www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

wow 24oz is some weight to be swinging all day
everyman and his dog has an estwing nowdays well since the rrp dropped to around £30

i think mine is a 16oz, i use a 18oz douglas axe handled hammer now, best 2 years hammering yet

My Stanley is a 24oz, it just feels right, I guess it's what you get used to, I can't get on with the 24oz Estwings though; mine was a 20oz but it always felt a bit lightweight for roofing or studwork.

The really hard bit is getting a decent handle for them now, the first two lasted about fifteen years each but I've had about 5 in the last ten years - got a nice long handle for a big ballpeen on it now.

mine is spot on for what i use it for. with the nail guns it dont knock in as many nails now. but its used for all kinds of other things i supose. i bought the framing hammer for all those incidents where the 20 oz hammer is too light.

fin wrote:anyone on here use those estwing weight forward hammers? i couldnt get away with them things. they feel funny to me.

Tried one. Gave it back. Couldn't live with it. It would be a better tool if all I did was framing. But it isn't. Worst of all it wouldn't stay in my hammer loop or in the loop on my kecks For general use I've got a Stanley all-steel (20oz) with a magnetic nail holder - very handy when up a ladder.

leonclio wrote:You say you like your 20 oz. Whys that? is the 24 oz too heavy for every day use just woundering because i havnt got mine yet.

16oz or 20oz are good everyday hammers. 16oz hammers being a bit lighter are probably easier to use when driving small pins, etc. but I find them harder on the shoulder when driving large nails - you've got to hit just a bit harder to drive 4in nails flush with them. 24oz and 28oz hammers are really designed for heavy framing, e.g. roofs, timber frames, etc because they'll drive large/long framing nails deeper on every strike. They do, however, require a bit more power behind them IMHO and are notorious for leading to muscular problems amongst West Coast framers in the USA (where timber frame construction is the norm, as opposed to the exception here). It's one reason the Yanks developed titanium hammers like the Douglas and Stiletto - where a 15 or 16oz hammer will deliver as much force as a 240z all steel hammer (where a fair amount of the energy imparted is reflected back into the user's arm and shoulder)

Holy cow, i have just been looking at them titanium hammers, £120 seem to be the average price for them, i didn't even know they existed until i just read your post.

I want

never ever saw one apart from on here. id imagine it being something that might go missing from ya tool bag like.

Most likely and there is no way i would pay that sort of price for a hammer unless everyone i worked with knew how much i paid for it

I bought a framing estwing from the States a few years ago, with some DeWalt stuff, when it was a very cheap way to buy tools. I gave it to my brother who's a Shuttering Joiner, he still uses it daily & loves it. But I was helping him with some Timber Frame sections last year & he was using a 24oz curved claw, he said he needs more welly for timber frame.
Estwing hammers are great & that's a right bargain!!

GavHandy wrote:Holy cow, i have just been looking at them titanium hammers, £120 seem to be the average price for them, i didn't even know they existed until i just read your post.

I want

look at the price of this badboy
http://www.rutlands.co.uk/hand-tools/ha ... illed-face

Crikey ive just moved to estwing and now theres another rung on the ladder to move up to

I think i will just stay with estwing haha

Eastwing for me.

Not got my leather handled on any longer as the bindings got loose and they used to give me a black mans pinch when I hit something.

Hopefully I won't get modded for that cos the last time I said black man, I got told off for using the word lol.