What is a SLEDGE?

[john]

What is a SLEDGE? (as in sledge hammer). All other hammers describe their shape or use, but what the heck does sledge mean?

John

[SJF]

Typically has a head weighing about 8# and a hand of 30-36 inches. As a young surveyor, I often used one for driving stakes with a powerful overhead swing. Now I can hardly lift one.

SJF

[Dan Hartung]

Sledge is just a word for hammer in several Germanic languages (English, Scandinavian). Sledge is the English word used to translate the word for the Viking hammer weapon.

[Randd01]

My sledge weighs 16 lbs. 8 pounders are for women!

[Dr. Hardcrab]

you could have a steam train if you'd just lay down your tracks you could have an aeroplane flying if you bring your blue sky back

all you do is call me I'll be anything you need

you could have a big dipper going up and down, all around the bends you could have a bumper car, bumping this amusement never ends

I want to be your sledgehammer why don't you call my name oh let me be your sledgehammer this will be my testimony show me round your fruitcage 'cos I will be your honey bee open up your fruitcage where the fruit is as sweet as can be

I want to be your sledgehammer why don't you call my name you'd better call the sledgehammer put your mind at rest I'm going to be-the sledgehammer this can be my testimony I'm your sledgehammer let there be no doubt about it

sledge sledge sledgehammer

I've kicked the habit shed my skin this is the new stuff I go dancing in, we go dancing in oh won't you show for me and I will show for you show for me, I will show for you yea, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I do mean you only you you've been coming through going to build that powerr build, build up that power, hey I've been feeding the rhythm I've been feeding the rhythm going to feel that power, build in you come on, come on, help me do yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you I've been feeding the rhythm I've been feeding the rhythm it's what we're doing, doing all day and night

[FireBrick]

My WOMEN use 16's. Real men use 20's.

your turn

[PAROADHOG]

Around here we keep the 20s for trim work.

[Minnie Bannister]

I'd never thought of that connection. Without looking up the German noun for "hammer," I do recall the verb "schlagen" (="to strike, hit").

So when you really want to *hit* something and not just give it a gentle tap, you use a *sledge* hammer.

MB

On 08/14/04 06:16 am Dan Hartung put fingers to keyboard and launched the following message into cyberspace:

[SteveB]

Like your hand. Sorry, just had to throw that in from experience.

Steve

[PrecisionMachinisT]

Easier to hit softly with a big hammer than to hit hard with a small one.

[avoidspam]

Try Merriam-Webster on line -

Etymology: Middle English slegge, from Old English slecg; akin to Old Norse sleggja sledgehammer, Old English slEan to strike -- more at SLAY : SLEDGEHAMMER

[xrongor]

real men dont swing a sledge. they get some kid to do it for 5 bucks an hour.

randy

[chuck yerkes]

But either way, your left hand has a black and blue finger :)

[Josh]

"xrongor" wrote

Heh, good one!

[PrecisionMachinisT]

With a REAL hammer your more likely to injure yer foot........

[Jim Elbrecht]

I think that's the point. A sledge is for striking. It isn't a claw hammer & it has no peening head, nor a chipping head. Both sides are built just to strike. I've seen some definitions that say a sledgehammer has a long handle, but I've always called my short-handled 3 pounder a sledge.

Now. . . where do I draw the line between sledges & mallets? I probably would call anything with a metal head a sledge & a soft [plastic, rubber, leather, wood] head a mallet.

Jim

[Harry K]

Naw, naw. When you're using a sledge you don't worry about hitting your hand. Your -helper- might worry but who cares.

Harry K

[SteveB]

"Harry K" wrote

Here in Nevada, when they have town celebrations in the old mining areas, they have a single jacking contest. This was when a two man team would take a star bit and a sledge, and drill a hole for dynamite. The method was used before the invention of pneumatic drillers, and by poorboy operators who couldn't afford the big drills.

Needless to say, it took practice for two men to do this all day long. In the competitions, one holds the drill, the other strikes it. Then the drill holder turns the bit a slight bit, and the other strikes it again. All seamless and nonstop. They do this for a predetermined length of time, and then the depth of the holes are measured. The winning team usually gets a small trophy and more beer.

Then they have mucking contests where they see how much blasted rock and debris a man can load in a minecar in 60 seconds. Makes one appreciate the strides in technology and machinery.

Steve

[DanG]

According to my good mining friend out of Kalispell, Montana, a single jack is one man swinging a hammer with one hand. A double jack required 2 hands on the hammer and another man to hold the drill.

I would like to know the etymology of jack in this one.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) [e-mail]

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[Randd01]

My Dad always said "Don't force it get a bigger hammer" ! Funny How some threads take off for a good laff!