The Framing Hammer Hall of Fame

so I'm in my favorite tool store this is Oregon tool and supply it is by far the most well-stocked tool store in Southern Oregon we're here to talk about hammers I'm a carpenter I used a hammer a lot now I've become a blacksmith I use a hammer even more and there's more to hammers than you might be aware of but today let's just talk about framing remodeling concrete forming what kind of hammer should you have so my hammer use over the years I'm 59 now started this when I was 19 has changed I mean you would expect that I the first hammer that I bought was this one this Barry hammer a Vaughn nine nine nine is a designation it's 20 ounce on a hickory handle it's classic it's hard to go wrong with the Vaughn 999 I bought it with a waffle face the waffle face you probably know is on there for two reasons to get gription on the head of a nail so you don't tend to slide off and to tear the end of your thumb completely off when you miss so the first thing you do when you get a waffle face hammer is take another hammer with some eye protection or maybe on the end of a piece of rebar blunt it just a little bit it doesn't have to be razor sharp and when you're beginning you're going to hurt yourself for sure you'll thank yourself the first time you strike your thumb if you've taken the edge off those waffles I recommend a waffle face for framing here's a Vaughn 999 waffle face exactly the same tool on a fiberglass handle a fiberglass handle is it's almost as easy on your arm as wood wood absorbs vibration it flexes in your hand it is forgiving on your joints your wrist and your elbow and your shoulder in the descending order of economic responsibility I think I just made that up it's fiberglass my good friend Steve hood most effective quickest framer I've ever worked with he's local has used the very same Vaughn 999 on a fiberglass handle for 40 years with a smooth face I don't get it Steve good job he's really good with it but a fiberglass handle is going to last you're never going to replace it and it's easier on your arm still like would okay likely a few years ago Vaughn adopted the pattern that was first initiated by California framer made by heart where the the face of the hammer is a little bigger a little narrower neck very weight forward this was a response to how many guys were using rigging access framing I'm one of those guys I love a rigging axe or at least I did for about 15 years so this is a 23 ounce this is a 27 ounce both on wood handles a young man can use a 27 ounce it will deliver a lot of horsepower they become really awkward if you're working over your head as long as most your work is down below your waist just banging walls together there's nothing wrong with them now interests wing a really well-respected american-made hammer this is a framer but it doesn't have the goat head that is straight configuration claws I don't like that a go ahead will chop it we'll grab a board and drag it to you this pulls a nail more smoothly but if you're pulling a whole bunch of nails when you're framing you need to pay more attention I have one of these reformed work with the goat head claws I like it the steel hammer is indestructible this blue material I don't know what in the world it is is indestructible and over time it'll harden a little bit and it kind of takes on a green hue s twing these blue handle best wing hammers or the leather leather wrap test wing hammers take on a patina that is really pretty sweet these blue handles they look I mean it looks kind of space-age right but by the time they get to be ten or fifteen or twenty years old that handle begins to just look awesome and then coupled with the wear and tear that's going to happen is that brushed finish goes away this is one of the few sort of 20th century tools that could take on the patina of use that you associate more with a 19th or 18th or 17th century hand tool I mentioned rigging axis so people don't understand these they think it's a carpenter's hatchet they think it's a roofing hatchet they think it's a boyscout hatchet these things are not that these are the nail driving machine if all you need to do is get nails in a hurry if you don't often put a nail in the wrong spot you're going to be surprised I I used one of these were probably 18 years you see how the head is set slightly above the plane of the top of the axe you see how it's so profoundly weight forward I don't even know how to describe why it is that this rigging acts particularly if the handle was two inches longer functions like nothing else but it does so if you have a rigging axe you don't want the axe to be too sharp you're going to hurt yourself or somebody else but it can be a little sharp one of the things that does is instantly open a unit of lumber and I do mean instantly you don't have to go to the truck for your tin snips you don't have to work some kind of a trick with the claws where you fatigue the high carbon banding you land a bundle of trusses on the roof you walk out on the bundle pow you're in it the other thing is you get a nail it's about three-quarters in or set or tacked you can turn the axe around and chop it the edge of the axe will catch the nail slide up the head and take the nail out with a blow instead of with a pry so just a little familiarity with the Riggin axe for framing especially stacking really and you're going to see that it definitely has its place in a professional tool kit I used mine until I put enough handles in it that finally the sidewall on the I just began to split and crack and blow up and it began to be game so work hardened and exhausted that I couldn't fix it anymore but don't make the mistake of labeling a man with the rigging ax of butcher until you see what he does so the hammers that we've been talking about that we've pulled down as samples up this really wonderful display of hammers range from 25 bucks to 55 bucks you know just not all that much money nothing you want to throw away but affordable but the hammer that I use you're not going to find on this wall because it is almost without peer they keep it behind the counter and the inner sanctum because it's expensive and it's worth every stinkin penny check this out [Music] stiletto titanium 14-ounce now mine is an earlier generation and it has a steel face in a waffle configuration like this this one is solid titanium weighs almost nothing harder than a stepmothers heart magnetic nail holder elegant shape fantastic so don't snap to the rash conclusion that sends its light it won't drive nails a lighter hammer moves faster a faster moving hammer delivers more energy at the point of impact I think I'm getting a little more energy out of my 14 ounce titanium stiletto that I'm getting out of my 22 ounce steel Esplin now this is apocryphal I've not measured it but it's my instinct that that's what's happening when it's in your bags it doesn't hurt you banks again if your leg you don't notice it you're working overhead it doesn't hurt your elbow I can feel that my elbow and my wrist is happier with the 14 ounce stiletto than it was when I was using the heavier hammers besides that the nail holder which I'll demonstrate back at the shop these things are golden and they're priced like they're golden this thing is a hundred and fifteen dollars ok now that'll make anybody flinch pay wants cry one by one Phelan sorry ok nowhere is it truer than with a stiletto hammer why once cry once and your elbow is going to thank you now having said all that stiletto doesn't pay me anything for this but owning that hammer pays me every day here's the remarkable thing it was 10 years ago that I got this hammer I've never replaced that handle that's a testament to two things I'm slowing down that's a little appalling when I realized I used to put a different handle in a rig an axe about every four months but on the other hand it also tells me that a lighter head reduces the vibration and the impact and thrust in the racking motion on a wood handle we're in a way I can't believe it's not broken probably also means I don't pull as many nails as I used to but anyway I'm here to tell you this stiletto hammer has exceeded every one of my expectations figure it out for yourself if you're still young it doesn't mean much to you but you're going to like it [Music] I'm not used to doing this for a camera boys top please fold which make things [Music] [Music]

Channel: Essential Craftsman

Views: 730,777

Rating: 4.928875 out of 5

Keywords: Hammer, Hammers, Estwing, Vaughan, Hart, Stiletto, stilletto, stilleto, Carpantery, reviews, tools, craftsman, pro tip, blacksmith, anvil, construction, larry haun, pro review, framing, framer, tips, claw, titanium hammer, hall of fame, construction tips, essential craftsman

Id: IE0-I0T7Xhc

Length: 11min 1sec (661 seconds)

Published: Wed May 10 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/scrapbmxrider16]

Stilettos are the best hammer I've ever swung

[u/chadjj]

How long do the magnetic nail holders last? Am I misremembering that impacts demagnetise magnets?

[u/hawkeye18]

I respect any man who can use the word apocryphal in conversation

[u/nnt_]

This is asmr to me.

[u/Troutsicle]

Woot Oregon.

Check out his anvil rescue video. Dude is passionate about his anvils.