olivers???

Have you ever painted your walls in striped paint?

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

Hmm, school's out.

Last time I was in B&Q they had mixed them all up. You need to check the writing on the shank; a left-handed hammer has the writing along the right hand side starting at the hand end of the shank. Of course professional users will know the difference by feeling the weight distribution and - if you watch old-timers at work - you'll see them automatically swap hands if they pick up the wrong hammer by mistake. Long gone are the days when an apprentice would complete his toolbox with the 'wrong' hammer to use in otherwise inaccessible spaces.

Tartan paint, that's the stuff you want.

The one I bought 20 years ago works fine, they have similar ones in B&Q, made by YELNATS.

Certainly the (usually highly-polished) twisted brass rods that hold/held up the extended roof that made a traction engine into a showman's engine are known as, "Olivers".

A pricey part to get replaced if yo have to.

Sasha_Klamp wrote:

I likes the spotted stuff mesen. Or the stuff in the kid's section with glowinthedark spaceships innit.

I usually go to B&Q when I want a long weight - they never put enough checkout staff on these days. And my spelling doesn't improve...

Regards, Tony

Yep my Dad had one of those! Btw have you seen the latest polka dot paint?

All good and well if you possess either the wherewithal to assess your tool's inclination through years of handling , or a convenient line of script upon its meaty shaft - but what happens when no such indications are available?

Well, here's a simple test you can try at home to determine the handedness of your hammer.

Sit yourself upon the floor, legs resting straight out in front of you, knees held tight together.

Take hammer in right hand, raise it above your head until it's directly above your bonce. Close eyes. This is important - if you fail to do so you will not be able to correctly ascertain the properties of your tool.

Now, bring the hammer very smartly down towards your knees.

One of three things will happen:

There is a fourth potential outcome, in which you completely miss your legs althogether...in which case you're evidently not capable of handling such tools...and you're probably better off being a poet, or something.

This fascinating and wholly accurate means of testing a hammer's handedness was related to me by a wonderful old craftsman, one sunny summer's day as I pushed him around a park in his wheelchair.

Regards,

Wheelchair? Presumably he had once worked for Stanley? :-)

Tom

That's already out-of-style - the new thing is paisley pattern paint.

Was this in Bath? 'cos that's where they normally come from.

If I mix a tin of white and a tin of red paint then do I get red and white striped paint? :-)

No, you get pink paint. :-P

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

You've not tried my mother's recipe then?

Owain

Damn, things go out of fashion fast

Must come from the same store that you get sky hooks, skirting ladders spare bubbles for spirit levels, long weights and rubber nails

-- Part P Avoider