The hammer thread

C

Charlie_K

Joined
Jul 16, 2012
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There's been discussions about a lot more in this forum than just axes and their brethren. There's also been talk about shovels, pitchforks, rakes, and a number of other outside implements. So with that thought in mind I'd like to bring up another topic; hammers. More specifically, hammers used in construction work, be they framing hammers, drilling hammers, or even sledge hammers. Everybody has a favorite type that they turn to most when they need to pound away at something. So let's see some pictures, hear some stories, and discuss this matter.

My favorite hammer is my Estwing framing hammer (technically a finishing hammer since it didn't have a milled face) that I got at the pawn shop for real cheap. Despite seeing a ton of use by the previous owner(s) it's still going strong for me, and I don't see it breaking anytime soon. This thing is incredible when a nail has to be tended to, since there's so much more striking power compared to a regular 16 oz. hammer.
 
Good idea. I speak fluent hammer. I am very opinionated on the subject but am mellowing in my old age.:)

This is a Goldblatt drywall hammer.

The head and the blade are offset from 90 degrees and in the right directions. The head is a full circle as it should be(unlike some made today), less likely to tear paper. Like wise the milled face is concentric circles rather than a sharp waffle pattern that tears paper.

Easy to nail in corners with the blade out of the way and the hand is never to close to the wall with the offset head. Comfortable to use and as perfect a drywall hammer as I have ever held. It seems to be a welded construction that I find strange.
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Goldblatt is well known for making good tools for the plaster and drywall (and cement finishers?) industry but I was unaware of their making hammers. I suspect that the classic Estwing version (which is also offset and has a dimpled face) is more durable by virtue of not being cast and/or welded. You know you're getting old when you've actually bought things like this new and used them heavily for a couple of years commercially before scru-guns took over!
 
Legion, is that a TT Rocket? Been awhile since I seen one of those still in use.

300, Goldblatt still in buisness?
 
This is one subject I don't believe in the "To bad they don't make em' like they use to"

After both hands going through Carpal Tunnel surgery I will stand by my choice of a the Stiletto Titanium 14oz. Swings and impacts like a tool much larger but doesn't leave my joints screaming for air. After 26 years of this as a living I can speak with modest authority.
 
Even though I started this thread, I've got a question to be asking. How much of a difference in quality is there between the Estwing brand hammers, and the Stanley brand hammers that use a similar all-metal construction?
 
I have a problem - when I see an old hammer by the road I stop and pick it up. When I see a nice hammer cheap at a garage sale I buy it. When my dad died I couldn't bear to sell any of his hammers. The result:
















That "stick" is a "froe club", the two wooden mallets are home made. I have 2-3 more but one is at work a rubber mallet is lost and an engineer's hammer is put away at the back of a bunch of other stuff.
 
garry3 said:
Legion, is that a TT Rocket? Been awhile since I seen one of those still in use.

300, Goldblatt still in buisness?
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The current Goldblatt catalogue is 96 pages of tile setter/cement finisher/drywall/painter tools and lo and behold they still offer a 14 inch and a 16 inch wood-handled drywall hammer. The current ones don't look to be offset very much, if at all. Judging by the number and variety of products offered I suspect the stamp 'made in China' will be on most of the stuff.
 
Charlie_K said:
Even though I started this thread, I've got a question to be asking. How much of a difference in quality is there between the Estwing brand hammers, and the Stanley brand hammers that use a similar all-metal construction?
Click to expand...

I can just speak of the older stuff. Estwing was head and shoulders above the rest. Just a better design.
I hate steel handles myself, but Estwing has earned a reputation for well made durable tools for a reason.
 
300Six said:
The current Goldblatt catalogue is 96 pages of tile setter/cement finisher/drywall/painter tools and lo and behold they still offer a 14 inch and a 16 inch wood-handled drywall hammer. The current ones don't look to be offset very much, if at all. Judging by the number and variety of products offered I suspect the stamp 'made in China' will be on most of the stuff.
Click to expand...

Interesting I will look them up. Thanks
 
garry3 said:
I can just speak of the older stuff. Estwing was head and shoulders above the rest. Just a better design.
I hate steel handles myself, but Estwing has earned a reputation for well made durable tools for a reason.
Click to expand...

As a 'skin' (20 year old summer student) on a commercial construction job site in 1973 I was instructed to hurriedly remove a bunch of concrete forming nails before an inspection. And old carpenter there foolishly lent me his prize Stanley 16 oz. First kick I made at this hammer with the claw on a spike and the tube handle folded over. The owner was some sore about that! From the trunk of my car I retrieved the Estwing "safe-t-shape" 20 oz framer that I'd bought 6 months before and removed all of the remaining Ramset pins via similarly 'booting' the hammer. The abuse didn't faze that implement! Yes they are tough. But swinging them constantly (I was a roofer/framer for a few years in the late 70s-early 80s) does mess up your wrists and forearms. Don Sutherland in the movie Kelly's Heroes summed it up quite nicely: "negative waves, man".
Stanley was pre-eminent in the tool trade for 100+ years and somehow lost their way starting in the 1970s. It's been downhill for them ever since.
If whatever you're safely doing with a hammer can't be accomplished by one with a wood handle then a different or better tool is called for.
I still have my first and primary Estwing and one day I'm going to clean it up and mount it on the wall; it made more money for me over 40 years than the 2 college diplomas and 2 university degrees I attained.
 
300Six said:
As a 'skin' (20 year old summer student) on a commercial construction job site in 1973 I was instructed to hurriedly remove a bunch of concrete forming nails before an inspection. And old carpenter there foolishly lent me his prize Stanley 16 oz. First kick I made at this hammer with the claw on a spike and the tube handle folded over. The owner was some sore about that! From the trunk of my car I retrieved the Estwing "safe-t-shape" 20 oz framer that I'd bought 6 months before and removed all of the remaining Ramset pins via similarly 'booting' the hammer. The abuse didn't faze that implement! Yes they are tough. But swinging them constantly (I was a roofer/framer for a few years in the late 70s-early 80s) does mess up your wrists and forearms. Don Sutherland in the movie Kelly's Heroes summed it up quite nicely: "negative waves, man".
Stanley was pre-eminent in the tool trade for 100+ years and somehow lost their way starting in the 1970s. It's been downhill for them ever since.
If whatever you're safely doing with a hammer can't be accomplished by one with a wood handle then a different or better tool is called for.
I still have my first and primary Estwing and one day I'm going to clean it up and mount it on the wall; it made more money for me over 40 years than the 2 college diplomas and 2 university degrees I attained.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting story, no argument there. But I just don't trust tubular hammers. I meant the all-metal anti-vibe brand of Stanley hammers that look like they're trying to copy what Estwing was already doing quite well.
 
I prefer the Estwing 16oz curved claw for every day use. Its heavy enough for most tasks and doesn't wear me out. If I were sinking nails all day I would look for something with a wooden handle. Most of my hammer use is striking a flat bar, cats paw, chisel or knocking things into place. At 16 ounces, its just about perfect for all those things without going overboard. The curved claw is nice for removing all kinds of fasteners.
 
I'm working on my brother-in-law's grandpa's sledge... A 7.5# Birkinshaw with a rounded vertical peen. Never seen anything like it.
 
Charlie_K said:
Even though I started this thread, I've got a question to be asking. How much of a difference in quality is there between the Estwing brand hammers, and the Stanley brand hammers that use a similar all-metal construction?
Click to expand...

The newer Stanley hammers have a softer steel.

but I like the old Stanley tools and never pass them up when I find them at flea markets if the price is right.
 
Axe Master '94 said:
I'm working on my brother-in-law's grandpa's sledge... A 7.5# Birkinshaw with a rounded vertical peen. Never seen anything like it.
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Pictures please. Sounds like you are describing a straight peen. Blacksmithes used some really big hammers back in the day.
 
No love for Hart hammers? They were things of beauty. I'll have to take a picture of mine.
 
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Here is the hammer I used for 6 years as an electrician. Every time I go to use it, it's like reuniting with a old friend. I put a dimple in it so I could tell it was mine. Someone drew some male genitals on it, so I used a paint marker to make it black. Some days I miss construction, most days I don't.
 
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