Hammers..

[PeterW]

... they are just hammers aren't they ...??

 

I need to replace my claw hammer, but I was surprised at the sheer range (and prices...!!) of them as I've found them from £3 to £50.

 

So does anyone recommend a brand or a reasonably priced claw hammer ..? I'm fairly hard on tools and expect them to last, some of my tools are my dads trade tools that are over 50 years old and are still going strong.  

[joe90]

Well I have had loads of hammers and my latest one is a fairly cheapie but it is a good as some more expensive ones I have had in the past. Screwfix item 7620c ( can't do links from my iPad) it's a forge steel and bright red ( difficult to loose) and only £11.99.

[ProDave]

I honestly could not tell you what make my hammer is. I chose it because it has an orange handle and is ever so slightly less hard to find when you have put it down somewhere.

 

The only hammer I have ever broken was an old wooden handled one and I was trying to remove a really stubborn nail and the handle snapped. More modern metal handled hammers don't seem to suffer from that.

 

Otherwise they differ in size and weight.
 

[Barney12]

I do like a nice wooden shaft personally.

but I must admit for "construction" I tend to reach for my FatMax.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stanley-151277-FatMax-Curve-Hammer/dp/B00481IK9A

but in all honesty I think Dave is right.

Pop down to your local DIY shed and fondle a few shafts for girth, length and weight

 

 

[joe90]

As far as weight is concerned I prefer 20oz, I find 16 oz to light to drive large nails but ok for panel pins etc.

[Construction Channel]

Either a 20 oz straight claw Estwing. (the last hammer you will ever buy)

Or a £5 hammer from one of the sheds. (will do the job, but you won't care about it as much so will probably get lost)

I would highly recommend a straight over curved claw. 

[RichS]

+1 on the Estwing, but probably only worth it if you are really going to be doing some serious nailing.

[ToughButterCup]

42 minutes ago, PeterW said:

... they are just hammers aren't they ...??

 

So does anyone recommend a brand or a reasonably priced claw hammer ..?

 

OK, me with my spaz hands : got eight fingers of which only six work properly and two just get in the effin' way all the time, I'd just love to have the excuse to buy one of these magnetic hammers. Picking things up to hit with a hammer like as not results in bloodied thumbs and fumbled miss-hits.

 

Yes they're overly expensive, and yes, it'd get nicked, but everyone knows that my lad's the local copper and his missus is the local CSI. In frustration and sheer anger I bought £300 worth of pure joy - a DeWalt nailer, so the £50 these costs is peanuts.

[Construction Channel]

21 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

 

OK, me with my spaz hands : got eight fingers of which only six work properly and two just get in the effin' way all the time, I'd just love to have the excuse to buy one of these magnetic hammers. Picking things up to hit with a hammer like as not results in bloodied thumbs and fumbled miss-hits.

 

Yes they're overly expensive, and yes, it'd get nicked, but everyone knows that my lad's the local copper and his missus is the local CSI. In frustration and sheer anger I bought £300 worth of pure joy - a DeWalt nailer, so the £50 these costs is peanuts.

 

you would be better off with one of these if you want a magnet on it. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stanley-Tools-FatMax-AVX-Rip-Claw-Hammer-570g-20oz-STA151212-/322256842599?hash=item4b08012f67:g:P3gAAOSwkEVXGc54

 

at least this one has a claw on it,

lets be honest how often do you actually use a hammer for hitting nails, for me its probably between 5 and 10% of the time, most of the time it is used for prying or pulling stuff, or hitting other things like studs, or chopping out hinges if you were really hard pushed  

[PeterW]

I did look at this one as it had the magnetic bit and was flat not curved....

 

http://www.axminster.co.uk/vaughan-stealth-hammers-117360

[Construction Channel]

Never tried them so can't comment on the metal, also can't see the advantage of the side puller but otherwise it ticks all the boxes. 

[Nickfromwales]

For sustained use I'd recommend going for a soft grip handle to absorb a bit of the impact. 

Like dave I bought a bright neon green bugger so it's harder to lose, just seem to lose everything else now ?

[ProDave]

Having never used one, can someone explain how a straight claw hammer works?  The curved claw of a conventional one seems to work well for pulling nails out, what advantage does making the claw straight have?  (if it ain't broke, don't fix it)

 

And how does a magnetic nail holder work? Surely you want to position the nail where you want it, and hit it. If space is tight a pair of long nosed pliers works wonders for holding a nail and it doesn't hurt your thumb if you hit the pliers (I do this a lot nailing cable clips).  A magnetic holder on the hammer, what do you do? put the nail in the holder then swing the hammer plus nail at the bit of wood and see how near the mark you can get the nail to start?  Again never tried it but it seem so counter intuitive.
 

[Onoff]

Get a Plumb brand hammer. American make. 

 

My fave is my weight forward one. Far better than straight handled ones.

[Construction Channel]

25 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Having never used one, can someone explain how a straight claw hammer works?  The curved claw of a conventional one seems to work well for pulling nails out, what advantage does making the claw straight have?  (if it ain't broke, don't fix it)

 

you can get closer into the corner to pull nails, to get the tip of a curved claw onto a nail or behind a board, you need a good few inches clearance for the handle.

plus you can get a better swing when using the claw for hacking,

 

i should add they are not quite as good for pulling really stubborn nails, as in it takes more brute force, but the benefits massively outweigh the cons for me 

 

25 minutes ago, ProDave said:

And how does a magnetic nail holder work? Surely you want to position the nail where you want it, and hit it. If space is tight a pair of long nosed pliers works wonders for holding a nail and it doesn't hurt your thumb if you hit the pliers (I do this a lot nailing cable clips).  A magnetic holder on the hammer, what do you do? put the nail in the holder then swing the hammer plus nail at the bit of wood and see how near the mark you can get the nail to start?  Again never tried it but it seem so counter intuitive.

 

pretty much as you suggest, hit and hope, i thought they might be ok for nailing jiffy hangers (the most common time i hit my fingers) but alas no, a 40mm twist nail only sticks out a few mm so even if you do get it in a hole, the next swing will often ping the nail off into the distance somewhere.  only time i could see it being useful would be for something like 60mm rings into flooring or sheet material but most of us use a gun or screws for that now a days.