Best Ball Pein Hammers

[KamiCrit]

Here are my two choices, both come with the feature of never having to deal with lose heads. Just one piece of forged steel.

Estwing:



Proto:

 

[merbie]

Might just get some frost or second had snap on hammers


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[d.mcfarland]

Plans include picking up all the Trusty Cook DBBPs and a few of the Proto Antivibes. But as money is a little tight, I'll likely pick up a set of the HF jobs.


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Epstein's has USA ones that will be perfect and about the same price as the HF set.

Link: http://store.harryepstein.com/c/Hammers.html

Made by Vaughn and excellent quality.

 

[BK13]

Epstein's has USA ones that will be perfect and about the same price as the HF set.

Link: http://store.harryepstein.com/c/Hammers.html

Made by Vaughn and excellent quality.

Thanks, man, I'll look into that.

 

[BK13]

Wilton BASH.

Best hammers I have ever used, hands down.

I'm interested in these, but man are they spendy!

 

[Hammer1963]

While were
Here can anyone recommend a panel beating hammer set?


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Where are you located, U.S. or other? If you are in the U.S. go with new/used Snap-on or new/used Martin and Fairmont. If you are in E.U. look into Elora or Sykes P

 

[Wylaco]

Estwing! Great company made in the USA. We made a set up of Estwing in house and have literally sold thousands of ball peens at this point. I have had 1 hammer come back in the last 6 years from being bent, I sent him a new one and have not heard a complaint.

 

[General Geoff]

Love the Estwing one-piece forged hammers. I have a 24oz ball pein, gets the job done and my hands are fine after extended use.

 

[sbyrne92]

Craftsman all steel ball peins are great. However if your looking for power snap-on db ball peins are second to none, They are also extremely comfortable.

 

[pauls_workshop]

Worth mentioning for this thread, for those wondering what they need a ball peen hammer for if they have a regular hammer, you never want to use a regular rip or claw hammer on a chisel because the rip/claw hammers have hardened heads and so will the chisels. Chisels should only be hit with a ball peen, which won't have the hardened head or else with a deadblow with non hardened end. Else either the hardened hammer head or the hardened chisel can fracture and break, potentially injuring you or someone nearby.

I have one 16 oz Craftsman made by Vaughan with the wood handle and is very nice, and couple older garage sale ones of unknown brands, one bigger, one smaller. Works for me. - Paul

 

[Short Round]

Boy that Harry J. Epstein place is a treasure trove on a lot of items.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

My ball pein hammers are all Vaughan. I don't care for fiberglass or metal handles. As far as HF hammers go, every wood handled one I've ever used had the head come loose.

 

[NJ Marty]

^^^Agree 100%.

Almost every G-Sale has 5 gallon buckets full of old hammers for pennies on the dollar.

Some need new handles but many don't. And the ones that don't often have quality old growth hickory handles that you can't find today. (I hate fiberglass).

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yup, garage sales and estate sales. Been getting great hammers at $1 a piece at sales. Names like Plumb, Atha, early Craftsman, Heller and a Paschall every now and then. All good ol USA made and like Dave said many with kick *** old growth hickory handles.

 

[Bunit98]

I've always liked my wooden hammers over my fibreglass ones

 

[merbie]

I like the wood handle blue point ones also like Thor hammers

I'd rather close my **** in a car door than wear a headlamp.

 

[OutsideMachinist]

The metal handles are definitely nice. For drilling hammers and ball peen hammers I prefer those. I only really like the wooden handles for sledge hammers because you can cut the handles short.

 

[sometoyotaguy]

I buy whatever older hammers I can find at garage sales, clean them up and replace handles when needed.

Where's a good place to find replacement handles? They are fairly expensive at the hardware store when you can find them.

 

[Tronyadorable]

Plain old Stanley.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Where's a good place to find replacement handles? They are fairly expensive at the hardware store when you can find them.

Harry Epstein has all different sizes of handles and they are pretty reasonably priced.
www.harryepstein.com (you should have them bookmarked already )

 

[sometoyotaguy]

Harry Epstein has all different sizes of handles and they are pretty reasonably priced.
www.harryepstein.com (you should have them bookmarked already )

Wow, very reasonably priced. Thanks! I think I have come across that site before, but they sell so many different things it's easy to not realize they sell something.

 

[dnschmidt]

The best of the best were the no longer available TRUE TEMPER ROCKETS. Got a box full of new ones and I'll never let them go. (Well, eventually they will go at my Estate Sale but by then I will not care) Best feel, best hit these were glorious hammers. Their nail hammers where perfect in every way as well. It's a true shame that these aren't made anymore.

 

[Pumpman1968]

The best ball pein hammers that I have are the ones where you just find the heads on the 25 cent table at yard sales..........wooden handles come the same way.

 

[supra90turbo]

Another vote here for Stanley/Mac/Proto/etc. AntiVibe Ball Pein Hammers.

I have a 24oz and 32oz that get my constant attention. Fantastic hammers, no question.

 

[BajaBound]

I like the antivibes a lot.

 

[oldldh]

Went to Amazon...

And bought all six of the Tekton ball peins...

Now I've got 8-12-16-24-32-48 oz...my needs are covered...

Later this summer, I'm ordering the 16-24-32-48-64 oz dead blows...

There's just something about new tools...

I don't think I'll need anything else...

 

[619DioFan]

My two favorite ball peens are a 32 oz true craft w/ fiberglass handle( probably 15 years old ) and a newer 32 oz Carlyle w/ fiberglass handle. I prefer fiberglass handles. both of these hammers are balanced the same and just feel great.

 

[Mikerodrig27]

Oldldh, what kind of uses would you need that kind of variety of hammers for? Thanks!

 

[oldldh]

One must have the appropriate basher...

For...

Every item that needs a good bash!!!

(Truthfully, I just wanted a set of Ball Piens, and then I found the dead blows...Of such happenstance, collections grow...)

And, the price was right...

And, the only ball pien I had, was an 8 oz Stanley, that was my Dad's, and I needed some bigger hammers, and the Tektons were available, and my Wife got them for my birthday...

 

[Tatsuya]

This Billings is my favorite hammer. The handle doesn't look original though. Mostly use it for delicate pin punching.

 

[PJNJ]

The best are the bunch of various sizes that I got for free when my BIL was going to throw them out. They were my uncle's and my sister and her husband bought the house after he and my aunt had died. He didn't want the old tools so I took them and a bunch of wrenches and other assorted odds and ends. I also found a few in the old house I grew up in that I had been my father's and probably also my grandfather's.

They were all good men and they have all been gone for many years. And when I pick one up, I often think about them. All hardworking and self-reliant guys who got the job done. And unlike a lot of guys today, they really knew how to swing a hammer, a sledgehammer, an ax and how to use a handsaw.

 

[Conductor562]

Plans include picking up all the Trusty Cook DBBPs and a few of the Proto Antivibes. But as money is a little tight, I'll likely pick up a set of the HF jobs.


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While they are similar in the The patents were bought by SBD long ago from the company that is now Trusty Cook,

The Proto/Mac Compocast hammers are fantastic