Has anyone ever seen a deadblow fall apart? I was looking for a hammer and when I opened my drawer of my toolbox I thought someone put concrete in the drawer! I looked through a couple drawers and you can see the pictures below. Its quite crazy! This box is in my garage - which isn't AC-ed unfortunately. I was shocked how they just crumbed. These are estwing deadblows which I would imagine are pretty good ones... Just not heat resistant?
Deteriorated Crumbing Deadblows
- Thread starter heffneil
- Start date
dnschmidt
Well-known member
Common problem. Urethane adsorbs water vapor. The original Stanley models were particularly bad in this regard.
American Locomotive
Well-known member
Seen it happen many times. I generally prefer the Lixie-style dead blow hammers that have replaceable faces.
APEowner
Well-known member
Yup. My Snap-on dead blows have done that. Fortunately they were replaced under warranty.
Lisamelting
Well-known member
I had a Williams deadblow explode into pieces when I used it after it sat idle for a couple years.
Tinner
Well-known member
They all do it eventually.
Mr Ratchet
Well-known member
I had a 2 lb and 4 lb Stanley that were 20 plus years old. They got brittle and cracked on me a couple of years ago when using them. Nothing like what your did though.
jimreed2160
Well-known member
4xdog
Well-known member
My old Blue Point dead blow gave up the ghost after I had it 20+ years (and I found it in the road, so who knows how much older than that it was). I like the Snap-on I replaced it with, but not quite as much.
Urethane is pretty “hot” two-component chemistry, so unless the formulation and ratios are right on, the problems noted are a risk. That said, there are some pretty durable urethanes and the technology has gotten better over the years.
Urethane is pretty “hot” two-component chemistry, so unless the formulation and ratios are right on, the problems noted are a risk. That said, there are some pretty durable urethanes and the technology has gotten better over the years.
davethorik
Well-known member
I've had a stanley, and a HF explode on me.
Rubber head Nupla deadblows seem to be pretty tough. I bought my 2lb in 06 and its still trucking. I bought a 4 lb Proto that was made by Nupla at a GS that was well used. I used it doing masonry work now it's back in my machinist stuff.
I also have a 1.25" face Lixie. Great for click lock flooring and machinist use.
Rubber head Nupla deadblows seem to be pretty tough. I bought my 2lb in 06 and its still trucking. I bought a 4 lb Proto that was made by Nupla at a GS that was well used. I used it doing masonry work now it's back in my machinist stuff.
I also have a 1.25" face Lixie. Great for click lock flooring and machinist use.
Packard V8
Well-known member
Yes, most urethane hammers fail after a few years; some better than others.
Storage makes a big difference. Heat is bad, humidity is bad, just age will eventually do in most plastics.
jack vines
Storage makes a big difference. Heat is bad, humidity is bad, just age will eventually do in most plastics.
jack vines
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racingtadpole
Well-known member
My Snap On got knocked back for warranty when i presented the rep with its carcass. Something about it being in so many pieces it was impossible to tell if it was actually snap on or not....
03.
Well-known member
I've had a couple die like this I assume living next to the Pacific Ocean has a lot to do with it. Gods country but everything from tools to electronics die very quickly from the salt air.
seber
Well-known member
My replaceable head is 45 years old. Still looks great. I use it a lot but always make sure I have the correct hardness head for the job. Summers here are 90 to 100 for three months and the humidity is always over 80%. The garage is much hotter than the outside temp. I don't know why they fail, but high temps and humidity are not the cause. My Mac is also fine. Shot filled all urethane and over 20 years old. I just used is extensively this weekend.
Yeah I am in Naples so we are in the Tropics. High high humidity. These are 20+ years old and were hardly used. Very disappointing to find them like that. It kinda ***** since I could have found a better place to store them. Oh well need to get a new set - this time cheaper so they can be disposable.
I have three of those exact model Estwing deablows. Two of them are 20 plus years old. I bought the third new a couple years ago , but I don't really know how old it is. The 20+ year olds are still fine. I must have been lucky with storing them. Haven't done anything special they have either been in a cabinet or plastic toolbox the whole time at all kinds of temp and humidity changes. They are now in a regular toolchest drawer. This makes me think I should move them to something else.
Seth
Seth