General Purpose US-made Sledge?

[oldschoolcraft]

There’s some old posts, damn not even 3 years ago, and none of the brands listed are made in the US anymore.

I don’t own a sledge hammer but I think it would be worthwhile to have one. Not exactly sure for what yet, maybe some demo work, maybe fence post install, I don’t know. But it doesn’t seem like a tool I could improvise out of something else if I need one.

I’m thinking from what I read in old posts that a 8 pounds head would be a good gen purpose one. Fiberglass handle seems better than wood to me, I never liked wood anything except furniture. Maybe like a 30” handle seems gen purpose?

So two part question, what’s the best gen purpose style/length for a sledge and which brands are still made in US If any? Or maybe I buy a used US made one on eBay since they probably can’t break except for handle and can always be re-handled right? Or is rehandling a hassle?

 

[bargainhuntingking]

Why not get a splitting maul and use the backside as your sledge? 2 tools in 1

 

[AmericanMechanic]

Is Council Tool still USA made?

 

[nmk_61802]

Check out Harry J Epstiens:

https://www.harryepstein.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?manufacture_country=7&q=sledge+hammer

A few US made options. You may have trouble finding US made and fiberglass. I prefer wood handles fiberglass transmits to much vibration for my liking

 

[ecotec]

Menards has a USA made one. I will look at the brand when I get home.

I looked it up. true Temper.

 

[Handyandy23]

Estwing makes an 8 lb sledge with both a hickory or composite handle. I can't seem to find much info on COO but the hickory handle is supposed to be made from "premium US hickory". And the several smaller Estwing hammers I have are all US made.

If you're worried about quality, I wouldn't worry about breaking an 8 lb sledge from any reputable company. Hard to imagine getting junk from a company like Estwing. And if it's about supporting American manufacturing, IMO buying new from a company that makes the large majority of their product in the US is supporting a better cause than buying a used hammer.

 

[sberry]

If you are going to take care of it then wood is dandy, you wanna abuse it then a fiber at the box store. If you have none,,,,, buy 2 while you are at the store. Get a 4 and an 8 and a guy can be on the lookout or buy anything better as needed.
Some of the box stores have USA hammers but a diy home gamer got none would be well served by any of them. Slightly more of a user than a collector though,,, just hand me the hammer. Not unreasonable for a homebody to have those. While you are there buy a good construction grade round point shovel and the trench shovel along with an axe.

 

[sberry]

If a guy goes from none to wearing out an 8 pounder in real short order I aint gonna mess with him. This is part of my tool argument on here. Tools are now at so many stores a guy almost doesn't have to buy some of them till needed and most of the guys in that class couldn't wear it out if they tried.
While nice things are nice and some may pay a 65 plus retiring office type gonna work on some elder cars cant wear out a 30$ BD grinder let alone a 400$ Fein. The HF ratchet is used by greasy kids in scrap yards every day, just no way I would bother with expensive brand name starting on on a general collection, the **** is good and at disposable cost.
Aint that a Snappy isn't good or even the best even doing real work today don't really use it 8 hours a day or even one and its a couple minutes at a time. That's an argument about real service vs cost but the other reason is simply the stuff works and I don't wanna worry about it.
By that I mean the agonizing and worry about value, insurance, depreciation and minor loss. No one steals and pawns HF for the most part, I don't wanna finance when owning out of pocket is SOOOOOOO cheap today, don't even got to save for new tools, couple screwdrivers just the right size, some sockets well within lunch money cost.
Bought some a while back, 2 number 2 and a bigger one, set of metric wrenches for my van, was missing the 15, duh but tossed the 14 and I have a fistful of 15 I put in, all for 12$. I lost one screwdriver, the other 2 work great, gonna get 3 more as I had trouble with straight last week.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

I've used a sledge hammer at work a fair bit. I like the engineers style with the flat sides. It allows you to use the side to drive 2x4 stakes across the width of the stake, otherwise they will split. I never swung the sledge over my head, carney ringing the bell, rather hands together, inside with a flick of the wrist. I cut the handle 6 or 8 shorter otherwise that 6 or 8 inches may hit your 6 or 8 inches. Wood is easier on your body and you can shorten it.

I've never noticed any difference in hammers with COO

 

[Handyandy23]

If a guy goes from none to wearing out an 8 pounder in real short order I aint gonna mess with him. This is part of my tool argument on here. Tools are now at so many stores a guy almost doesn't have to buy some of them till needed and most of the guys in that class couldn't wear it out if they tried.
While nice things are nice and some may pay a 65 plus retiring office type gonna work on some elder cars cant wear out a 30$ BD grinder let alone a 400$ Fein. The HF ratchet is used by greasy kids in scrap yards every day, just no way I would bother with expensive brand name starting on on a general collection, the **** is good and at disposable cost.
Aint that a Snappy isn't good or even the best even doing real work today don't really use it 8 hours a day or even one and its a couple minutes at a time. That's an argument about real service vs cost but the other reason is simply the stuff works and I don't wanna worry about it.
By that I mean the agonizing and worry about value, insurance, depreciation and minor loss. No one steals and pawns HF for the most part, I don't wanna finance when owning out of pocket is SOOOOOOO cheap today, don't even got to save for new tools, couple screwdrivers just the right size, some sockets well within lunch money cost.
Bought some a while back, 2 number 2 and a bigger one, set of metric wrenches for my van, was missing the 15, duh but tossed the 14 and I have a fistful of 15 I put in, all for 12$. I lost one screwdriver, the other 2 work great, gonna get 3 more as I had trouble with straight last week.

I agree with this philosophy for the most part. I'm willing to spend more money on products that provide a nicer "feel" while I'm using it, but less inclined to spend the money on something like a sledge hammer that's just a big, heavy, awkward whacker no matter how you slice it.

I've got some nice Estwing hammers I really enjoy, like a 3lb engineers hammer, and a claw hammer. The weight distribution is great and they don't vibrate. They just feel nice in the hand. But a sledge isn't ever going to feel nice in your hand.

I just looked at my store brand cheapo sledge and it's made in Mexico, and has a lifetime warranty sticker still on it. For the handful of times I'll use it I'm not too worried about having to claim on that warranty.

 

[sberry]

At this point I aint buying unless I need and what I need would be very specific. I could get some milage out of a handful of decent generic screwdrivers and to tell the truth like them as good or better than a big fistful of Klein I paid 3x for 30 years ago. I aint cheap about tools and I cant use it if its junk but the HF uni bit has proven adequate and exceed my expectations greatly 3 for 10$ and same for the screw drivers at 1.50 and 2$. I don't bother with the free trinkets. I am committed to the Stanley 99E for a knife but if it wasn't for that might look there too and Walmart is competitive on the little ratchet straps,,, so,,,, I am good.
Havnt used the metric wrench set, maybe once, cant remember but 7$ is way better rattling in the box than 70.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

I disagree on screwdrivers, rather than buying a set of 22 for $19.95 , a few Wera are a better buy, they are that much better. Flat bladed paint can blunt chisels excepted. But for simple heavy tools like sledge hammers, third world countries can make hand forged tools just as well.

 

[speed bump]

We have several Nupla sledgehammers at work and they are nice swinging US made hammers. Personally I like a 10-12 lb more than an 8 but that's probably because I grew up swinging a 12 lb.

 

[RTM]

Around here there are many on CL and at Garage Sales. May need to get out of the city to find them, but they are everywhere, cheap. Not a tool I would worry about US made, or even the handle, as you can get a decent replacement easily. I doubt you can do much besides destroy the handle to them.

 

[zendriver]

https://resourcefulsupply.com/counc...iQKcvHVeP6JiLX1p-d4WvcEPttMJtafAaAul1EALw_wcB

No way would I even bother with a wood handled model.

 

[1982fxr]

I got a Barco USA made from Epstein's a few years ago. Wood handle though.

 

[bargainhuntingking]

$4 at my ReStore

 

[lardy1]

Around here there are many on CL and at Garage Sales. May need to get out of the city to find them, but they are everywhere, cheap. Not a tool I would worry about US made, or even the handle, as you can get a decent replacement easily. I doubt you can do much besides destroy the handle to them.

I've got two very nice sledge hammers and a lot of other types of hammers used. All domestic.

 

[BiggityBen]

i really like my Mac anti-vibe hammers, it's a shame they're not USA to my knowledge. i'm going to pick up this next week for hammering short 5' temporary ground rods into the earth, it can be tiring with my fiberglass Bluepoint i've been using for the last four years. i mention this only because someone else reading who isn't as concerned with COO should really try this style hammer. although it's not a proper sledge, to be fair.

 

[mikebaker1129]

Surprised no one mentioned Vaughn or their 2nds labeled Gravik.
I picked up a group of Graviks from HJE's 4th of July sale last year and they are just fine.
USA MADE but mine are all wood handles. A pretty good buy for as little as they cost!

 

[Odd-job]

This thread motivated me to start upping my sledge hammer game.

Nupla 8lb’er. Thought this was sourced from India per the Zoro website but is assembled in USA from global materials or at least someone put the sticker on it. The reproductive harm might actually do me some good at this point in life.

 

[WittHay]

Garant sledge hammers are made in Canada. 20lb with the 36" handle in the picture.

I like the indestructible handle sledges made in India by I believe Groz. Sold up here under Jet, UltraPro and OTC. The handles are shorter than the wood at 30" even for the 14lb

The Mac and Proto antivibe made in Taiwan hammers are good. I have most of the sizes. Had a Blue-Point 4lb. fiberglass mini sledge with the Nupla style handle and didnt care for it. Picture recently posted by one of the local Mac dealers

 

[Pinaud]

Vaughan
https://www.vaughanmfg.com/search.aspx?keyword=sledge