Well put...
I was thinking about the "sound", as well as the smell, of a construction site as I was writing that, and how you instinctively/subliminally know when things are going the way they are supposed to be going, or not.
Working out of a construction trailer "office" a few years ago building a house, a noise or smell, or absence thereof, was something reacted to without even thinking about.
Now be nice about those crews. :~) Most of them have had their "you know whats" cut off and they proudly dangle them from the trailer hitch on their trucks.
Wellllll...... it sounds more impressive than it was. I had to drive a few thousand nails to get to that point. And before it sounds like chest thum ping on my part, back them in the time before compressors and nail guns on job sites, on framing crews there were always a few guys that could do the same thing. And I found out that the better I could drive nails and saw boa rds, the less likely I was to be carrying materials across the job site and sweeping up.
Back then we were really picky about our hammers, and after having a few, I used a Vaughan 999, 20oz with an extra long handle. I wear a 35 inch slee ve, so the amount of leverage I could generate with that hammer was huge. I learned that the whole trick is in the bottom of the swing when you flick the wrist, NOT using your arm to drive a nail. Learn to sort and orient t he nails in your free hand while driving with the other, and you are on you r way!
After having my helpers break out a few wood handles when I started framing for myself, I changed to a 22oz Plumb fiberglass hammer. I used that so l ong and so much that I wore off one side of the hammer face. Apparently I have a bit of a sidearm motion.
Those were the days...
Robert
Ask any horse who has had a set of horse shoes nailed on. ;)
In my farrier days I got to where I could make a horseshoe nail curve out at a precise line on a hoof based on the sound, the feel, and force of the shoeing hammer blow.
Quick a horse with a nail and you get a reflexive jerk of its leg that can shred your fingers and/or legs on nails already driven, but yet to be clinched.
And, as for a 1200 pound horse appreciating accuracy with the hammer, there is no need for words. :)
Can't beat a good leather handled steel shaft Estwing, in my opinion. You'l never break a handle, the head never comes loose, the leather grip is comfortable, and they are extremely well balanced.
I'm still looking for mine, some how it disappeared. I have the rubber one too, but I really liked the leather one. it was a lighter hammer than my rubber handled one I think it was about 16oz.. I think everyone makes an Estwing clone now. so it's not a big deal, but they are very good hammers.
woodchucker wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@ptd.net:
Time to buy another one so you can find the first. :-)
Puckdropper
Back then we were really picky about our hammers, and after having a few, I used a Vaughan 999, 20oz with an extra long handle. I wear a 35 inch sleeve, so the amount of leverage I could generate with that hammer was huge. I learned that the whole trick is in the bottom of the swing when you flick the wrist, NOT using your arm to drive a nail. Learn to sort and orient the nails in your free hand while driving with the other, and you are on your way!
******************** Was that the steel shank? If it was, I loved it and it is discontinued. I wore out two of them. I wish I could get another one.-- Jim in NC
Can't beat a good leather handled steel shaft Estwing, in my opinion. You'l never break a handle, the head never comes loose, the leather grip is comfortable, and they are extremely well balanced.
********************* Good product, but I have an abnormally large palm and it makes for a large grip. Those Estwings have a very small diameter handle, so much so that my finger nails dig into my hand when gripping the hammer.-- Jim in NC
Nope, it was this one.
Note the 16" handle!
We never used the steel handled hammers as too many of us that hammered nai ls all day long started coming up with bad elbow pain. It was finally isol ated to the steel handles which a lot of us liked since the handles didn' b reak. Bend, yes. Break, no. But there were industry reports, etc., that came out at the time that were from industrial occupational doctors that st udied it.
As a sidebar, there are several hammers now that LOOK the same, but aren't. They have tuning forks, plugs, and all kinds of things in them to resolve that issue. Not sure it was a needed fix as you had to drive a few hundre d nails a day to have that problem show up. NO ONE I know now drives more than a couple of hundred nails by hand a day anymore.
I had the same problem that Morgans did, and that was the fact the handles were too skinny for my meaty palms on those Estwings. I used those Vaughan s until they finally got the fiberglass Plumbs right, then went to a 22oz v ersion of their framing hammer. No more broken handles.
Robert
Nope, it was this one.
Note the 16" handle!
**Yep. I have swung one of those. Did not care for the balance.We never used the steel handled hammers as too many of us that hammered nails all day long started coming up with bad elbow pain. It was finally isolated to the steel handles which a lot of us liked since the handles didn' break. Bend, yes. Break, no. But there were industry reports, etc., that came out at the time that were from industrial occupational doctors that studied it.
**My Uncle was an old time carpenter, and he said never swing more than a 20 or risk the elbow. I took it to heart.As a sidebar, there are several hammers now that LOOK the same, but aren't. They have tuning forks, plugs, and all kinds of things in them to resolve that issue. Not sure it was a needed fix as you had to drive a few hundred nails a day to have that problem show up. NO ONE I know now drives more than a couple of hundred nails by hand a day anymore.
** Mine had a hardwood plug in the top of the head where the handle would come through if it was wood. I never had a problem with my elbow, even though I wore out two of them.**You are right about today nobody pounds nails.
**I did mostly framing for a while, then turnkey, then taught for over 21 years. In those teaching years, I tried to not even carry more than a tape and pencil on most days. If I pounded a nail, a student didn't get to pound that one.**Then I retired and ended going back to work as a crew leader, a working crew leader. At 56 I could still work a 26 year old under the table. And they nicknamed me "hand drive" because I carried a hammer and tool bag with nails and used them frequently! Harrumph!
-- Jim in NC I had the same problem that Morgans did, and that was the fact the handles were too skinny for my meaty palms on those Estwings. I used those Vaughans until they finally got the fiberglass Plumbs right, then went to a 22oz version of their framing hammer. No more broken handles.
Robert
The carpenters I worked with (I was the summer-job-during-college gofer) preferred the wood handles. That little shock, when the head hits the nail, can do a job on tendons, they said. The slight compliance of the wood handle made a significant comfort difference.
for myself, I changed to a 22oz Plumb fiberglass hammer.
The carpenters I worked with (I was the summer-job-during-college gofer) preferred the wood handles. That little shock, when the head hits the nail, can do a job on tendons, they said. The slight compliance of the wood handle made a significant comfort difference.
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