If you send pics i can help and there are a lot of watchmaker forums online. You should check it out when you get time, you could build a community while remembering and honoring him.
@@Scuba_Bro no, absolutely *with* the head tilting Someone should animate this now. Adam looking like a bird agressivly tilting his head back, swallowing and entire, huge french fry like a bird
*A* French fry? More like a full large fry STILL IN THE BAG that he can carry home! Good one though, the day's still young but so far you win UA-cam comments for the day.
Hi Adam and Crew. When i was an apprentic one off my old Masters used a rivethammer like that. It was to make a stand off rivet (Zapfenniete german). You butt the rivet in a hole in a sheet use the Hammer to make a shelf in the rivet as hi as you need it then u can rivet the next sheet with a stand off to the first
@@aaronmoore3050 A lot gets lost in translation. Better would be to simply learn German language. Since we're close to Germany, we learn in school and i can tell you its not a hard language to learn.
@@Earthenfistthey wouldn't swing the peen, they would place it over the hot work on the anvil like a punch, then strike the hammer end with another hammer to cause the shank of the rivet to peen, without peening the end of the rivet, allowing the riveting of multiple pieces spaced apart. My cousin also uses a similar hammer thingy to make rivets from pices of steel pin, you can torch the end of the shank, hammer it down and it creates a shoulder, turn it over above a bucket, struck the back side knocking the rivet free, flip it back over, toss another steel dowel in and begin again. He usually only does a few rivets at a time because the hammer rivet maker tends to heat up and grab the rivets making it hard to get them out without letting it cool fully.
I am a blacksmith and was a tin smith... I think the hollow pein hammer would be really hand for riveting. My guess would be it would be used to press the two pieces being riveted together. Here is how I would use it. Place a rivet with a head already on one side through a hole to join the two pieces together. Back the rivet with a stake anvil. Hold a wooden mallet in one hand and the hollow pein in your main hammering hand. Place the hollow pein over end on the rivet to be formed and smack it tight with a mallet. Then flip the hollow pein around and begin heading the other side of the rivet. At a couple points during process the hammer and mallet could be used to alternate between tightening and heading. Small rivets are often done cold... and in the process of doing a rivet cold I could see how it might really help to do a bunch of tightly spaced rivets really quickly. My guess would also be that an assistant would be the one keeping the armor pieces stable and feeding the other guy the next rivet. Maybe even placing them in the holes and replacing the stack on the stake. So one guy holding the armor and a pocket full of cold rivets ready to go... the other guy with a mallet in one hand the hollow pein in the other. Just a guess though...
The hollow peen hammer is probably a easier way for an armorer to work with a apprentice to upset the rivet before rounding it over, indeed. You are still able to get somewhat the same tool but in a punch form. I have used the upsetting to expand the rivet so it holds in place and it's easier to hammer it down.
@@MetricJester I have MADE a hammer like that before, for setting copper "washer rivets" for joining thin sheet metal. As you suggested, the hollow end is used for setting the washer onto the rivet, the shaft is cut to length, then the flat face is used to peen it in place. The setting action doesn't hurt the hammer because I always used the rawhide mallet to hit the face. Being a copper rivet, it is done cold (even smaller iron rivets are often done cold, and hot riveting is really only needed for water/air tight constructions or larger diameter rivets).
Exactly my thought! I often use a small socket from a ratchet set to do just that. The task that immediately comes to mind is setting rivet washers. While fixed joints don't require a washer, any articulating movement does, and getting the washer to seat properly over a rivet can sometimes be a pain. All of this I say from experience as an armorer myself.
@@ironsmiter ... I built traditional boats for many years. We called those "roving" hammers ... as you say, to "set" the copper washers (roves) over the copper nails, in lap strake planking. There would usually be a corresponding rove punch for each sized rivet. We might also just "clench" the boat nails, using a dolly on less expensive boats
A wonderful French Museum of tools and equipment is the Maison de l'Outil et de la Pensée Ouvrière à Troyes (The Museum of Tools and the Philosophy of Labour) in Troyes; capital of the Aube département, which I'm sure Adam would enjoy. It houses a vast collection of pre-20th century items going back hundreds of years, plus a huge related library. Sometimes the things used for making objects are more amazing than the objects themselves ! Not to be missed by Fans of this channel!
The same hammer is used for loose fitting rivets on joints in metal working where you need to rivet two or more items with the rivet as the point of movement. the depth of hole in hammer is used to set the max crush limit for items needing a lose fit connection, the ones i have seen in past have adjustable depths on them but same basic hammer shape and hole in center. thanks for the content
8:15 edited cleaned out answer: It's a hammer used for driving rivets to a specific depth without deforming the washer that's found at the base (of that specific rivet). The reason it's rare it's because it's actually used in conjunction with a specific anvil that you're missing, called a "bombarde" anvil. First you drive the washer in, which locks the rivet. Then you snip the excess off and peen the remaining end over the washer, finishing the rivet permanently. You can see these in copper, brass, for steel for leather.
I'm simply floored by the set of tools there. I also was agape at the detailed and specific tools you showed on screen. Thanks for bringing this to our living room.
To anyone who envies the intern who will be working on this: It's not hard to find a museum that needs interns (paid and volunteer) to do very important work behind the scenes. For one thing, hundreds of years worth of research and cataloguing has to be digitally imaged, and that process often involves figuring out how to reorganize stuff. It may sound tedious but in my experience it's not, and it's *very* rewarding to know you've made a contribution to scholarship that will benefit many generations to come.
The fact that this is the second video in one corner of a larger room makes me think there are some VERY COOL THINGS to see if the camera were to turn around.
Just WOW! Adam's enthusiasm is infectious. And then to see the dedication people to preserving an artform that probably progressed metallurgy by leaps an bounds. Just friggin interesting. Thank you!!
I find this all fascinating. As someone that started learning and making theater and cosplay props on and off I can understand the frustration and necessity of making/repurposing your own tools, molds, patterns, cutouts, etc. to get the piece you want to make "just right". I started with paper and card board, learned wood working, some light metal work, a little bit of leather working, some painting, and only now I am touching on foam shaping and molding. The process is never-ending, rigorous, and frustrating but at the end, rewarding.
My father was a machinist and I have his tools in a glass top display table. Micrometers, calipers, taps, punches, etc. Cool stuff that needed a place to be appreciated and easy to pull out and hold. Cheers, dad.
I think it's wonderful that the tools are both part of the collection and still used as tools. I think that better shows their quality and I'm sure the creator would be proud knowing his tools were still being used to this day.
Couldn't imagine a better shop for Adam to visit than this or a better person to present it to the world. Looking forward to a one day build of Adam making horse calipers.
Blimey! As a 53 year old man who's worked with my hands for most of my adult life, this has given me serious workshop envey. What a place, and that they still use the tools is amazing!
I grew up in my Grandfather's sheet metal shop in Philly. He always said that, JR on any tool meant it was the Jr. (junior) version of that tool. G being the "Grand" tool (as in 4' or longer) SR (Senior)being the most common used size, and JR being the smaller hand held tool size. "B" tools are the most rare tools, because they're one off's. They were "Bastard" tools, meaning they were made by one man, then improved on by the next owner. (waist not, want not) Making the old style obsolete. Sadly they were all stolen back in the 1960 MLK riots. Also, that's a Rivet Hammer. 1 hole in each piece of sheet steel, push the rivet up from below, slide the hole down over the rivet give it a blow to "set" the rivet. (tightening it in the 2 pieces of metal) then peen over to your desired look. If you're ever in Philly, The Art Museum has some sweet suits of armor.
I recognize that mystery tool! That hollow-peen hammer is not technically a hammer; It's a hot-working monkey tool. Notice that it's not wedged, and that's because it's not meant for swinging. You put the hollow part over a long tenon and you hit the face of the 'hammer' to flatten the junction between the tenon and the wider material. Bet any money that the face is soft and the hollow end is hardened. If you have a heavy piece of steel with a little tenon sticking out of it it could be radiating too much heat to work safely or comfortably with a hand-held monkey tool. Thus they put it on a stick so they don't get burned. It's riveting-adjacent I suppose since you can make flush rivets with it.
@@cholulahotsauce6166 It's probably at least a hundred years old. Most likely at some point someone wanted to use it like a hammer. Or perhaps it got rather mushroomed and split from wear and someone made it nicer than it used to be. It could be rehardened and rehandled and the only evidence of its original intended use would be the hole. Everything is a multitool if you're creative or desperate enough!
@@SAOS451316 Thats a brilliant thought above. It would make sense for the striking head to be polished at some point so that it could double as a hammer when resources/ resourcing is already challenging enough for people of the yesteryears. Heck, even today I have a shop full of hybridized and converted tooling 🙃
Sometimes armorers make to tools that don't make any sense in order to prank their apprentices. Even today masters in shops will send their helpers to go find a left handed monkey wrench.
Sometimes armorers make to tools that don't make any sense in order to prank their apprentices. Even today masters in shops will send their helpers to go find a left handed monkey wrench.
Out of the firey furnace arose the world we know today. I love tools, facinated with all types. This is a world apart, yet intimately part of our world today. Great stuff Adam, thanks for sharing.
oh man this reminds me of when i was an armorers apprentice.... so much fun.... love seeing all those tools again.. and i seem to remember using a hammer like the one with the hole in for rivets... but not sure these days...
The Frazier Museum in Louisville, Ky has a huge collection of gunsmithing tools that are well over 150 years old with many tools that they have know idea what they were used for.
Of all the things Adam gets excited about out there, this must be the thing he is most excited about. He can barely contain himself and it is amazing to watch.
That was very interesting. I had a metal shaping class at Dagger Tools here in Michigan and the methods and terminology for Metal Shaping for auto and motorcycle panels is pretty much the same. I'm sure from a historical perspective they are based on ancient methods passed down through generations.
Very cool video, Adam. Old tools are fascinating. Years ago, I inherited my Great-grandfathers blacksmithing tools that he used 100 years ago. I totally understand your enthusiasm in getting to see that collection.
What a wonderful treat. I'd love to see a piece by piece documentation of the collection, hopefully something is made and fully released to the public one day.
I've been to the royal armouries in Leeds several times. I would highly recommend. You can tell Adam is in his element here. Great watch. Would love to visit this place and have a rummage
I never really thought about learning something about old processes not by studying the finished products that were made, but by the tools the makers had. Some tools might have super niche applications for which most people just used a more common tool that takes slightly more time to use, but generally speaking, craftsmen would keep tools around in their workshops because they need them for their products. Having both finished pieces and the tools allows you to try to understand the process from two different directions.
Thank you very much Adam, I to am a bit of a tool hoarder. I love the old tools. I use my old tools when I work on stuff more often than I the new shiny tools because they feel good in my hand. Thanks for getting access to this place. I would never get into it on my own! Now I'm jealous of you! in a good way! My lathe is a 9 inch Southbend from the 1940's give or take a decade. Best regards Bob from Virginia USA
adam, another use for the tool at 8:35 is as a 'wad punch' you use a sledge hammer on the polished end to strike the dounut side into a patch of leather, like the tine tool for cutting stiching holes, the hole catches the 'plug' cut by the circle; or if the rivit is HOT, it can be a rivet cutter, to cut the rivet away, to split parts during a repair job, to replace leather parts.
As someone who has toold that have been handed down including some very strange tools that were custom made for working on horseless carriages I know every single one of my tools I love them & in a few years when I die they go to a friend & he will give them to his nephew continuing the journey
Whenever I got to the Met, I always spend a very large portion of the time I am there admiring the armor display. It is spectacular. It is pretty cool to see the tools they use to keep it that way. The artifacts on display also include a lot of Asian armor (particularly Japanese) and a large number of old weapons, including ancient firearms. Any chance we'll be seeing future videos covering those elements of the display?
I love hearing Leeds get name-dropped, it was just a tourist attraction to me when I lived there but across a few historical channels and a few sites, I am now starting to see that it is an important part of figuring out our history, not just as the western world, But as a species. (They have a very through collection from China and India from what I remember)
I have a set of those anvil shears that I inherited from my grandfather along with a couple of anvils and assorted tools. It's cool seeing that collection. It stirs up a lot of good memories.
When you look at examples of German armour, the hollow hammer looks like it could have been used to punch the decorative brass or bronze fitting around the rivets on the leather straps.
Stellar! I had A relatively similar experience with artificial flower making tools. A whole industry lost . Loads of nyc based foundries that disappeared and nothing was ever documented. I had literally tons of cast iron , brass and aluminum tools, cutters, molds etc . That I saved from the scrap pile . I finally sold them because I had no place to keep them. Quite interesting. I wish I had the space to keep them as long as I needed to document the names and research all. Thank you for sharing this. Have always been a fan of yours., Adam
We had those big wooden calipers in my highschool (gymnazium) circa 2000. It had chalk holder instead of one point and we would use it as a big comoass and draw circles in geometry classes on a blackboard. Good times.
Re: The hollow-peen hammer... As Sean says, I agree it's probably used for riveting. Watchmakers use similar (but much smaller) tools called "staking sets" which are used to fix a shaft into the center of a gear or wheel. Check out any watchmaking video on replacing a balance staff, for example, and you'll see exactly how they're used.
The MET's Arms and Armor Department: www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/collection-areas/arms-and-armor
The hollow peen hammer could be used to push down steel that has been puckered by pushing a rivet through. That would allow a tight fit rivet instead of a loose fit hinge like on articulated joints. It could also be used to repair the area around the stationary rivet if the sheet metal had been worn to the point the rivet was loose. It would push the sheet metal back in around the rivet and make the fit tight again. This as a repair tool would be less useful in a museum as that kind of wear would generally come from use / donning and doffing.
You and the team should definitely see about following up with The Met if and when they've got updates on the historical provenance of their blacksmith tool collection. Thanks for showcasing this cool bit of living shop history.
Anyone that doesn't watch to the end will miss the most ridiculous set of calipers you've ever seen. That whole shop is wild.
@@stevenb7319 a rivet set/snap would be more useful for that, especially given the other face not being a striking face. my two pence it that it could be for hollow planishing on a convex surface. they should try and see what makes sense
I have one of those hammers in my collection. The hammer in question. If you'd like to see pictures let me know.
Can we please get an update to this one once some of the intern’s research is completed? I’m sure we’d all like to know more of the story when it’s available.
Yess
"Research' is here a euphamism for fact checking the nerds in the comments section.
yes, an update would be great
Can we also get a confirmation that they're being paid properly for their work... clearly their skills are invaluable for this project and it seems weird to catergorise them as an intern
@@jamesmartin3256 Being an intern, it would be a surprise if they are paid at all. Sure, sometimes an intern will be paid, but mostly it's for experience related to what the person is studying in school.
I love it when collections are living history and still not only in use but provide historical record of the arts
My grandfather was a jeweler and watchmaker. I always loved going through his bizarre tools trying to figure out what they were for. When I couldn't figure it out - I would ask him. Now that I have his tools, I wish I remembered everything he told me.
If you keep learning about it you will probably have flashbacks. Literally.
After my grandfather passed I asked for three small things from his estate, two old ratcheting box-end wrenches, and a “Yankee” screwdriver. Every time he’d be in his garage or under his pickup in the yard working on something I was his “gopher”, fetching tools for him, and when not fetching I’d play with those three tools because they had moving parts. They are my most prized tools to this day…
memory is a funny thing isnt it
@@matthewnienkirchen8083 When my grandfather passed we cleared out his garage/workshop.
He had TWO! tobacco tins FULL to the brim of tiny 12BA screws from spectacles!
I tried to count them all but gave up after losing count three times.
If you send pics i can help and there are a lot of watchmaker forums online. You should check it out when you get time, you could build a community while remembering and honoring him.
Adam looks as happy as a bird that found a french fry.
Without the head tilting trying to swallow the fry 😂
@@Scuba_Bro no, absolutely *with* the head tilting
Someone should animate this now.
Adam looking like a bird agressivly tilting his head back, swallowing and entire, huge french fry like a bird
I picture the staff trying to close at the end of the day and Adam wanting to see just one more thing.
Except that instead of a French fry, its a hollow peen hammer.
*A* French fry? More like a full large fry STILL IN THE BAG that he can carry home! Good one though, the day's still young but so far you win UA-cam comments for the day.
Hi Adam and Crew. When i was an apprentic one off my old Masters used a rivethammer like that. It was to make a stand off rivet (Zapfenniete german). You butt the rivet in a hole in a sheet use the Hammer to make a shelf in the rivet as hi as you need it then u can rivet the next sheet with a stand off to the first
I doubt it's a top tool/struck tool though, since if you pause at 8:36 you can see it's curved for peening.
@MrNagoja I wanted to comment this, but you beat me to it. This is the use i learned for it too. Apparently theyre more common in our part of Europe.
They'd have to be very precise with the swings. But then again, I think 'precise swings' is something that most armorers end up practicing anyways.
@@aaronmoore3050 A lot gets lost in translation. Better would be to simply learn German language. Since we're close to Germany, we learn in school and i can tell you its not a hard language to learn.
@@Earthenfistthey wouldn't swing the peen, they would place it over the hot work on the anvil like a punch, then strike the hammer end with another hammer to cause the shank of the rivet to peen, without peening the end of the rivet, allowing the riveting of multiple pieces spaced apart.
My cousin also uses a similar hammer thingy to make rivets from pices of steel pin, you can torch the end of the shank, hammer it down and it creates a shoulder, turn it over above a bucket, struck the back side knocking the rivet free, flip it back over, toss another steel dowel in and begin again.
He usually only does a few rivets at a time because the hammer rivet maker tends to heat up and grab the rivets making it hard to get them out without letting it cool fully.
I am a blacksmith and was a tin smith... I think the hollow pein hammer would be really hand for riveting. My guess would be it would be used to press the two pieces being riveted together. Here is how I would use it. Place a rivet with a head already on one side through a hole to join the two pieces together. Back the rivet with a stake anvil. Hold a wooden mallet in one hand and the hollow pein in your main hammering hand. Place the hollow pein over end on the rivet to be formed and smack it tight with a mallet. Then flip the hollow pein around and begin heading the other side of the rivet. At a couple points during process the hammer and mallet could be used to alternate between tightening and heading. Small rivets are often done cold... and in the process of doing a rivet cold I could see how it might really help to do a bunch of tightly spaced rivets really quickly. My guess would also be that an assistant would be the one keeping the armor pieces stable and feeding the other guy the next rivet. Maybe even placing them in the holes and replacing the stack on the stake. So one guy holding the armor and a pocket full of cold rivets ready to go... the other guy with a mallet in one hand the hollow pein in the other. Just a guess though...
The hollow peen hammer is probably a easier way for an armorer to work with a apprentice to upset the rivet before rounding it over, indeed. You are still able to get somewhat the same tool but in a punch form. I have used the upsetting to expand the rivet so it holds in place and it's easier to hammer it down.
It makes me think of collared rivets, like a washer on a nail that you have to set before heating and actual peening.
@@MetricJester I have MADE a hammer like that before, for setting copper "washer rivets" for joining thin sheet metal. As you suggested, the hollow end is used for setting the washer onto the rivet, the shaft is cut to length, then the flat face is used to peen it in place. The setting action doesn't hurt the hammer because I always used the rawhide mallet to hit the face. Being a copper rivet, it is done cold (even smaller iron rivets are often done cold, and hot riveting is really only needed for water/air tight constructions or larger diameter rivets).
Exactly my thought! I often use a small socket from a ratchet set to do just that. The task that immediately comes to mind is setting rivet washers. While fixed joints don't require a washer, any articulating movement does, and getting the washer to seat properly over a rivet can sometimes be a pain. All of this I say from experience as an armorer myself.
@@ironsmiter ...
I built traditional boats for many years. We called those "roving" hammers ... as you say, to "set" the copper washers (roves) over the copper nails, in lap strake planking. There would usually be a corresponding rove punch for each sized rivet. We might also just "clench" the boat nails, using a dolly on less expensive boats
I love how many different fields Adam is interested in and appreciate the fact that he's never lost his passion and dedication to learning.
A wonderful French Museum of tools and equipment is the Maison de l'Outil et de la Pensée Ouvrière à Troyes (The Museum of Tools and the Philosophy of Labour) in Troyes; capital of the Aube département, which I'm sure Adam would enjoy. It houses a vast collection of pre-20th century items going back hundreds of years, plus a huge related library. Sometimes the things used for making objects are more amazing than the objects themselves ! Not to be missed by Fans of this channel!
That intern definitely has a lot of work ahead of them! It looks like a fascinating project. Good luck!
The same hammer is used for loose fitting rivets on joints in metal working where you need to rivet two or more items with the rivet as the point of movement. the depth of hole in hammer is used to set the max crush limit for items needing a lose fit connection, the ones i have seen in past have adjustable depths on them but same basic hammer shape and hole in center.
thanks for the content
+++
I was thinking using it to push the leather over the copper rivets, but that makes sense too. We usually use washers for our loose fit connections.
8:15 edited cleaned out answer:
It's a hammer used for driving rivets to a specific depth without deforming the washer that's found at the base (of that specific rivet). The reason it's rare it's because it's actually used in conjunction with a specific anvil that you're missing, called a "bombarde" anvil.
First you drive the washer in, which locks the rivet. Then you snip the excess off and peen the remaining end over the washer, finishing the rivet permanently. You can see these in copper, brass, for steel for leather.
I used to see the armor as a kid. Full circle to know the staff of just that department is a treasure trove in and of itself. Amazing
Things you dont know until you know then you find out they dont even know.....How bloody awesome!!!
I'm simply floored by the set of tools there. I also was agape at the detailed and specific tools you showed on screen. Thanks for bringing this to our living room.
To anyone who envies the intern who will be working on this: It's not hard to find a museum that needs interns (paid and volunteer) to do very important work behind the scenes. For one thing, hundreds of years worth of research and cataloguing has to be digitally imaged, and that process often involves figuring out how to reorganize stuff. It may sound tedious but in my experience it's not, and it's *very* rewarding to know you've made a contribution to scholarship that will benefit many generations to come.
What an amazing collection! If I couldn't see it myself, seeing it through you is the next best thing.
This was one of the best. Absolutely fascinating! So much to do so little time!
Omg I could spend years in that shop! Amazing collection and that's just a small part seen on camera. Just wow I am extremely jealous!
The fact that this is the second video in one corner of a larger room makes me think there are some VERY COOL THINGS to see if the camera were to turn around.
Just WOW! Adam's enthusiasm is infectious. And then to see the dedication people to preserving an artform that probably progressed metallurgy by leaps an bounds. Just friggin interesting. Thank you!!
Casually dropping the Royal Armories in Leeds. Located in the heart of England, West Yorkshire. An amazing place to visit!
I find this all fascinating. As someone that started learning and making theater and cosplay props on and off I can understand the frustration and necessity of making/repurposing your own tools, molds, patterns, cutouts, etc. to get the piece you want to make "just right".
I started with paper and card board, learned wood working, some light metal work, a little bit of leather working, some painting, and only now I am touching on foam shaping and molding. The process is never-ending, rigorous, and frustrating but at the end, rewarding.
Very cool, Adam. Thank you for bringing us along!
My father was a machinist and I have his tools in a glass top display table. Micrometers, calipers, taps, punches, etc. Cool stuff that needed a place to be appreciated and easy to pull out and hold. Cheers, dad.
I share the same love Adam! Wow! To be in that room with you and all that gadgetry!!!! Awesome!!! Your work is second to none!
Every second of this is delightful to me. I hope they make a blog or something about the state of the intern's discoveries!
Amazing set of tools and loved the comment "I just want to touch everything!"
I love that Adam, when examining the mystery hammer, pulls out a copy of an Apollo flight flashlight to see down into it. Never change Adam.
For a channel full of awesome videos, this one was just top notch.
7:45, Adam jumping with joy at the fact they have tools they don't know the use of.
That was fantastic in every way. Thank you Adam and UA-cam's algorithms.
Such a beautiful series, the pulse of living history breathing through this unique mini series, valuable historical tapestry
Wooow! How is this video not over an hour? So much to learn!
I think it's wonderful that the tools are both part of the collection and still used as tools. I think that better shows their quality and I'm sure the creator would be proud knowing his tools were still being used to this day.
Oh my god the MET is my favorite museum of all time mainly due to the Arms and Armor section. So cool to see this!!
One of my favorite places in the world! So exciting that you got to go behind the scenes!
We are SO lucky. We loved every minute.
WOW! Not only the tools but also people are part of living history. Amazing and even touching 😮
Couldn't imagine a better shop for Adam to visit than this or a better person to present it to the world.
Looking forward to a one day build of Adam making horse calipers.
They're dividers.
This whole series is absolutely fascinating! I love it!
What a beautyfull collektion❤❤❤I Love old tools
I hope there are more videos of this collection.
There are! Stay tuned.
Blimey! As a 53 year old man who's worked with my hands for most of my adult life, this has given me serious workshop envey. What a place, and that they still use the tools is amazing!
Omg! This is incredibly awesome! How cool is it that we got to share that experience with you! Thank you Adam!
thank you so much for sharing this. never would have seen something like this otherwise and that is some incredible living history!
I grew up in my Grandfather's sheet metal shop in Philly.
He always said that, JR on any tool meant it was the Jr. (junior) version
of that tool.
G being the "Grand" tool (as in 4' or longer)
SR (Senior)being the most common used size, and JR being the smaller hand held tool size.
"B" tools are the most rare tools, because they're one off's. They were "Bastard" tools,
meaning they were made by one man, then improved on by the next owner. (waist not, want not) Making the old style obsolete.
Sadly they were all stolen back in the 1960 MLK riots.
Also, that's a Rivet Hammer. 1 hole in each piece of sheet steel, push the rivet up from below, slide the hole down over the rivet give it a blow to "set" the rivet. (tightening it in the 2 pieces of metal) then peen over to your desired look.
If you're ever in Philly, The Art Museum has some sweet suits of armor.
So absolutely cool!!! I love the historical look at making
I recognize that mystery tool! That hollow-peen hammer is not technically a hammer; It's a hot-working monkey tool. Notice that it's not wedged, and that's because it's not meant for swinging. You put the hollow part over a long tenon and you hit the face of the 'hammer' to flatten the junction between the tenon and the wider material. Bet any money that the face is soft and the hollow end is hardened.
If you have a heavy piece of steel with a little tenon sticking out of it it could be radiating too much heat to work safely or comfortably with a hand-held monkey tool. Thus they put it on a stick so they don't get burned. It's riveting-adjacent I suppose since you can make flush rivets with it.
Yeah but then why is the face polished and dressed?
@@cholulahotsauce6166 It's probably at least a hundred years old. Most likely at some point someone wanted to use it like a hammer. Or perhaps it got rather mushroomed and split from wear and someone made it nicer than it used to be. It could be rehardened and rehandled and the only evidence of its original intended use would be the hole. Everything is a multitool if you're creative or desperate enough!
@@SAOS451316 Thats a brilliant thought above. It would make sense for the striking head to be polished at some point so that it could double as a hammer when resources/ resourcing is already challenging enough for people of the yesteryears. Heck, even today I have a shop full of hybridized and converted tooling 🙃
Sometimes armorers make to tools that don't make any sense in order to prank their apprentices. Even today masters in shops will send their helpers to go find a left handed monkey wrench.
Sometimes armorers make to tools that don't make any sense in order to prank their apprentices. Even today masters in shops will send their helpers to go find a left handed monkey wrench.
Out of the firey furnace arose the world we know today. I love tools, facinated with all types. This is a world apart, yet intimately part of our world today. Great stuff Adam, thanks for sharing.
This was pretty cool. I can’t wait to hear more about the history of these tools!
I would happily watch you guys walk through the collection for hours.
I'm so glad they are still using the tools.
oh man this reminds me of when i was an armorers apprentice.... so much fun.... love seeing all those tools again..
and i seem to remember using a hammer like the one with the hole in for rivets... but not sure these days...
Thanks Tested team, I was looking forward to this. Wow.
The Frazier Museum in Louisville, Ky has a huge collection of gunsmithing tools that are well over 150 years old with many tools that they have know idea what they were used for.
Of all the things Adam gets excited about out there, this must be the thing he is most excited about. He can barely contain himself and it is amazing to watch.
You're an incredible individual, #AdamSavage. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge and taking us on thrilling adventures.
That was very interesting. I had a metal shaping class at Dagger Tools here in Michigan and the methods and terminology for Metal Shaping for auto and motorcycle panels is pretty much the same. I'm sure from a historical perspective they are based on ancient methods passed down through generations.
That was a darn cool episode!
Adam, the glee on your face to see a workshop, so well organized, so beautiful, and such weird tools... Lovely. As an ex-blacksmith, I understand.
Very cool video, Adam. Old tools are fascinating. Years ago, I inherited my Great-grandfathers blacksmithing tools that he used 100 years ago.
I totally understand your enthusiasm in getting to see that collection.
What a wonderful treat. I'd love to see a piece by piece documentation of the collection, hopefully something is made and fully released to the public one day.
Thank you SO much for this tour! Its definitelyon my list of "go to" places now!
Always happy to see someone else who gets as excited I do about the tools that make the things that wow people.
That man is clearly passionate about is work. Cheers.
This is my favorite video you have ever made. Thank you
Woot! Thank you -- so glad you enjoyed it and told us so.
I've been to the royal armouries in Leeds several times. I would highly recommend. You can tell Adam is in his element here. Great watch. Would love to visit this place and have a rummage
I never really thought about learning something about old processes not by studying the finished products that were made, but by the tools the makers had. Some tools might have super niche applications for which most people just used a more common tool that takes slightly more time to use, but generally speaking, craftsmen would keep tools around in their workshops because they need them for their products.
Having both finished pieces and the tools allows you to try to understand the process from two different directions.
What a fantastic shop tour guide Sean Belair is.
looking forward to the rivet article.
Sean is a force of nature & an outstanding conservator.
What a great episode!!! That was such a treat. The poor guy was sweating a lot but he's a cool dude.🍻
What a treat it would be to explore that workshop!
Truly!
I’d go bananas in there
Thank you very much Adam, I to am a bit of a tool hoarder. I love the old tools. I use my old tools when I work on stuff more often than I the new shiny tools because they feel good in my hand. Thanks for getting access to this place. I would never get into it on my own! Now I'm jealous of you! in a good way! My lathe is a 9 inch Southbend from the 1940's give or take a decade. Best regards Bob from Virginia USA
adam, another use for the tool at 8:35 is as a 'wad punch' you use a sledge hammer on the polished end to strike the dounut side into a patch of leather, like the tine tool for cutting stiching holes, the hole catches the 'plug' cut by the circle; or if the rivit is HOT, it can be a rivet cutter, to cut the rivet away, to split parts during a repair job, to replace leather parts.
Great content! Thank you Adam.
As someone who has toold that have been handed down including some very strange tools that were custom made for working on horseless carriages I know every single one of my tools I love them & in a few years when I die they go to a friend & he will give them to his nephew continuing the journey
what a Beautiful collection of tools !
Whenever I got to the Met, I always spend a very large portion of the time I am there admiring the armor display. It is spectacular. It is pretty cool to see the tools they use to keep it that way. The artifacts on display also include a lot of Asian armor (particularly Japanese) and a large number of old weapons, including ancient firearms. Any chance we'll be seeing future videos covering those elements of the display?
I love hearing Leeds get name-dropped, it was just a tourist attraction to me when I lived there but across a few historical channels and a few sites, I am now starting to see that it is an important part of figuring out our history, not just as the western world, But as a species. (They have a very through collection from China and India from what I remember)
The level of joy is just amazing
Wow! Great story to cover! Thx
I have a set of those anvil shears that I inherited from my grandfather along with a couple of anvils and assorted tools. It's cool seeing that collection. It stirs up a lot of good memories.
I wish I had one item that would make Adam gasp in astonishment. His giddiness is so infectious
Adam looks knackered.
I love all of these tools so much as well. Of course Adam is at peak happiness !🤙🏽⚒
I love the way that Adam completely failed to play it cool. He was like a kid in a toy shop.
Love this! Thank you for sharing this with us!
I've seen instruments like theese in my fellow armorysmith's videos, but never so many of them. This is amazing!
When you look at examples of German armour, the hollow hammer looks like it could have been used to punch the decorative brass or bronze fitting around the rivets on the leather straps.
Fascinating!!!!! Thank you Adam!!!!
Fascinating and educational. I ❤ your content. 💯👍
The time invested in all these tools, hammers, and their evolution is mind boggling! I envy this collection!
Stellar! I had A relatively similar experience with artificial flower making tools. A whole industry lost . Loads of nyc based foundries that disappeared and nothing was ever documented. I had literally tons of cast iron , brass and aluminum tools, cutters, molds etc . That I saved from the scrap pile . I finally sold them because I had no place to keep them. Quite interesting. I wish I had the space to keep them as long as I needed to document the names and research all. Thank you for sharing this. Have always been a fan of yours., Adam
Wow!! What a shame.
We had those big wooden calipers in my highschool (gymnazium) circa 2000. It had chalk holder instead of one point and we would use it as a big comoass and draw circles in geometry classes on a blackboard. Good times.
I'm so glad you noticed the calipers! I'd been shouting at the screen for half the video 😅
Thanks Adam for remaining available to us with your curiosity and experience...
So cool. Must share.
Such beautiful tools.
Re: The hollow-peen hammer... As Sean says, I agree it's probably used for riveting. Watchmakers use similar (but much smaller) tools called "staking sets" which are used to fix a shaft into the center of a gear or wheel. Check out any watchmaking video on replacing a balance staff, for example, and you'll see exactly how they're used.
That looks like heaven!
So cool! I would have like to see it 1 hour plus documentary on that on the tools that shop!