Making the only paper hammer

Reviving an art tool once popular from World War I to the 1960’s requires tinkering because there are no blueprints. As an artist her whole life, Denys Knight is familiar with tinkering to achieve the desired outcome.

A recent fascination with copper art led Knight to create a paper hammer which hasn’t been produced since 1956. Paper hammers work extremely well when shaping copper because they don’t leave marks like leather or wood mallets.

A paper hammer consists of a head of tightly rolled Kraft paper on a hickory handle.

“Hickory has a way of absorbing shock,” said Knight.

The handles are hand crafted in Tennessee from American hickory.

Knight’s husband, Stan, created a machine to tightly roll the paper into heads.

“She just wanted me to make one hammer,” said Stan. “Then another one. I call it a hammer factory. I hope we don’t get an order for 500 at once.”

A large order could be requested since Denys Knight signed an exclusive contract with Rio Grande, a company that sells equipment to make jewelry, for her paper hammer in June. Her first order was 60 hammers.

She produces three sizes of hammers, each made by hand through a process of 65 steps. Nearly 20 paper hammer heads can be rolled each day. Each hammer takes about one hour to create but requires three to four days of drying.

“I’m the only creator of paper hammers in the world as far as I know right now,” said Denys Knight. “I didn’t mean to do it, it was an accident.”

The happenstance is why Knight named her business The Accidental Hammer.

Knight also accidentally stumbled into copper art after being a lettering artist, painter and instructor of calligraphy for more than 35 years. She happened to take a course in May 2012 that introduced her to copper folding.

“Working with tools and metals is completely different,” said Knight. “With cooper you can start over again. It has been fun.”

For more information on Knight’s paper hammers or to order, visit www.accidentalhammer.com.