I like the feel of the Vaughan but what would be a nicer hammer with a stronger handle?
replace the hickory handle with fiberglass (available at your local BORG) or start using a pry bar for removing nails.
I've got the bigger (26 oz?) Vaughan framing hammer with the "axe style" handle. I've clad a couple of barns and sheds with it now and there's no sign of handle trouble.
Best bit is people with £200 air nailers laughing at my "expensive" £30 hammer. I don't have an air hose to trip over either.
Straight clawed hammers are lousy for pulling nails. Get the nail started, then place a block under the head to pull the nail the rest of the way. You can pull the nail by rocking the hammer from side to side, or you could use a nail puller. I did concrete work, and broke many wood handles, both the round and axe styles. Hammers drive nails well, curved claw hammers do an ok job of pulling nails, straight claw hammers are lousy nail pullers. robo hippy
"robo hippy"
They pull fine if your strong enough. Mine pulls 16d sinkers just fine.
That's how you brake the handles.
I do use a nail puller the get the head out far enough to get the hammer on it.
If been using the FAT MAX framer for over a year, built 20+ (small) houses, same hammer.
Dave
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Really? I pretty much always hook the nail and then go sideways with it to start, then pop it right out by pulling parallel with the claws. But I've been using steel and fiberglass handles much more than wood, so that may be the difference.
If I break out the nail puller (cat's paw), I just use that to finish the job.
If you wear it out, I've got a one that's almost brand new to sell you. That hammer was just too big for me - too thick and felt real heavy. Pneumatics have made me weak.
JP
Estwing? Good hammer - hard on the wrist. Death Stick? Too expensive - Even for me!
Agreed - sometimes.
I like em like that!
My guns serve me well also, but sometimes you just need to slam a sinker home by hand!
Dave
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Yes indeed. Although, I ran into an old oak 2x4 the other day that
*really* got the best of me!JP
Pulling is all leverage, and the fulcrum point. With the straight clawed hammer, as soon as the head is rocked back beyond where the handle is you loose a lot of leverage, with the short lever (hammer head) increasing in length to as much as 6 inches. Sure strength works, but you will have to work much harder. Why work harder than you have to? All of the extra force goes to the weakest place, the handle where it joins the head, and wood will break. Solid steel handles work, (not the hollow ones) but are hell on your wrists and hands by the end of the day, week, months and years. Fiberglass is ok, and a bit stronger that wood, but will break eventually. They do offer better shock absorption than steel, but not better than wood. Rocking side to side and breaking the handle? You've got to be kidding me. I have pulled miles of nails that way and never even loosened up the handle. This method offers the best leverage. Ever tried to pull a bent 8d duplex nail from a steel stake? The side to side way works the easiest, and it is almost impossible to pull it out the conventional way. Efficiency is intelligent laziness. A nail puller works better, and with less effort than a hammer. robo hippy
If the nail is tight pull the handle 90 degrees left or right instead of in the normal direction. This puts less strain on the handle and gives you more leverage.
I make handles for hammers out of Bois d'arc. If it's not extremely strong, you never know because the wood so beautiful, you'll avoid using it, thereby your hammer handle will last virtually forever. If you'd like one, let me know.
Don't worry. _That_ hammer handle will last forever anyway. You can use osage orange wood to pry tractors out of mudholes. That stuff is hard as a rock and just as heavy. I'd bet it makes a damn fine tool handle.
-Phil
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