# Hammers



## chewy (May 9, 2010)

I remember someone a while ago after an Estwing electricians hammer, I just stumbled across this and although unusual looking it could be an option with the longer nose.


http://www.pjtool.com/estwingasianpatternhammer-1-1-1.aspx


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

When I wad an apprentice I bought an electrians hammer. It was a pain in the ass because it is too long to swing between studs and joists and I don't need the long nose to nail boxes up.


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

BBQ said:


> When I wad an apprentice I bought an electrians hammer. It was a pain in the ass because it is too long to swing between studs and joists and I don't need the long nose to nail boxes up.


Yeah they aren't my cup of tea but just remembered a guy was trying to find one. 

I like my Vaughan 999 super framer because I can side hammer when the stud bay is too small and use the weight to drive the nail when I cant swing it fast enough in such tight spaces. Most of the time the 18 inch handle is just the right height for me to reach up into a suspended ceiling and hook a snake or cable down without a ladder. The hickory handle is nice for helping put the lid on capping and wire mold also.


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

BBQ said:


> When I wad an apprentice I bought an electrians hammer. It was a pain in the ass because it is too long to swing between studs and joists and I don't need the long nose to nail boxes up.


Agreed. I had one, used it for a few months, then permanently retired it. It's way too heavy and awkward to use.


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

Peter D said:


> Agreed. I had one, used it for a few months, then permanently retired it. It's way too heavy and awkward to use.


I thought they were only a 16oz head? :blink:


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

chewy said:


> I thought they were only a 16oz head? :blink:


Sorry for the confusion, mine wasn't an Estwing. It was a Klein and I think it was a 22 or 24 oz.


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

Peter D said:


> Sorry for the confusion, mine wasn't an Estwing. It was a Klein and I think it was a 22 or 24 oz.


Ah I see, I thought they were all just 16oz. We dont have them here, sparks just use ball peins or 20oz curved claw hammers mainly.


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

chewy said:


> Ah I see, I thought they were all just 16oz. We dont have them here, sparks just use ball peins or 20oz curved claw hammers mainly.



I thought you only spoke in metric. :laughing:


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

Peter D said:


> I thought you only spoke in metric. :laughing:


Only when it suits, Hammers are still in oz and lb, framing timber (we dont use "lumber") is know as four be two even though its 90x45 and fence pailings are known as one be sixes even though theyre actually 150x25. 

Nails are metric but screws are imperial, I use 8x3/4 or 8x1 for screwing on boxes (we dont nail them) and you would use 10x4s instead of a 4mm 100mm nail.


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## bubb_tubbs (Apr 15, 2012)

Pretty much the same here as far as measurements go.

Hammer-wise, I use a hand sledge since all I drive are anchor pins. Pliers can put in rawl plugs.


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## oldtimer (Jun 10, 2010)

BBQ said:


> When I wad an apprentice I bought an electrians hammer. It was a pain in the ass because it is too long to swing between studs and joists and I don't need the long nose to nail boxes up.


 

How do you wad an apprentice electrian ? :laughing:


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## captkirk (Nov 21, 2007)

I keep both on the van... Every once in a blue moon the long neck is handy for hard to reach areas like sill plate and such.... but i agree for normal use its a little awkward..


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## erics37 (May 7, 2009)

My hammer was a $5 clearance special at Ace Hardware. I don't get too attached to the things.


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## stuiec (Sep 25, 2010)

oldtimer said:


> How do you wad an apprentice electrian ? :laughing:


With an electrian's hammer, can't you read? Sounds like it was a PITA though...


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## davis9 (Mar 21, 2009)

The Klein Electricians hammer is all I use. Very handy for sills. No problem using it in standard stud bays. Anything tighter I use it to hit my linesmans into the nail or staple. See no reason to carry more than one hammer, unless it's a baby sledge.

Tom


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## Vintage Sounds (Oct 23, 2009)

I have 19 oz axe-handle Vaughan Bluemax framing hammer. I started a thread about it a while ago...I think you even posted your shipbuilding hatchet in it or something. I love my Bluemax. It's a little overkill because I'm not a framer but it drives nails like butter and smashes out blocking in less swings than my old 16 oz cheapie hammer. Also there were very few other choices except Vaughan and Estwing for a non-China hammer.

The one you posted is kind of cool though. Seems like a very sharp angle for a claw.


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

Vintage Sounds said:


> I have 19 oz axe-handle Vaughan Bluemax framing hammer. I started a thread about it a while ago...I think you even posted your shipbuilding hatchet in it or something. I love my Bluemax. It's a little overkill because I'm not a framer but it drives nails like butter and smashes out blocking in less swings than my old 16 oz cheapie hammer. Also there were very few other choices except Vaughan and Estwing for a non-China hammer.


I like the Vaughans, good steel and balance, I alternate between a 21oz california framer by a small American company called Hunter and a 32oz Vaughan 999 Super Framer, you could probably call it a psychological defect but I worry about being "under gunned" with certain things and that hammer puts me at ease, same reason I only played defense in hockey, I couldn't trust anyone but myself to keep the team away from the goalie.

That hatchet is a Estwing Rig Axe, I use it for pulling cables out in the **** when I need to cut and drive stakes to figure 8 the cables. They were originally used by carpenters building oil derricks out west in America, before sawmills and electric planers it was common to hew timbers with an axe. Those guys then moved into California during the building boom and brought their axes with them to frame with, OSHA got involved as they do and many of them cut the blade off their axes and had claws from another hammer welded on, thus the snub nosed, heavy weighted, axe handled California framer was born.



Vintage Sounds said:


> The one you posted is kind of cool though. Seems like a very sharp angle for a claw.


Yes it does, its the same claw as a carpenters dog bar or catspaw, could be useful though redundant for prying timber apart with minimal damage.


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## Ty Wrapp (Aug 24, 2011)

chewy said:


> I like the Vaughans, good steel and balance, I alternate between a 21oz california framer by a small American company called Hunter and a 32oz Vaughan 999 Super Framer ...
> 
> Vaughns, made in Kentucky. 32oz, you must have arms like Popeye :laughing:


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

No but Ive been called Bluto, haha. I dont spend all day hammering and its not bad at all once you get used to it.


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

captkirk said:


> I keep both on the van... Every once in a blue moon the long neck is handy for hard to reach areas like sill plate and such.... but i agree for normal use its a little awkward..


What do you mean by sill plate? I know what a sill is... But havent heard the term sill plate.


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

chewy said:


> What do you mean by sill plate? I know what a sill is... But havent heard the term sill plate.


The area or void on top the basement wall. 
The section that is bolted down and insulated. 
It can be hard to reach in to when drilling down from the first floor.


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

Wirenuting said:


> The area or void on top the basement wall.
> The section that is bolted down and insulated.
> It can be hard to reach in to when drilling down from the first floor.


Thanks, we dont generally build basements on houses over here.


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## MIKEFLASH (Apr 14, 2012)

Fatmax 22 oz anti vibe love it


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

chewy said:


> Thanks, we dont generally build basements on houses over here.



We don't build basements "On" houses over here also. 
I guess we have more in common then I thought.
LoL.


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## Cujo (Feb 4, 2012)

I use a 20oz Eastwing hammer. My old man is a framer by trade and in my teens I use to help him out during summers/when he was busy. He told me first day on the job I would have to learn how to use a hammer before I "moved up" to a better hammer. I do get a kick out of the guys that choke up on their hammer all the way because it is way too heavy for them, or who get the biggest hammer then can find but still can't swing a hammer.

He eventually did let me move up... to a 22oz Eastwing. I went back to the 20oz as an electrician and it is still more then i really need.


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

Wirenuting said:


> We don't build basements "On" houses over here also.
> I guess we have more in common then I thought.
> LoL.


Ok we dont build houses OVER basements here. :laughing:


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

chewy said:


> Ok we dont build houses OVER basements here. :laughing:


Oh man, I was just about to move there and get rich.
I was going to start a basement leak repair company. A life time warrantee never to leak. 
LoL


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## bubb_tubbs (Apr 15, 2012)

Cujo said:


> I use a 20oz Eastwing hammer. My old man is a framer by trade and in my teens I use to help him out during summers/when he was busy. He told me first day on the job I would have to learn how to use a hammer before I "moved up" to a better hammer. I do get a kick out of the guys that choke up on their hammer all the way because it is way too heavy for them, or who get the biggest hammer then can find but still can't swing a hammer.
> 
> He eventually did let me move up... to a 22oz Eastwing. I went back to the 20oz as an electrician and it is still more then i really need.


Estwing.


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

i built a green (local saw mill) helmock barn w/30 penny nails & a 28 oz Estwing years ago

they are hands down, the absolute worst framing hammer in terms of that forearm tendon that will ache for months and months and months.....








~CS~


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

Thats why I prefer hickory handles, they will break before your arn does.


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

i see a lotta these here>


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## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

Hammer for nailing? I use nail guns for about everything that needs put together. For taking things apart and beating on things I use a hammer.


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

chicken steve said:


> i see a lotta these here>


Does Tom know you have his hammers? :laughing:


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## Amish Electrician (Jan 2, 2010)

I will admit I am partial to Estwing, though there are many fine makes out there.

When I first entered the trade, I bought an Estwing electricians' hammer. I might even still have it- somewhere. I have yet -decades later- to drive a nail with it. It didn't do so well with romex staples. My main use is to show it to apprentice classes, so they can see what one looks like.

I do have a fiberglass-handles "normal" hammer, though the hammer only WORKS like a normal hammer. When Estwing went fiberglass, they completely redesigned the thing, with a final result that looks like a prop from Star Trek. Curved handle, square face, the thing is a dream. My 'strike to hit' ratio nas really improved. I still don't use it much.

No, my main hammer is a short-handled 2-lb 'drilling hammer.' Looks like a tiny sledge. This doesn't need much of a swing to drive a staple, and is useful in tight spaces or when laying on my back in a crawl space.


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

Amish Electrician said:


> I do have a fiberglass-handles "normal" hammer, though the hammer only WORKS like a normal hammer. When Estwing went fiberglass, they completely redesigned the thing, with a final result that looks like a prop from Star Trek. Curved handle, square face, the thing is a dream. My 'strike to hit' ratio nas really improved. I still don't use it much.


I remember those, I havent seen them in years. If you swing your hammer higher your brain has more time to self correct aswell.


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## Knauer (Jun 6, 2011)

I went to stiletto a few years ago for the ti-bone framing hammers full titanium I get **** all the time for buying $300 hammers but my forearm never bothers me anymore and it was actually lighter than my 16 oz Stanley bostitch. Not to mention replaceable nailing faces.


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

Knauer said:


> I went to stiletto a few years ago for the ti-bone framing hammers full titanium I get **** all the time for buying $300 hammers but my forearm never bothers me anymore and it was actually lighter than my 16 oz Stanley bostitch. Not to mention replaceable nailing faces.


How do you find the Ti Bone for prying and have you ever snapped the bolt that connects the steel face to the titanium?


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## Knauer (Jun 6, 2011)

chewy said:


> How do you find the Ti Bone for prying and have you ever snapped the bolt that connects the steel face to the titanium?


Honestly I've never had any problems. I was using one demo my shower wall, all tile I thought is have to worry about breaking the claw. The hammer is a beast. I also love the nail pull built into the side of the hammer.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

Hammer threads always amaze me.


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

sbrn33 said:


> Hammer threads always amaze me.


I collect them, haha.


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## oldtimer (Jun 10, 2010)

Ottawa Valley slang , Not hammer ...... HARMER.

If you hit your thumb , you will see why. :whistling2:

:laughing::laughing:


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## bubb_tubbs (Apr 15, 2012)

sbrn33 said:


> Hammer threads always amaze me.


My hammer doesn't have any threads on it, just a blunt face.

Is that bad?


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