Politics: The Two-Handled Hammer

For my final project, I wanted to make a two-handled hammer as a commentary on the problems and solution for the political conundrum. “The Politician’s Hammer“ has two handles, similar to the two party system, and in order to use it effectively, you must work with a partner and coordinate your efforts.

My method similar to the original mallet we made in week 2, but the twist being that I had to angle the handles to fit. Ben suggested that I use the drill chuck and just rotate it. I tried to keep the angles for the holes the same and slightly off-axis from one another, while at the same time understanding that any lack of exactness speaks to the political critique in which I was engaging.

I would like to try another one where the handles are on-axis and symmetrically facing one another to see if the imagery would be more powerful. Here are some photos of the process with notes.

Metal Lathe

This week we worked on turning a small 1” piece of aluminum on the metal lathe. This was a pretty straightforward exercise that required a lot of patience when you consider how little you take off with each pass. But I find it helpful to reflect on what the lathe actually allows you to do which is cut into metal in a fine and uniform way, a task that would be nearly impossible any other way.

One place I got hung up was that I didn’t tighten down the chuck enough, not wanting to mark my piece, and the lathe began to pull the piece out of the chuck. This was very disturbing and confusing in the moment, as I had to check myself if I was moving the piece into the chuck. It kind of felt like that moment when you see another car rolling backwards and you don’t know if you’re actually moving forwards.

I also got in a rush and pushed the cutting bit into the chuck for a split second, as I was dangerously close to the edge and got turned around on which was I was cranking in. This could have been very dangerous as well as ruining the machine.

I see a lot of potential in making very nice gifts and crafts with this tool, as it carries a solidarity and weight that other materials do not. When you see something made out of metal like this, it evokes a sense of strength and also elegance. I would like to perhaps make a pen holder and paper weight out of 2” round aluminum or brass.

Mallet Turning

I was fortunate to get some nice poplar from my roommate. After emailing Ben to check, it seemed like this piece would work and I was glad I had some extra to work with, as you will read below.

I really enjoyed getting to make something practical. There wasn’t anything mysterious to the process, but I did not get the order of operations correct, so I was left with some pieces that didn’t look as good as they could.

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For instance, I made a 3/4” hole for the handle, but it turns out (no pun intended) that I can’t get close enough since the live center is larger than that. Unfortunately, I had already drilled a 3/4” hole in the handle and had to put it back on the drill press and widen the hole, which left me with some chunky bits where the handle meets the head. I also had to turn another handle from scratch to be 1” at the end. Luckily, I had enough wood for this reworking.

I chose to use metal pins because that was what we had them laying around the shop. Luckily, I found some that fit, as I had already drilled a 1/4” hole. I should have checked the bin first. I do plan on finishing it, but honestly, I would like to turn another on altogether with these lessons in mind.

Another issue I had was that I wasn’t using the drill press properly. I wasn’t working it up and down to clear the hole of wood debris as it cut down. I was also seeing smoke which was another indication that I wasn’t running it properly as working it up and down will cool it off as the cut progresses.

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I also got some chipping on the edges of the head due to the hand saw catching when I was taking off the ends. Now I know why Ben did this so gingerly on the demo video.

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I also had some trouble with the lathe as it would catch and stop turning sometimes. This was very troubling, so I grabbed John, and he double checked my technique. It seemed to stop, although I can’t recall his solution :( I also tried to turn my own holder for the drill, but the wood I chose (Plywood?) didn’t turn very well at all and was chipping off in shards.

Wood Lathe

I found the process to be very intuitive. I was getting some choppy bits at the beginning but I believe it ws either due to bad technique or the pine being so soft. Either way, I got to where I wanted to go. In the future, I would like to be more mindful about my design before going in, but I loved getting my hands dusty!