Show me your Hammers

[blackhat]

Last count I was at 70 something hammers, mallets, etc under 4 lbs. Not counting camping hatchets but including a few wood working hatchets. 

Adam, I have a new Vaughn 23 oz steel framing hammer with a similar hatchet style handle. Easily the nicest and most effective framing hammer I've used. I wonder if the advantage isn't largely in the handle.

[Timberwolf]

I think I know the company you mean. Pretty sure it was the only US manufacturer. Also pretty sure nobody is making them in the US anymore. Mine has a head from China married to an American handle in the USA.

The physics behind the claims of equal power fascinated me. Quick answer; it’s an impulse momentum issue which helped me understand my dead blows. But the physics don’t instantly guarantee a swing that’s twice as fast. Still, it’s a pretty nice hammer. But I’m a little careful with the claw.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
But I’m a little careful with the claw.

I'm with you there...It's lighter than aluminum even tho it is much stronger, I still wouldn't trust it...

[Bill Holt]

My favorite is a rare claw hammer:

And the winner is...…...

[adamcherubini]

To be fair, there’s a lot to hammers; the length of the head, the angle it makes with the handle. But for sure the handles are a huge part of the tool experience (not unlike saws or other hand tools). My patternmakers hammer had a thin neck that I felt provided whip action. That could be baloney, but it probably did reduce the impulse force a bit, which is the claim of the titanium hammers. Here’s the equation:

mv = SFdt

So, as you swing a hammer it’s speed accelerates. At the moment of impact, it possesses momentum= mass x velocity. So lighter hammers typically produce less momentum.

At the moment of impact the velocity goes to zero, and the momentum turns into an impulse which is the integral of force over time (dt). A soft hammer like titanium or rubber, elastically deforms, making the moment of impact longer and therefore lessens the force imparted. Best example is a dead blow hammer. They can be heavy and can possess a great deal of momentum, but they don’t marr wood because the force they hit with is lower because it takes place over a longer time. This is also the reason cars have "crumple zones" and more metal isn't always safer.

We really like our dead blow hammers. I’ve been using one to drive my framing chisels. I feel a sharp rap is harder on the tool’s edge. Dead blows are better at pushing.

For nailing, hammers need to produce enough force to overcome the strength of the wood fibers and friction between the nail and the wood. Too much force, so say the titanium hammer manufacturers, causes the nail and maybe the hammer head to elastically deform. This doesn't help you drive the nail in. Keep in mind that a very hard steel hammer will hit that nail for a very short amount of time. The force generated can be tremendous. That’s how impulses work. So hammer manufacturers are looking for a sweet spot, hard enough not to be damaged by nails or prying, and soft enough to drive a nail without unhelpful deformations. Titanium seems like a reasonable solution.

I think hammers are interesting tools. For sure though, head design aside, I think many of us would choose the hammer that feels best in our hands.

[Timberwolf]

To be fair, there’s a lot to hammers; the length of the head, the angle it makes with the handle. But for sure the handles are a huge part of the tool experience (not unlike saws or other hand tools). My patternmakers hammer had a thin neck that I felt provided whip action. That could be baloney, but it probably did reduce the impulse force a bit, which is the claim of the titanium hammers.  Here’s the equitation:

Mv = SFdt

So as you swing a hammer it’s speed accelerates. At the moment of impact, it possesses momentum= mass x velocity. So lighter hammers typically produce less momentum.

At the moment of impact the velocity goes to zero, and the momentum turns into an impulse which is the integral of force over time (dt). A soft hammer like titanium or rubber, elastically deforms, making the moment of impact longer and therefore the force imparted less.  Best example is a dead blow hammer. They can be heavy and can possess a great deal of momentum, but they don’t marr wood because the force they hit with is lower because it takes place for a longer time.

We really like our dead blow hammers. I’ve been using one to drive my framing chisels. I felel a sharp rap is harder on the tool’s edge. Dead blows are better at pushing.

For nailing, hammers need to produce enough force to overcome the strength of the wood fibers and friction between the nail and the wood. Too much force, so say the titanium hammer manufacturers, just causes the nail and maybe the hammer head to elastically deform. Keep in mind that a very hard steel hammer will hit that nail for a very short amount of time. The force generated can be tremendous. That’s how impulses work. So hammer manufacturers are looking for a sweet spot, hard enough not to be damaged by nails or prying, and soft enough to drive a nail without unhelpful deformations.

I think hammers are interesting tools. For sure tho, head design aside, I think many of us would choose the hammer that feels best in our hands.

........................
A few years ago at a tool meet, I purchased "The Hammer Book" for ten bucks...It was not a large book....Before I left the tool meet I had several offers to buy it, one offer was for $100.00, but I turned it down...A few months later I sold it on Ebay for $125.00.. It was the most comprehensive book on hammers I have ever seen..It was not in print at the time..I'm not sure whether or not it has been since then.
I have several lead hammers...They have traditionally been used by machinists for many years, frequently used to "center" stock in a lathe chuck because lead has little "rebound"...works much better than hammers made of steel...they work more like a deadblow.

[DavidRobertson]

This summer I found one of my Great-Grandfather's hammers and put a new handle on it.   That started me on a slope...

Here's my bench stuff now (omitting sledges and hatchets).  From left to right:
- Modern Stanley AntiVibe hammer, does indeed work pretty good!
- Just got here from Grainger... A British joiner's hammer or Warrington hammer, very cool.  You don't see many in the USA.
- My reliable Craftsman ball-peen.
- The 2-lb ball-peen from G-G-Father which I re-handled, modifying an ACE H/W handle.
- A cross-peen hammer which I handled from scratch hickory, probably my favorite of all these for how it feels and swings.
- A reliable rawhide mallet.




How about yours?

Chris

Here is my little collection.  Confused on how to insert pictures.  Not sure if it is going through.

David

[MarkSingleton]

Wow, talk about wall space devoted to hammers!!
Very impressive.

I don't have space to spare, so mine are (mostly)
in racks....

The right side of my wood bench:

   



Another recently added rack on my metal working bench
in the garage:

   


And on a related ( Sorta!) note, my "Stroke-a-Genius" File
Rack ( From Guy Lautards' Machinist Bedside Reader )

   

[C. in Indy]

I'm enjoying all the replies!   Thank you.

Chris

[Stwood_]

This is all of them........I think.
  19, including my mechanical hammers.

   

   

[adamcherubini]

Those Snap On hammers are nice. I have a few of those. The one in the middle looks like the slimline model. I have the Stanley version of this and it’s my favorite deadblow. The overmolded handles on those hammers are very nice.