Hammer choice advices needed

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graween

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Hi all,

I'm in the process of buying a new hammer. I already own some. One quite small for driving small nails and a heavier one, quite old, more of the mechanical/capenter type, which I use for various tasks, including those that the hammer was not designed for, in the house (we all need such sacrified tools :) )

So I wanted to get one for cabinet and carpentry, sort of an all arounder. From what I read, and saw, I narrowed my research on an 16 oz curved claw hammer. Wich seems to be fine for many kinds of jobs. Well, not framing, but for that you need something heavier.

After doing some investigations, I think an all steel hammer is a good choice, because probably nearly indesctrubile.
There are a lot of makers, Estwings, Picard, Vaughan, Stanley, ....
Picard and Estwing are really expensive, so got out of the scope.
Vaughan Steel Eagle seems fine (http://hammernet.com/vaughan/pages/prod ... leagle.php).
But then I look at the Stanley hammers. And then I got confused. Which is the reason of this thread.

Stanley has two hammers that are, not traditional, and branded as anti vibes. One as a regular head (shown here with rip, as I don't find the curved claw) : http://www.stanleytools.co.uk/product/147436 and and new one : http://www.stanleytools.co.uk/product/147435.
I'm intrigued by the latest. Because they say the striking surface of the head is wider than regular hammer's one.
My question is, is that feature an enhancement, is it more useful ? For rought carpentry, and small framing jobs I can understand that it is. But to work on cabinet making jobs, and hit nails work in corners or tigh places, wouldn't it be a drawback ?

Any suggestion or thoughts or comments ? Maybe some of you have one and could give us some feedback.

Thank you.
Regards.
 
I would only buy Titanium now instead of steel. Rutlands sell Stiletto in a 10oz and a 12oz. There equivelent to 16oz and 20oz steel hammers. Its a nice finishing hammer. Ive now got a 16oz vaughn titanium framer and she drives the equivelent of a 28oz steel. No more pain in the forearm since i switched and would never buy a steel hammer again. Also got a 10oz for finishing. There lighter and steel hammers absorb 10 times more energy so you have to strike harder. You can buy through ebay from the US and can get maybe 30% cheaper
 
Ive got a vaughan 16oz steeleagle and in very happy with it.
previously i had an older stanley anti-vibe but i like the vaughan better.
 
Shame the Estwing is outside your budget.

I have a 20oz rubber handled for general use and a 16oz leather handled for the workshop. Wouldn't part with either!
They come up on ebay and at bootsales , so worth keeping eyes open.

Bob
 
Hi,

Thank you for the opinions. Finally I deciced to take the Estwing in 16 Oz curved claw, because I found one at a reasonable price. Also I won't use it everyday, as woodworking is a hobby, not for my living.
The Stiletto titane hammers were attractive, but are priced way too high if just for a hobby.
The Steel Eagle seemed nice, especially the schock absorber feature. But I'm in a hurry for a project, and chose the other one.

Thanks.
 

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