neolitic

I wasn't clear.
He wasn't taking three swings
at the nail.
It was set, sink.
But the hammer kept going
in between, while he rolled
the next nail, or laid the
next shingle down.
No pause in the rhythm at all.

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(Sorry....it seems there really are dumb questions)

A W Smith

you know I didnt even notice the extra tap between your bams in your previous post about Charlie untill you just brought it up. I just assumed it was tap bam tap bam tap bam.

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Al Smith
http://www.awsmith.com

A.T.H.I.

I love my Estwing hammers.

I have a nice collection of them:
3 - 12oz claw (small but I use them alot for vinyl siding and tight spaces)
2 - 20oz ripping (general carpentry)
1 - 220z ripping (demo / general carpentry)
1 - hatchet (I havent' used it much but like the looks of it hammer face and axe on opposite end)
1 - 2lb club (coaxing in tight fitting framming members and demo)
1 - axe (love using it for cutting roots and camping)
1 - 28oz ripping (driving rebar / demo)
3 - roofing (I especially love the shigle gage and the square head)
2 - 16oz claw (leather washer type, they feel good when I have sore hands)
1 - brick hammer (I use mainly for ripping holes in plaster and demo)


I still want to buy a drywall hammper and a ball pean from Estwing. I guess I'm sort of obssessed with them.

When I first started construction I used to use a wooden handled hammer but you quickly learn their limitations. Once I got used to Estwing hammers I refused to use anything else.

I still have yet to see anyone actually destroy one, aside from the waffle face wearing out.

2ndGen

Generally, it's tap to set the nail and bang to send it home.
(again, depending on the situation...at worst, going over 2 layers of shingles with 3/4" T&G substrate, add an extra tap with more emphasis on the 2nd tap to drive a 1 3/4" roofing nail through all that)

Otherwise, it's "tap, bam!", "tap,bam!", "tap, bam!","tap-bam".
Next shingle.
Repeat.

It definately "is" a rhythm.
It's very meditative.
One could think about anything while working.

Marcus W

The bolts came out of my Douglass just moving around in the toolbox. Can't use it but sure is a good looking hammer.

BuiltByMAC

The way I read your OP is exactly like Matt - "the claw broke off it pulling a cut nail." You said nothing about prying anything apart.

Tell you what, go buy yourself a set of Allen head wrenches - one of them will fit those bolt heads - you can tighten them up and use that pretty hammer again...

I had a Douglas that lasted me 3 years, periodically I would tighten up the bolts, head stayed on nice and tight, finally broke the handle moving a 4x12 into position.

Mac

TempestV

I always thought that the titanium hammers were a bit of a scam until I was working with a guy that used a t-bone, and I got a chance to try it out. I sunk a 16 in 3 reasonably light swings, and it felt so easy that I momentarily questioned if I had grabbed an 8- 16's shouldn't be that easy to sink. I also noticed that each swing took less time than with a steel hammer, so the total time to drive the nail was way less. I still haven't gotten around to getting one, maybe I should put it higher up my list of stuff to get.

the differences in mass as a reason behind the titanium hammers working so well doesn't make any sense at all. Otherwise a 16oz steel hammer would do just as well. It has to have something to do with the properties of the titanium, such as that it acts as a dead blow. then you also get all the advantages of a light hammer- easier to carry, easier to swing, faster to swing (which leads to more hits per second), easier to change direction mid swing, ect. Of course, if you strike something soft, like wood, then the material dissipates most of the energy when the hammer dimples it, and the advantages of the titanium hammer are taken away, and all that matters is mass. That's why the titanium hammers feel like toys when trying to drive a header in or what ever.

something I'm surprised I haven't seen yet is a 20oz or larger titanium hammer. I'm thinking that it would probably feel every bit like a similar weighted steel hammer (except less vibration to the hand), but it would drive a nail like a 3lb sledge.

Now I want to figure out how to build a true dead blow framing hammer- some kind of super light weight body (aluminum?), with steel wear surfaces, and a pound of lead or tungsten shot inside. If I ever get it built, I'll be sure to post pictures.

2ndGen

Someone explained it in a way that it made sense to me.

Because Titanium is harder than steel, more of the force of the blow gets directed to the nail instead of coming back to the hammer.

Imagine it like this...a bus hits a compact car. Which is going to give in?

On top of that, supposedly, because of the lighter weight compared with the properties of the Titanium, the swing is marginally faster. More speed, more power, especially with less weight to swing.

It is a wierd sensation, but I remember sinking my first 16D nails. It was too easy. I too had to look at the nails I picked up, thinking I was driving in finish nails it was so easy.

A hundred bucks for this hammer (I have a Stiletto Ti16MC ) is nothing.

It's well worth it. I actually enjoy using it.

2ndGen

All that and "looks" too!

TempestV

The problem with that is that titanium is actually softer than steel, which is why the t-bone, along with several other titanium hammers, have steel faces.
Besides, it seems like a harder hammer would amplify any vibration, and consequential rebound, rather than deaden it.

2ndGen

See, that's where the confusion comes in.

Yes, it's softer, but when it comes the transfer of power, the energy exerted by the strike doesn't reflect back into the hammer.

I can't explain the way that it was explained to me and I wish I could. He made sense to me.

Steel absorbs more of the energy from the strike while Titanium doesn't.
With no place left to go, more of the power gets driven into the nail.

FramingFanatic

Titanium is indeed a softer metal, however it is denser that steel.




In that diagram i so horribly drew. The larger circles represent the material. The smaller circles inside represent the atoms. In steel there are less atoms per same amount of material . This allows those molecules when struck such as in the instance of using a hammer to move around more and vibrate. This means you have less force exerted through the nail due to the force disapating in the moving molecules.

In the circle marked titanium you will notice that the atoms are much closer together. This allows for less movement between the atoms when you strike the hammer.


Picture it like this. You have 40 marbles in a sock and you twist the sock so that you force all the marbles tight together, no you wack yourself with it. Its going to hurt more than if you have 40 marbles in a sock but you leave the sock loose and dont allow the marbles to compress.

I hope this helps.

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2ndGen

Yeah!

What he said!




(Ok, "denser" is the word I was looking for! That's how it was explained to me! Thanks!)

2ndGen

And now, for some hammer porn!

andrew07

This a great hammer for the money around $30, well balanced and good shock absorption, and a great swing, the stiletto tibones are overrated and too long in my opinion.



http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...KL._SS500_.gif

TempestV

specs? Brand?

the T-bones are great. I haven't tried the other titanium hammers, but compared to most steel hammers, it would be well worth the price.

2ndGen

Titaniums users...would you ever buy another steel hammer?

I'm going to get a few more hammers (of course), but one hammer that is going to be merely a "gotta have hammer" is the Hart California Special (not dubbed the Eagle Series by Dead On Tools):

I bought one for one of my guys years ago (when they were still Hart Tools). I should've picked one up for myself. It felt great. The only reason I want one is to have one! That's it! Of course I'll use it.

andrew07

Here ya go: http://www.amazon.com/PT-2-Smooth-Ha...30185&sr=1-136
I got the framer though.

HallisseyDesign

That looks kinda funny to me. I will stick with my ti-bone 2. The thing is a monster worth my money.

wooddan

Im an estwing guy but has anybody like the vaughn V5. Estwings are great but i have the 22 oz and when framing in the New England winters the vibrations are killers.