Air Hammer Recommendations

[HomeTheaterMan]

I'm in need of a new air hammer. My current one is a short barrel, it's hard to control, and it's the only style spring locks which is a pain.

A friend let me borrow his Snap On PH3050B which is what made me realize I really need to upgrade. I fell in love with that thing. I'm very tempted to pick up a Snap On identical to his, but being a hobbyist who works on stuff at my house, I can't bring myself to spend $400+ for an air hammer. There are lots of used ones online for $150-200, although those make me nervous. I feel like it's probably pretty easy to get one about worn out.

So, I'm wondering if anyone has and recommendations for any others? Are any of the IR ones similar to the PH3050B? I know I like my IR impact gun quite a bit more than the Snap On's I've used and it would quite a bit cheaper as well. I'm wondering if I can find something similar with air hammers, or should I just pony up the cash for the SO? Is it worth buying new, or should I just take my chances with a used one?

 

[Moose-LandTran]

Ingersoll-Rand 118MAX. Very powerful, yet controllable. Significantly cheaper than the PH3050. We had a thread not so long ago where a number of people said the PH3050 wasn't all that, once you looked past sheer power of it.

I bought a new 118MAX a few years ago when they first came out, never looked back. Its never let me down, never had a problem. Great hammer all-round.

 

[anndel]

I bought a used Snap On PH3050 on Ebay and it's awesome. I use it to vibrate rusted brake rotors loose and also push axles into the hub assembly. Got it for about $150 with shipping included.

 

[JonnyMac]

Astro have a thread on here somewhere. One of the last posts had a reference to the model they produce. Ive not used it but the specs suggest that it is a total beast.

 

[bcradio]

Ingersoll-Rand 118MAX. Very powerful, yet controllable. Significantly cheaper than the PH3050. We had a thread not so long ago where a number of people said the PH3050 wasn't all that, once you looked past sheer power of it.

I bought a new 118MAX a few years ago when they first came out, never looked back. Its never let me down, never had a problem. Great hammer all-round.

Agree here with this. I have the 118 and 122 air hammers and both work excellently.

 

[gdocktor3]

A lot of people recommend going with rivet guns. They are much more powerful and have variable speed triggers. The rivet guns go up in size by a number with an x. So a 2x is less powerful than a 4x. The 4x and larger guns use the larger .498 shank chisels. There are a million threads on rivet guns. As for air hammers, I have 4 different ones. I have an older CP, I have a Florida Pneumatic, a Mac AH650 and a Mac AH750. The Florida Pneumatic is model FP 1020. Its light, small and decently powerful. It came with a regulator at the inlet which helps control it a lot. The AH650 and AH750 I bought used off eBay. The Ah650 is short barrel while the AH750 is long. They both hit HARD. I would recommend buying a regulator to help control it. I have bought a lot of air tools used off eBay. The key is to ask questions before buying.

Example - How old is the air hammer? Has it been rebuilt? Is it as strong as it was when new? Stuff like that. Now, if you get the tool and it isn't working properly for some reason, you can use this info against the seller. If they don't refund your money, you can show these messages to eBay and they will refund you. eBay has come a long way and will refund your money if the seller does not. With that said, you generally want to buy from sellers with 99% ratings and thousands of sales, not someone with 4 sales and 25% feedback. I took a chance on a new seller one time. He agreed on a price for some wrenches with free shipping. A few days later messaged me saying shipping was more expensive then he thought and had to find other options. Days went by and I told him to refund me. He got smart and called my a **** or something, then disappeared. I contacted eBay and showed them all the messages. They refunded me my money and I think booted him off eBay.

 

[stikman56]

CP715. $150.00 new on ebay.