Dead Blow Hammers

[Bill Bob]

Yesterday while in shop working on some farm equipment.  Using a 4 lb. hammer but the recoil was a pain in the arse.   Do the plastic coated hammers have a metal head under the coating are are they suitable to heaver work?
Bill

[Hank Knight]

Bill Bob,

The covering on Stanley polyurethane hammers like this one:
is easily damaged by sharp metal edges.

There are other dead blow designs that may work better like this one:

[Bruce Haugen]

When my 1lb Stanley dead blow finally gave up the ghost, it revealed a metal shell inside.  I also have a 4 lb Stanley dead blow for the occasions when something needs real persuading.

[kenl]

I have one from harbour freight that I bought a dozen years ago and I wouldn't be without it. The non-marring feature is as useful as the dead blow feature. They were?are cheap so different sizes could likely be a good idea. They have them from 1lb to 4lb and $6-$12.

[Bill Bob]

Ok, thanks all,  I think I need one here.
Bill

[blackhat]

A lead block placed against the spot needing hit can be an effective way to transmit force while being fairly non marring. It's easy to reshape once it gets mangled. I use an old muffin pan to pour lead ingots. A cheap propane torch is adequate for melting lead.

[GeorgeV]

Ditto on the Harbor Freight dead blow hammers.

[Boatman53]

Blackhat, that explains the several lead cylinders I have that are mushroomed on both ends. I got them from my dad and uncle, both were tool and die makers. 
Jim

[Greg Jones]

I worked for a time as a lathe machinist right out of high school (many years ago) and we used lead babbet hammers that looks like round woodworking mallets, except we held them in an overhand stabbing position and hammered against the top of the head. When the babbet became too mushroomed to be effective, we would melt them down and cast them again. Irreplaceable tool for eliminating run-out when chucking large parts in a lathe.

[HomerLee]

Speaking from experience I would add a word of caution when pouring melted lead into anything. As a youngster I got molten lead splattered on my face because there was a small amount of moisture in a cable socket that I was pouring lead into. Fortunately none got into my eyes; I was not wearing any glasses, safety or otherwise. Good idea to heat whatever you are pouring lead into to ensure no moisture is present.

Hot lead + moisture = instant explosion.