I use a wood-handled California framing hammer for framing jobs. To provide better balance to the top-heavy framer, I installed a “cow magnet” in the end of the handle. Dairy farmers use magnets to prevent “hardware disease,” a condition cows get after ingesting bits of metal such as staples, nails, and baling wire. The magnet stays in the cow’s reticulum for the life of the animal, attracting metal that otherwise might lodge in nearby organs. I put the 1/2-in.-dia. magnet in a 9/16-in.- dia. hole drilled in the end of the hammer handle. Just smear some silicone caulk on the magnet as you install it, and you’re ready to drive those sinkers. An added benefit is that when you spill some nails, you don’t have to bend over as far to pick them up.
You can get cow magnets at agriculture-supply stores. As an alternative, you can find them online at sites such as www.magnetsource.com.
Gary Ervin, Dover, OH
Edited and Illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #186
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Great idea. I grew up with those magnets around. Hammers too.