Hammer?

KentWhitten

That's my baby, the Vaughan rig axe, 29 oz. When they come out with a titanium I might just think about getting one.

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TempestV

anyone had any experience with the vaughan ti-tech?
also, those of you with the titanium hammers, how well does the face last?
I've heard bad things about the titanium begin soft and the face wearing out quick. I looked at the tool store today and really liked the 14oz stiletto, the price was lower than I had expected, $75.

TempestV

what exactly is the advantage of the axe over claws?

al10fred1081

persuasion with the help.

they listen better when they see the hatchet and envision you chopping them up

Alex

edit: they come in handy if you wanna split a board. also if you run out of 2x lumber and have to chop down a fir tree...

2ndGen

My face already has started to show wear on my first usage. Technically, it is supposed to only be used with common nails and if used with a cat's paw, it must be their cat's paw (which I have...a beautiful 8oz. work of art that works great).

That's not too much of a discomfort since I wouldn't use a wooden handled hammer for anything other than driving nails anyway. For demo work, I'd use a solid steel hammer (like an Estwing 30oz).

Pricewise, they are dropping. I picked up mine for a hundred bucks. It used to be over 130. I've seen them for 80 (I have the 16oz MuscleHead Stiletto). As far as I'm concerned, it's well worth it.

It's like comparing a good pair of boots to a great pair of boots. Sure, the good pair will be comfortable, but over time will hurt your feet. The great pair will never hurt your feet. That's how my arm feels after using the Stiletto. There is a huge difference at the end of the day.

TempestV

durability is the reason I was looking at the ti-tech hammer. I don't really need the swappable heads, but what that does mean is that face will last longer.
swinging them ins the store, the stiletto felt better, but that could also be because the stiletto had the California hammer handle, which I generally prefer, while the ti-tech had a straight handle. I guess I need to find somewhere I can swing a California handled ti-tech

hell&highwater

if you are framing every day the waffle will wear out pretty quick. i think mine was within 6 mo. but that was with hitting stuff other than only nails.
4 1/2 years and 3 handles later the face is completely smooth. now i can use it for everything including trim.

i have the 14 oz. and love it. it dosn't move a wood beam/ header like the heavy steel ones, but its not hard to swap with someone else in times of need.

2ndGen

That says a lot about your love for the Stiletto (that you've gone through 3 handles).

Question: Did the handles break under normal use (just swinging) or were you prying with the hammer when they broke or were there mixed incidents?

I was wondering if the face could be re-milled once worn down.

I can't see the steel faces being a good thing. I imagine them coming loose and needing to be adjusted regularly. That's what I think, but I can't say for sure that that's the case. Does anybody have a titanium hammer with the steel faces?

I saw a video on the Dead-On Ti7 and supposedly, the head section is a sort of grafted steel onto the titanium (if I heard if correctly). Also, doesn't having a steel tip on the titanium hammer take away from the benefits of having a full titanium hammer?

TempestV

I prefer a smooth face anyways if that means anything.
Wallmax has a ti-bone if I remember correctly, and my experience with titanium hammers comes in the form of a ti-bone, the face replacement seems a lot more thought out on those though. I have heard about the Dead On welded on faces, and that sounds like a good idea, just enough steel to protect the titanium. I wonder if it is possible to have a stiletto faced like that at a machine shop.

2ndGen

True, but again, I wonder if the steel striking properties being not as good as titaniums take away from one of the main reasons of using a titanium hammer.

Maybe, instead of welding on steel to a titanium hammer, they could somehow reconfigure the molecular structure of the titanium's face where it could be made harder without sacrificing it's density.

Regardless of anything, I'm done with steel for framing. I'll use steel for demo, but I'm a titanitum Ho now!

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dayspring

I use Loc-tite on mine.

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hell&highwater

i'm really hard on my tools. only cracked one and i was prying straight with it on a heavily nailed board. the others just loosened up too much, i try not to but i have been known to hit footer stakes in with it a time or 20.

you can only make a wooden handle last so long. all you can really do is try to pry sideways and milk it as long as you can. they are easy enough to replace and its such an expensive piece of metal.

one other thing i like about the stiletto is the big, flat side. its perfect for nailing with your hammer sideways in tight spots.



cheers, H

hell&highwater

sorry ahead of time...........trying to build the post count a little so i can post some picts............................................. ....


Straight handles rule.........

sorry again
cheers,
Hsquared

TempestV

I beg to differ. I bought a new framing hammer 3 years ago. It's nothing fancy, just a $16 Kobalt 20oz framer with a hickory California handle. I've abused that thing every day I've had it, I rarely ever take into consideration that it may break. The first job I ever used it on was demo'ing a brick fireplace. I've pried with it, broken cinder blocks, and everything else, and it's barely even showing any damage. I've broken a lot of wooden hammer handles, all straight handled, but my California handles on both my hammers, framing and trim (actually a hart 20oz smooth face framer with a short handle) stand up to whatever I throw at them.

That is an absolute necessity. I won't buy a hammer if it doesn't have a good face on the side for tight nailing.

john5mt

I had a question for you ti bone users. I have the wooden handled stiletto and am thinking the all titanium replaceable steel face is looking nice. Is there really a swing difference between the two that makes it worth the extra? Lemme know what you think.

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hell&highwater

tempest,
maybe i should clear this up about my stiletto. my hammer is 4 1/2 years old. I have only cracked one handle, it was done by prying a heavily nailed board with all the muster I could give it. the replacement was a vaughn(sp?)handle that never really fit right but worked. when that finally gave I got a stiletto handle and its been good to go for a while, although it is starting to loosen a hair. I guess I could try to soak it overnight.

as for the cali handle, I just don't like how they feel. the comment above about straight handles ruling was truly a troll post to try to help up my post count rise to 15 to be able to post picts on the bags thread. sorry again.

on the astraight vs cali handle do you really think calis are stronger? kinda has me intrested. I have broken both with other hammers over the years.

TempestV

@ John, I've only swung the wood handled one in the store, but I've used the ti-bone a little bit. The rubber grip on the ti-bone is top notch, better than any hammer grip I have ever used, but the swing felt about the same (again, very little experience with the wood handled one). Personally though, as I said before, I need a flat side of the hammer that I can drive nails with in tight spots, so the Ti-bone's hollow head is a deal killer for me.
I don't know if they carry the Ti-bone at any of the stores in Helena, but if you are ever in Bozeman, Kenyon Noble carries them. Ask for the contractor's discount to get 10% off if you go to buy one.

@H&HW, Tighten up the handle wedges to keep it tight. that way it won't dry out again and be loose again.

As for which hammer is stronger, I've found that you have to baby a straight handled hammer or it will break. I have 2 california handled hammers that I use on a regular basis, which I beat the crap out of, and don't even think about babying, and they haven't broken ever. (of course, now that I've said this, they'll both break tomorrow) It's a small sample, and I'm not sure why one would be stronger than another, but that's my experience. Probably the most extreme thing I've done with my Kobalt was demo'ing the roof off a log garage. the trusses were notched into the tops of the logs quite tightly, and had to be pried loose to lower them. I was popping them out with my hammer claw, while the guy on the other wall was putting a pretty good bow in a 3' crowbar to get them to move.

Come to think of it, if my memory serves me correctly, compared to the Vaughn straight handled hammers I used to use, the handle socket on my Kobalt has a way larger cross sectional area, so that's probably one factor that helps.

hughjazz

I have a ti-tech 16 oz hatchet handle (california?) I love it! It doesn't feel as good as a t bone but it is way cheaper. I have had it for a year of full time framing. I babied it for a couple of weeks but after that I was cranking on boards and knocking beams cleaning concrete foundations.. Everything my old fatmax did. My waffle was pretty flat after a month or so even with a steel face, If i get bored at lunch I grind a new waffle face with my rotary deal thingy. (Old man Iverson, AKA "UNIT" taught me that trick) I like the handle a lot. One thing that bugs me is the cap comes loose a little. (I Carry a small allan key with me) I tighten it a couple times a day. Locktite doesn't seem to help much. When it starts to click,it's time to tighten the head. Honest to God when you hit stuff with this hammer you hardly feel it. I took the head off once to see what was inside I realized there was a 3/16" +/- iirc piece of rubber between the hammer head and the cap. It is a good hammer.

TempestV

I think I've found one used that I'm going to try to buy tomorrow. It's a straight handle, but it would still be way cheaper to buy it and replace the handle if the straight handle bothers me to much. I will be finding a way to stop the head from coming loose though. If I do, I'll be sure to share.

2ndGen

I have a Vaughn Blue Max that ended up in my tools somehow. So like a lost doggy, I "adopted" it. It's a decent hammer. I use it for demo work (but it's going to be replaced with an Estwing Builder's Series 28ozer soon.

While I never used a Ti-Tech, I always felt that the head would come loose. I couldn't take it personally. I wouldn't get a Stiletto with a replaceable head either.

Handles? Sometimes, it's just a grade of the wood. I've heard guys rave about $20. Stanley Fat Max California Handled framers.

It's funny...you can take a $20. Home Depot Husky Framer and put it next to my $100. Stiletto 16oz MuscleHead and they look just the same...as if their made to do the exact same job. But one swing is all it takes to know why the Stiletto costs 5 times as much.

If I had to exhert so much power that I could brake a wooden handle, I'd just reach for a steel handled hammer. I firmly believe in different hammers for different purposes and I wouldn't ever use a wooden hammer to pull our difficult nails. Not a Stiletto, not a Husky...not when there are prybars and cat's paws around. There's even a plier-like tool made specifically for prying out hard nails ala' old time nippers.

http://www.nailextractor.com/story.html

__________________
"I've been up on the roof. I know what those guys go through.
My whole life has been about making that profession respectable."
Ken Hendricks
www.SolutionsRoofing.com