Estwing, are they moving production?
- Thread starter Renegade1LI
- Start date
jives
Well-known member
Back in the olden days ('70s) when I worked for my dad's construction biz in San Diego, none of the carpenters used metal handled hammers. This was before the days of nailers and titanium Stilettos. I remember seeing one Estwing, a beat up old thing, that was used by the lead framer for the crud work. It was the one I got to use every now and then (I was a go-pher, ditch digger), and I agree with the carpenter's assessment that swinging it all day beats you up. Funny, the main claw hammers I now use are a steel Stanley Fatmax (shed hammer), steel DeWalt (shop hammer), and steel Estwing (truck hammer).
BTW, the DeWalt feels the best in my hand, hence its promotion to the shop. I am not a DeWalt fan, but the 20 oz hammer has the best balanced feel and most secure grip (mostly the **** end).
BTW, the DeWalt feels the best in my hand, hence its promotion to the shop. I am not a DeWalt fan, but the 20 oz hammer has the best balanced feel and most secure grip (mostly the **** end).
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dutchgray
Well-known member
You get it direct from Bradford's or via a 3rd party?I LOVE a bit of Estwing…!
Now, I know they’re not perfect. They will be hard on the arm if you’re timber framing all day, but where I am we don’t have timber frame houses, and in all honesty who would use anything but a nail gun for that anyway?
I love the ruggedness of the steel shank. Not just when striking, but I can carry an Estwing anywhere without worrying about damaging a wooden handle. The ball pein shown lives in my road box for that reason.
I love the variety that Estwing offer. It seems that they go out of their way to offer all manner of special tools, and even local patterns. The hammer on the right below, is an “English” pattern (look at the shape of the head) and is utterly superb. By far the nicest balanced steel shafted hammer I own.
I totally love this! Thanks dutchgray - tracked down and ordered!
The only time I think Estwing struggle is with the smaller hammers. I have a 12oz in my property maintenance box for driving small pins etc. It’s durable enough to carry about, but a traditional “Warrington” pattern is a much nicer tool for the task.
Of course, as this is Garage Journal, I have to admit a liking for Vaughan too. In fact my most used hammer is a 20 oz Vaughan Steel Eagle. I‘ve used it for nailing, nail pulling, demolition, the lot, and although it’s seen a lot of service it still looks great with a wipe down.
If I was richer, I’d probably get up and ask myself which Porsche, Aston Martin, Rolls etc I wanted to use that day. I can’t afford that level of choice, but I can have the choice of Estwing or Vaughan. Same privilege, different scale…!
Bradford's are a really good local builders merchant, been going since 1770
redwrench60
Well-known member
Well, I can confirm my local Home Depot has sold off all the Estwing hammer stock and replaced them with yellow, red and husky garbage. I refuse to buy that ********.
How long until they're forced to rename them FarEstWing.
Given so much interest in this thread. I went to HD today to play with the hammers. For the 22oz hammers there are estwing 35 marked down to 27, dewalt 33, crescent 27, husky 25. I swing them for a while, the dewalt one actually feels the most confident. Mostly due to handle. It’s also the most pleasant to my eyes in appearance. So unless someone is determined to buy USA made tools, estwing is going to be a hard sell, especially at the normal price. Nobody uninformed knows about durability, right? And seems the dewalt can last a while itself
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Lunchbox yellow is more pleasant to your eyes than a stacked leather grip?
That is a plastic handle. Not a leather one. I like DeWalt mostly because of the black finish on top. From my experience, shinning clear coat finish, once scratched, can get rusty easy. (To be honest, look-wise, I don't think the leather one looks that great. I prefer wood handle a lot more in appearance.)
BTW, COO wise, DeWalt is from Mexico, Crescent from Vietnam, Husky from China. There is no 22oz Milwaukee. But hammers of other sizes are from Taiwan. So it is pretty diversified.
PS. For folks who want to buy some Estwing, don't jump in now. HD will keep cutting prices. I once bought the DeWalt hammer at $9 each when they switched product number. So it is not hard to see the Estwing drop further. Given it is USA made, maybe buying at $15 each is a good deal?
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Renegade1LI
Well-known member
FWIWI I rarely see anything but estwing on construction sites here in NYC, it just seems to be the hammer of choice especially in the concrete trades.
All the four hammers in my picture have waffle faces and are called framer/framing hammer. They are apparently used to hammer wood. I guess in concrete trade, smooth faced hammers are used, right?
Dave455
Well-known member
I just searched on “red Estwing” and quite a lot of places seem to have them on their websites, including Estwing U.K. but yes, ended up with Bradfords. They were the cheapest (inc postage) and they only had 270 left!
Yes, seemed like a decent firm. Haven’t encountered them before.
I worked concrete form construction for 2 decades. Estwings were the only hammers to survive that rigorous environment. But I finally bought a Stilleto Tibone and have beaten on it for another decade and I can say that hammer has revolutionized hard carpentry. My elbows and forearm muscles might now survive until I meet my maker.
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Renegade1LI
Well-known member
Home Depot does appear to be liquidating their stock of Estwing. I was a little surprised to see that happening in store but their online store appears to be phasing out the brand as well. Maybe they made some kind of agreement with other brands. Not having them in store is one thing but removing them from the online store is weird. Lowe's still seems to be carrying the brand, for now at least.
I read an article somewhere in the trade press talking about how Germany and Northern Italy have a lot of manufacturing, and that those firms held a few traits in common:
1. Specialized - a lot of those companies are focused on specific fields, are often the leaders in small niches.
2. Believe in craftsmanship. They understand their labour pool to be critical to quality and productivity.
3. Privately owned, and have no use for venture capital. Take a long term view (generations long) of investment.
To your point, in North America we often hear business talk about “unlocking value” which is a euphemism for extracting financial benefit. We talk about growth and competition, not excellence.
anndel
Well-known member
I have a Estwing steel claw and a Vaughan wood handle claw. I prefer the Vaughan and it doesn't have a rubber or leather grip like the Estwing does.
jeffmoss26
Well-known member
I was at my local HD the other day and only saw two SKUs of Estwing
Ton ton
Well-known member
I despise Home Depot but maybe I will slip in there to see if they have any Estwings in stock @ all. The tool inventory is terrible @ the Harrisonburg,VA location. The employees do their best to be helpful so I have to give them credit for that. But when I tried looking for 3/4" drive tools, I found nothing. The employees told me to try Harbor freight. I kinda got turned off on Home Depot. I even showed the employees pictures off of garage journal on my phone. LOL.
SellersMachineCo
Well-known member
I’ve noticed Home Depot shedding a lot of American made products recently. To be fair I’m not sure how much of it is their fault. The Buck Bros. chisels are now imported, I guess they moved production offshore. I also noticed that the Arrow T50 staplers that were American made are now made in China. I’m going to have to stop by my local HD tomorrow and see if they have any US Estwings left.
I finally realized why I was so sure that Estwing is gone from HD. These rubber mallet was on sale a couple of years ago at HD. I think I got the small one for $3 and larger one for $4. (I was thinking about buying more to flip them. But was not sure about the margin vs effort ratio. So I did not go for them. Only bought two as souvenir.) Once they were cleaned out, HD never bought them back. Now they have DeWalt/Milwaukee/Husky mallets there. To be honest, for guys pounding on the floor, do they really care which mallet is better? Esp. it is a one time job.
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Renegade1LI
Well-known member
I was hoping to get more ball peens but there are none to be found at hd.
redwrench60
Well-known member
Well I think it ***** HD isn’t going to carry Estwing anymore. I’ll miss having the wide selection to choose from. I’m just not into the loud looking, digital age, gimmicky or cheap junky hammers they stock now.
If I could have only one single hammer to do everything non mechanical it would be a 20oz, smooth face, rip claw, Estwing with the leather stack handle. Versatile, tough as hell and priced right.
If I could have only one single hammer to do everything non mechanical it would be a 20oz, smooth face, rip claw, Estwing with the leather stack handle. Versatile, tough as hell and priced right.
I find steel handled hammers to be painful. Menards sells Vaughan which I have come to like.
Perhaps Estwing left HD and not vice versa? A lot of HD shoppers would get along quite nicely with an $8.00 hammer. Maybe Estwing wants to sell through more pro-type stores And not compete with cheap hammers?
Perhaps Estwing left HD and not vice versa? A lot of HD shoppers would get along quite nicely with an $8.00 hammer. Maybe Estwing wants to sell through more pro-type stores And not compete with cheap hammers?
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Renegade1LI
Well-known member
They always seemed to be in low stock, every time I go past it always the ball peens would be empty or one left for what ever reason. Either HD wasn't keeping good stock or they would sell fast, have to go to lowes now or order online.
Ton ton
Well-known member
Even my local ACE seems to be struggling keeping Estwing steel handle framing hammers in stock.
anndel
Well-known member
Sad, no Estwings at the Pearl City or Kapolei HD.
redwrench60
Well-known member
Got a White Elephant gift game to attend for Christmas so while I was at The big blue store today I voted with my dollars. It’ll be a ***** to wrap but I bet it gets used. I mean, what man or woman has never needed a hammer?
jives
Well-known member
Not to derail, but my local Agway/Ace -- locally owned and hands down the best source for fasteners and expert advice -- just swapped out an entire aisle of yellow, white, blue and mixed color tools and blades and bits and more with entirely red products. Looked kinda freaky and sad.
Lt CHEG
Well-known member
I agree that is kinda depressing. Variety and competition is good for all of us. My hope is that as Milwaukee continues to grow, particularly in the hand tool market, that they will make more and more of those hand tools at their new facility in the US. I will be happy to support more Milwaukee hand tools if they are produced domestically.
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Renegade1LI
Well-known member
Pssed by the hammer display in HD, very depressing with no estwings to look at, not that I need any but just looked empty. i don't care how good the hammer is I'm bringout a Husky on a jobsite.
redwrench60
Well-known member
I’m all ready for the party tomorrow. Think anyone will know? Lol I’m sure they’ll be thinking, I wonder what it is….
Ton ton
Well-known member
Nice color coordination. It almost matches a 20 year old estwing hammer handle. They seem to turn green as they age unless they were green originally.I’m all ready for the party tomorrow. Think anyone will know? Lol I’m sure they’ll be thinking, I wonder what it is….
I absolutely hate Estwing hammers. I would use one instead of a rock, but other wise I would use any other hammer. I have always been kind of a hammer aficionado with checking out and handling just about any hammer I can get my hands on, as I love hammers.
Estwing Light weight I beam bar is great because of the geometry, although not the most durable as they don't last nearly as long as my other steel flat bars that take a beating and never quit.
Estwing Light weight I beam bar is great because of the geometry, although not the most durable as they don't last nearly as long as my other steel flat bars that take a beating and never quit.
It will be stolen 3 times in the game until it goes out of play…I’m all ready for the party tomorrow. Think anyone will know? Lol I’m sure they’ll be thinking, I wonder what it is….
The guys will be clamoring for that hammer.
I have a few estwings. I never got the appeal of the one piece steel hammer. I prefer wood handles.
That said… I love the estwing wood handle mallets and other wood handle estwings.
My dad had a couple of the leather handle one piece steel estwings. I always appreciated how they looked, but they beat your wrist up compared to a wood or fiberglass handle.
For work, I like the old Vaughan/Klein 20oz fiberglass handle hammers with the long poll. They still make a 18oz version of it (Vaughan E18F and Klein 807-18), but they do not make the 20oz with the long poll version of it anymore. Even the 16oz version does not have the long poll.
That said… I love the estwing wood handle mallets and other wood handle estwings.
My dad had a couple of the leather handle one piece steel estwings. I always appreciated how they looked, but they beat your wrist up compared to a wood or fiberglass handle.
For work, I like the old Vaughan/Klein 20oz fiberglass handle hammers with the long poll. They still make a 18oz version of it (Vaughan E18F and Klein 807-18), but they do not make the 20oz with the long poll version of it anymore. Even the 16oz version does not have the long poll.
Many many years ago I was doing fire/flood work. Big snow storm had come through and I went to a cabin with another coworker, water line had froze and cracked in the 3rd floor bathroom. All 3 floors have water damage. My job for the day was to gut the bathroom and as much of the 3rd floor done as I could, get it down to the studs and rafters.
Other guy then had to leave for an emergency call in the town over.
My wood handled hammer snapped the head off. After some cursing and pondering, I duct taped the head back on and it worked well enough for the demo work anyways. I ended up buying an Estwing leather wrapped handle.
She's still going strong today, just not as pretty as the day I got her.
The full metal hammers will always have a place. These days I mostly use it for automotive work, works great for that too. Sad home depot is dropping them. I refuse to buy a power ranger looking hammer, the power tools are bad enough.
Other guy then had to leave for an emergency call in the town over.
My wood handled hammer snapped the head off. After some cursing and pondering, I duct taped the head back on and it worked well enough for the demo work anyways. I ended up buying an Estwing leather wrapped handle.
She's still going strong today, just not as pretty as the day I got her.
The full metal hammers will always have a place. These days I mostly use it for automotive work, works great for that too. Sad home depot is dropping them. I refuse to buy a power ranger looking hammer, the power tools are bad enough.
I always wanted an Estwing hammer. I knew I could simply buy a new one. But I really wanted one I could fix up. I found one at a garage sale and got it, a shovel and a few screwdrivers for $8. See below. A number of the leather discs were rotted. I had an old brown leather belt (+20 years old) that was on its last leg. I watched some videos and removed all the discs. The white ones were all torn. I replaced about 7 of them with discs I made from the belt. I was happy with the results and use when I need that type of hammer. You can see a change in the brown at the bottom. Those are off my belt. Note, this hammer was made in 1955.
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Renegade1LI
Well-known member
Nice job looks good!I always wanted an Estwing hammer. I knew I could simply buy a new one. But I really wanted one I could fix up. I found one at a garage sale and got it, a shovel and a few screwdrivers for $8. See below. A number of the leather discs were rotted. I had an old brown leather belt (+20 years old) that was on its last leg. I watched some videos and removed all the discs. The white ones were all torn. I replaced about 7 of them with discs I made from the belt. I was happy with the results and use when I need that type of hammer. You can see a change in the brown at the bottom. Those are off my belt. Note, this hammer was made in 1955.
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