How many hammers do you think one needs, and does it matter a lot where you get them (Sears comes to mind as the standard source)?
If some hammer sources are inferior (HF?), then why (not properly heat-treated?)?
Thanks, Bill
Hmm... I have (counts) nine hammers, if you could the wooden mallet I made. Three regular hammers, various weights, various claw shapes. Three dead-blow, various sizes. Two sledge (3lb and 8lb). One wooden mallet. Wait... ten, there's a stainless steel one in the kitchen. I think I have a half-weight regular one too, eleven. My kids have a few of their own too.
The only ones I have issue with are the wooden handled ones, only because they seem to either break or come loose over time. Repairable, but annoying.
Consider yourself lucky you don't have some the new Stiletto Titanium hammers (or maybe you do). At some of them running $300 a pop, you'd be in the poor house a long time ago.
Hmmm.... I have ... lessee... three claw hammers of varying sizes, 32oz engineers hammer, 3# hand sledge, urethane mallet, two ball pein hammers of different sizes, and at least one tack hammer. Ummm.... nine. And I'm not sure that's enough.
The handle (shock absorption and grip) is important, as is the angle of the head to the handle, and the face to the handle. A hammer that has the face parallel to the handle will bend a lot of nails. IIRC the angle on a decent hammer is something on the order of 3 degrees (head toward the handle).
Tempering, as you pointed out, is another aspect. *NEVER* hit a cut, or other concrete nail, with a hammer intended for common nails. A friend almost lost an eye with that trick. After something like fifteen eye surgeries in fifteen days the surgeon was able to save it.
Personal preference has a lot to do with it too. Some like steel shanks, others wood or fiberglass. Some don't like anything from HF.
Depends on what you use them for.
Two rawhide hammers for my leatherwork. One chipped wooden hammer made in a Grade 5 woodshop and saved because of nostalgia. One rubber headed mallet. One dead blow hammer. Two steel headed, wooden handle claw hammers. One ball peen hammer. One tack hammer. A plastic headed hammer. One small hand sledge hammer. (which I intend to use for my UTube premier of me smashing up a $350 computer motherboard)
Those eleven are what I can remember, but they're all important additions to the history of my tool acquisitions. The best I can say about them is they're a graphic representation of my do it yourself attitude. :)
I popbably have in the area of 15 to 20 different hammers, In addition to those mentioned.
A couple of framing hammers, a couple of different mason's hammers, a drywall hammer, a shingling (i.e shake shingle) hammer...
I've even got one of the "Bell System" lineman's hammers (1770 in this weeks "Was is it" quiz).
Well, HF 16 oz, hammers are only $2.79 (Black Friday sale with coupon). I'll wager they have exactly the same manufacturing processes as other hammers. I've never heard of one shattering or bending.
The only thing you need to do is scuff the head by dragging it across the concrete.
A better lesson to take out of that experience is to never use a hammer without eye protection.
One claw that I bought in the '70's to build a workshop. Another I inherited from my dad. Both Craftsman. Those are the ones that get most use when not using air nailers. I have a few plastic soft hammers, etc. Cannot imagine spending a fortune on exotic metals and design.
Its a hammer dammit.
RonB
I have three hammers:
Plumb 16-oz claw hammer (least used) Plumb 10-oz ball peen hammer HF 32-oz "non-marking" rubber hammer (most used)
I once bought an 88-cent special from 84 Lumber. The first claw fell off when I tried to pull a 10d nail, and the other while I was _driving_ a
16d nail. I drove down to Red Oaks Mill Hardware, bought the first Plumb, and haven't had a problem since. Mine all have wooden handles.Counting hammers is tough!
I have 8 ball peen hammers, three sledges 8, 5, 3. Engineer's hammer 9# Long head tack, tap, framing, regular, regular with tuning fork (works!), black dead-blow, Brass, wood, plastic, ......
I have been collecting hammers since 1950. I had a tool box by then and still have it. It is made of thick STEEL.
The long head and my old framer are over 50 years old. My engineers is about 8 years old and the three are likely like none in most boxes.
Mart> Hmm... I have (counts) nine hammers, if you could the wooden mallet I
I got at least ten or twelve, including a baby claw hammers for hanging things on the wall. I got a coupon from ace hardware and ended up paying about 16 cents for it. Very good for its intended purpose.
I got a baby sledge, for "persausion" work. A couple "soft" hammers for work that can not be marred or dented. A ball peen hammer. I have fiberrglass, steel and wood handled hammers. I use what I think is appropriate or comfortable for a particular job.
My favorite? It is a wooden handled hammer that has an ergonomic curve to it.When I hit a nail, the finished position is with my hand straight. It is easier on my wrist.
I have a whole box of hammers.
2 framing hammers, one with a flat face and one with a knurled face, that I used in high school and college for summer jobs 3 general purpose claw hammers, one was my grandfathers. 2 ball peen hammers, one little from my Dad, on REALLY big that I inherited from my grandfather in law (GFIL). 1 roofer's hammer from GFIL 1 "jointmakers hammer" from Bridge City, a gift from the love of my life 1 "jointmaker's hammer" my Dad made from a piece of octagonal brass stock (he made everything he needed or wanted) One tack hammer that was my grandfather's and Dad's before me 2 sledge hammers, 3 lb, I use to break rocks (I'm a geologist by profession) 1 rock hammer (see previous) 1 maul for splitting firewoodPlus 3 wooden mallets for hitting chisels and stuff Plus a rubber mallet for hitting my kids and stuff
If you want more, check out the catolog for The Japan Woodworker. They got all kinna' hammers for just about everything. (Disclaimers apply, I'm simply a satisfied customer and they have a great selection of tools).
-Zz
One claw that I bought in the '70's to build a workshop. Another I inherited from my dad. Both Craftsman.
I inherited my grandfather's toolbox in 1975. Ten years later, somebody broke in to my hatchback (Omni) after audio speakers, and took the toolbox...but I had brought the hammer into my apartment to hang a picture just before that. So that
20-22 oz hammer is the "rest of the story" (at least for the time being). It has served my apartmental hammering needs since then.Tage Frid suggested collecting a 12 oz. hammer, and they were actually out of that particular size on my last trip to Sears. My question was really motiated by my curiosity as to whether these sorts of Craftsman hand tools still offer the best bang for the buck. I know that their power tools are not well-regarded here.
Back around '72, my dad sold me on Craftsman tools, and my grand-dad sold me on Buick (autos)-- he worked for Chevrolet. As if you didn't already know, I would be too saddened to update you on the progress of both of those brands since that time...
Bill
I think that their Mechanic's tools (including hammers) are still well-regarded, especially in the realm of hobiest/home mechanics. It's their power tools (table saws, routers, router accesories, &tc.) that are suspect. But don't trust other's opinions over your own gut feelings. I buy sockets, wrenches, pliers, scewdrivers, &tc. from Sears all the time, and will continue to do so.
Also, I recall that they may sell different brands, i.e. "Sear's" vs. "Craftsman".
-Zz
On Sat, 7 Nov 2009 18:53:00 -0500, the infamous "Bill" scrawled the following:
What do you do with them? I do NOT buy from Searz, ever.
I have a waffle head for framing, smooth face for finishing, tack hammers, warrington cabinetmaker's hammer, rock hammer, tack hammer, planishing hammer, tiny claw hammer for shoes and stuff, drilling hammers, 5lb sledge, 10lb sledge, various sizes of ball peens, dead blow hammers, Nupla replaceable-face hammers, rubber mallets, wooden mallets, polyurethane carving mallet, brass antispark hammers, brass/wood plane hammers, welder's chipping hammer/brush, stone trimming hammers, & sheetmetal bumping hammers.
And after all that, I normally fasten construction projects with screws and/or lags. ;)
My favorite hammer for screwless construction is the HF waffle-headed
22oz framer. It's the best $3 I've spent in a long time. I had to buy a second one this decade because I missed a nail behind a sharp metal guard and sheared the head halfway off the one I bought in '92 or so. I haven't been affected by poor heat treating. I've seen hammer heads break in two, but I've never seen a chip from a brittle head, nor have I been damaged by one (other than the normal blue fingers/thumbs.) YMMV-- The Smart Person learns from his mistakes. The Wise Person learns from the mistakes of others. And then there are all the rest of us...
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"Bill" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news5.newsguy.com:
You only need 1 hammer at a time. It's rare on a project for me to use two hammers in conjunction with each other, and when I do it's usually trying another one because the first wasn't doing the job well.
Still can't use more than 1 at a time, though.
Puckdropper
That too, but steel on steel is a bad combination. BTW, it wasn't the nail that got him. It was the hammer.
My two hammers (one straight claw and the other curved) I bought 30+ years ago. Yep, Craftsman. They're identical (other than the claw). Of course I have an assortment of other hammers (though didn't think the OP was talking about 20# sledges) but only those two claw hammers. It's been a long time since they've driven a nail though. ;-)
There is a difference between them. I'm partial to fiberglass shanks. ;-)
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