How the rip-claw hammer got its name.
4Lorn1
| Posted in Tools for Home Building on
Long ago an old timer told me a story about why rip claw hammers are referred to by that name. Not to say he was right but it made sense to me.
Figured it would be interesting to have all the good folks weigh in with their version before I offer my favorite story line behind the name.
I encourage any and all logic, illogic, WAG or fantasy. Lets see what comes up. After a bit I will post my favorite etymology behind the name.
Replies
Finally one I can answer, because you can use it to rip (stuff appart) as in demolition, or prying 2 boards appart...
Because when you hit your thumb with one, you let her rip: "F!#%%#&*!".
Because you can sink the claw into rough lumber and have it stick, kinda like driving a stake into a vampires heart. Thus R.I.P.
Frankie
Easy one...it is all about cleavage. When a board is disected along it's length, it is called a rip cut. The straight claw allows you to split or cleave a lath or shake ...unlike a curved claw.
Hence the term rip claw.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Tommy, can you hear me?
Why look here?
When you rip lath or rive shakes, does the rough lumber need to be quarter sawn (and clear) so you can split in between annual rings?
Ideally, one would want to rive radially...which in turn results in quarter face grain.
Splitting "between" the annular rings brings on a tangential face. which is less stable and more suseptible to cup or crowning due to the exposure and subsequent absorbtion of humidity due to the nature of the cellular orientation.
As a roofer, I always "think like water", as a woodworker I "think of the weakness of the wood" Splitting or planing have much in common..there is an easy way and a difficult way..and sometimes a downright impossible way..pick one.
The weakest wood is sawn, the saw ignores the natural flow of grain..which is what gives crotch or burl its inherent strength..as an example..the live oaks of the south were coveted by DeSoto when he ventured into the SE of the USA for the "Knees" ..a natural bend in a tree with continuous grain..made for a strong ship"s prow to keel junction.
More than ya wanted to know yet?
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Tommy, can you hear me?
Why look here?
So I was only off by 90 degrees.My only experience with riving is with a splitting maul in the firewood pile. Even this limited experience tells me that radial riving is the easy way (and best as you suggested--"quarter riven").Thanks for the explanation. Not more than I wanted to know.Have you seen the Old Faithful Inn or Lodge in Yellowstone?All of the posts are whole trees with odd shaped branches in just the right place for post -to-beam bracing (brackets). I'll scan & post an old photo if I can find it.
check yer email..
Yeah, i saw yellerstone when I was kid..enthused me.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Tommy, can you hear me?
Why look here?
Is there an internal email in Breaktime? How does this work? Nothing in my biz email.
right thru your profile..
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Tommy, can you hear me?
Why look here?
Almost forgot about this thread.A lot of folks got very close to my preferred version. Interesting answers all. Nothing ground breaking but all well worth reading. Interesting how stories and trade lore come into being, have their day and recede as technologies change.Here is the story I was given by an old timer:As I understand it in the time well before power tools it was not uncommon for carpenters to have to rip, saw in the direction of the grain as opposed across it, long pieces and planks by hand.As an aid in performing this task they would use their 'rip claw' hammer to hold the saw kerf apart and to steady the pieces by wedging the claws into the kerf. The rip claws would allow this to be done much more easily compared with hammer with bent claws as the claws are more at right angles to the handle so the handle didn't run into the plank being ripped.Later I saw a manual from the 20s that had a diagram showing exactly this procedure. A plank of about 24 feet set across saw horses and a carpenter dutifully sawing away with his trusty rip saw. His hammer wedged into the saw cut to keep the saw from binding. Now hand saws, any hand saw, are seldom seen on commercial sites and only serve a supporting role. Odds are most carpenters have never seen a true rip saw. Nothing to be ashamed of. Most carpenters in the 20, particularly in the south, had never seen a circular saw. Who knows. Things go south in a really big way electricity may be a rare and precious thing. Rip saws, and the possible supporting role for rip claw hammers, may come back into popular use. Of course this comes back to the story I first heard. Old timer was ripping 16' planks with a circular saw. He would give his helper his rip claw hammer and tell him to insert the claws into the cut after he cleared the first 8' or so. This kept the cut open and steadied the pieces. According to him holding the cut open was the original main use for the rip claws. Made sense to me. Also, as noted by so many, makes prying pieces of nailed wood apart and may be of limited value as a last-ditch safety measure for falling roofers. Thanks all.
nah...i ain't buying it...
everyone i know used an 8d or a 16d nail to hold the kerf open..
a straight claw is called a "rip" because it can be jammed into material and rip it off.. like 1x8 sheathing... harder to do with a curved clawMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Re: "everyone i know used an 8d or a 16d nail to hold the kerf open.."For the most part power saws have eliminated the need for wedging most cuts in modern usage. The other factor limiting the need is the dual factors of the lumber available and used. Pretty much everything in modern houses is a standard dimension in width and depth. Most cutting is cross-cutting dimension lumber to length. Not a whole lot of ripping cuts being made. Used to be, as I read about it, that houses were less standardized in dimension lumber used and mills were not necessarily as accommodating given that machine time was expensive and labor was cheap. An inversion of the present situation. The other half of this is length. A "8d or a 16d nail" will hold open a cut on only a short length and wedging may be superfluous on anything cut witha modern power saw as long at the cut is less than perhaps 10'. Lumber has changed. Used to be, a dim memory even to me, lumber was commonly supplied in longer lengths. I have read that 24' lengths and longer were common and not excessively expensive. I can testify that I have seen clear 16" wide 20 and 30 foot long planks used as roof sheathing. Usually where you would put the cheap wood. Try to buy that plank today and you have to break the piggy. Try to wedge a 20' cut with 16d nails and your going to have to install a lot of them. Use a hammer and, or so I was told, its weight will cause it to vibrate down spreading the cut to the full width of the head. Seems reasonable to me that a hammer placed at 8' or so could continue to be effective on through 24'. And when you finish you pick up your hammer instead of six or seven 16d nails. Of course I am only speculating based on limited evidence as I was not there and there, even in the heyday of hand sawing, may have been a lot of local diversity as to techniques used. I have only seen the one illustration with the hammer used in this way. I have seen several that were similar but that had wooden wedges used to keep the cut open and stable.
Never seen a rip saw! Why you just cmon over here and I'll bring out a couple of Grandpa's finest Dissitons (sp?). I had then resharpened and reset and they are ready to rip, and let me tell you they work beautifully. When he passed on 20 years ago at the age of 97, these and a bunch of other tools were handed over to me by my uncles. It was like taking something down off the alter.
A good, sharp rip saw swung by a practiced carpenter with enthusiasm can cut wood at an amazing rate. Once saw a carpenter rip a 8' cypress walk board for a special location on a scaffold. At every stroke the saw would move ahead several inches. He had it ripped and was half way up the scaffold with it before the younger carpenter had the circular saw plugged in. Probably would have been an even race if it had been two planks and the power saw would easily pull ahead as the number of cuts increased over that number. More so as the carpenter's arm tired.IMHO hand sawing made for better houses and, possibly because, it made for better carpenters. Having to spend time and sweat on every cut, and understanding that there were more cuts as dimensional lumber was less used. Sawing, the few times I have done it on long cuts, tended, at least for me, to be contemplative, verging on meditative. Thinking, and the time to think, seem to be in short supply on many houses. At least in part this being manifest in number of large but qualitatively and aesthetically vacuous homes being built. Having to spend the time and effort to make the cuts might allow intelligent thought and consideration to intrude into the normal, and so commonly ill considered, process.
Boy are you right about taking the time to think. Someone just trashed a 3-1/2" x 12" x 14' paralam today at my place - didn't read the blueprint right. Sad thing is that the piece he cut (from the wrong stock) won't even be needed for a week. Could probably start a whole separate thread about not paying attention, and what it does to the profit margin and pace...
Up for auction on eBay is a #12 Disston Langdon 5TPI rip saw.
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When I was 14, our father decided we should all pitch in and help him build our new summer cottage, 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, big stone fireplace, etc. As we had no electricity on site at the time of framing, we used hand tools to cut all the framing lumber.
We had rip and crosscut saws, and I learned to use both. I didn't have to rip much, but I sure used the crosscut. That summer, I whacked all the framing with hand saws, and was glad when we finally got some power hooked up.
Ever see a guy cut with the saw backwards?
In South America all the carpenters I saw still using rip saws cut with the teeth facing away from them. They walk along the length of the board cutting forward. They told me it was easier, and the motion has more of an arc to it than the "cut down towards you" method.
Have seen them rip "green heart" and 'purple heart"' wood this way. That stuff would make a thin kerf circ saw blade smoke.
All framing done with green heart (about 5 times the weight of spf), and purple heart was used for more decorative finish, or wet locations. The stuff lasts over 100 years in SALT water without any treatment at all.
PS Splinters from either were long, sharp and nasty.
Geeez- I can't even imagine rip-sawing any significant amount of purpleheart with a handsaw! Ripping that stuff on my tablesaw took some serious power! And you're right about the splinters- very, very nasty. But the wood is very beautiful as well.
Amazing what people will use for framing or even crating in one place and furniture in another. We got a pallet in to work the other day which is either jarrah or some Indonesian relative of it. Dense, hard and beautiful, rich colour and figure- and used to make a pallet! Needless to say a lousy SPF pallet went under that load and the jarrah pallet was cut up and in the trunk of my car before the end of the day!
Never seen greenheart. But I did notice that purpleheart turns green when you make it alkaline. Any contact with drywall compound, cement etc. turns it green. And it's reversible too- neutralize with vinegar and it goes back purple again! Guess the pigment in the wood is a pH indicator!
Greenheart (looks like CCa PT that has been exposed for a while) smells, weighs, and splits just like purple but was more plentiful, slightly cheaper, but still a splinter nightmare. You could be right about the PH. Rainforest grown, nutrients vary a lot w/ local. But in that particular country, they were sold as different woods @ very different prices.
from '72 to about '80 i carried an 8pt, 12pt & 5 1/2 pt. and used them almost every day...
i don't miss them one bit.. you're romanticizing the dignity of hard work.. and i'm just as careful and caring about what we build with our power tools as i was with the hand-tools..
truth is.. we can actually build them better than we used to..
it all depends on attitude.. not on slowing it down to contemplate our navelMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore