Casgliadau Arlein

A Common Shoe Hammer, comprising a large, round, mushroom-shaped face, with a neck that is hexagonal in cross-section, straight flat cheeks, a down-turned flat pane, and ash handle. Shoemaker's hammers are used for driving large nails, and for hammering damped sole and heel leather to consolidate it. Also used for paning or peening to leather heels after repair. After damping, the leather is 'peened' with the pane end of the hammer in a series of light blows to form a serrated surface, which is subsequently smoothed out with a rasp. The object is to case-harden the edges and the heel, and in the case of a repaired sole, the paning strokes are said to weld the new and old leather together.