Mjölnir
january 2006
In Norse mythology, Mjölnir is the hammer of Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Mjölnir is depicted as one of the most fearsome and powerful weapons in existence, capable of leveling mountains.
In Norse mythology, Mjölnir is the hammer of Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Mjölnir is depicted as one of the most fearsome and powerful weapons in existence, capable of leveling mountains.
I am a huge fan of Walt Simonson’s work as writer/artist on Marvel Comics THOR in the late 1980s.
I cut sheets of 3/4″ MDF to laminate into a 9″ x 4″ x 6″ hammer head. I drilled holes through the centers of all sheets.
The bevels of the hammer were cut by tilting the table saw blade 45 degrees.
The porous edges of the MDF were coated in Bondo spot filler and sanded smooth. I then gave it several coats of automotive sandable primer. The “cap” was cut from a piece of plywood and given a bevel. The whole thing was sprayed with more primer coats and then finally a Krylon Aluminum.
For the handle, I decided to use an old tree stake that I had sitting around.
I wasn’t confident using leather but found a tan vinyl that I could cut myself. The grip was wrapped with four 60″ straps in a tight overlapping pattern.
The pommel was covered with a circular piece of vinyl, glued over the edges and then wrapped with more vinyl strapping.
The straps looked a bit flat and vinyl-y so I gave the wrapping an acrylic wash of darker browns to weather it.
The loop was formed by laminating the vinyl back-to-back.
The loop was attached with a wood screw with a plastic snap-top cover.
The hammer is purposely huge, nearly 24″ long (not counting the loop), and quite heavy.