I needed a soft hammer for general hitting things and for using a chisel. I didn't want to pay for one, though. My summer cottage has plenty of scrap lumber and firewood so I decided to use materials at hand. I took two chopped birch blocks and two scrap pieces of pine board with me.

I mounted one of the birch blocks in my miniature lathe and turned it until it was about 30mm in diameter. Then I sanded the surface of the handle and applied a mixture of oil and stained wax.

Next, I sawed the other block into two slices and mocked them in placed. One of the pine boards is at the bottom.

Then I glued the pieces with white glue. I don't have good wood clamps, so I used my general screw vise and some alu blocks for weight.

I wanted to save some time sanding the surfaces, so I sawed the excess parts off and then sanded and glued the rest of the hammer head.

This shows the overall shape of the hammer. Next, I shaped the head with a knife and then sanded it smooth.

Here I've already glued the handle into the head. Then I hammered pine wedges to keep the handle in place and sawed and sanded the top.

Then I finished the head and glued a leather pad on the other end for cushioning.