how do you guys store your hammers?

[Al Borland]

5 gallon bucket

 

[finn]

Wherever I used it last?

 

[sparky 1971]

I have a 4X8 beam the width of my shop that was installed for a chain hoist. Hammers with a short handle are on it. Sledge hammers on the floor.

 

[Tools4Me]

I keep most of my hammers in two milk crates on a shop countertop for easy access. One crate is for steel faced hammers, and the other is for the various types of soft faced hammers I own. I cut a bunch of scrap PVC and ABS pipes and placed them vertically inside the crates. The hammer handles individually fit down inside the pipes. The pipes are packed into the crates tightly so I can remove one or more hammers without causing anything else in the crate to shift around.

I keep my autobody hammers and larger items like mauls elsewhere.

The white paint pen dots on top of each hammer head tells me how heavy each hammer head is. Each full dot represents a pound. That allows me to quickly switch back and forth between hammer styles while staying at the same head weight when desired. Any hammer head with an additional white painted line on the head means that hammer has a stubby handle. Hammers with double faces that are both the same, also have a red zip tie around one face. The red zip tie designates that face for dirty uses, like hitting greasy things or hitting things that might have mud or dirt on them that could impregnate into the soft hammer face and cause future issues. The side without the red zip tie is for clean or sensitive work only.

At all times, I keep a nice inventory of replacement hammer faces for all hammers that have replaceable faces. Soft hammer heads get machined down to freshen up the hitting surface or they get changed out as soon as one becomes too beat up or damaged.

 

[Dagny]

5 in the garage 4 in the big truck( service step van) 4 wheeler has 1 claw one 3 pounder for **** trap stakes 1 in pickup 3 in barn addition 2 in old part one in each 8n one in each H one on the WD 45 one on 350 JD one in the basement along with a splitting mall an eight pounder and a wedge. I think there are more just scattered around the farm oh yeah kitchen drawer.

 

[Indexmill]

I think that the happer racks are the right answer. Build it on wheels so it can move around with you. Dumb to keep hammer collections in toolbox drawers.

Keep the few you use everyday out and about on the benches. Rack the others.

 

[Rickkyyr8]

 

[4x4Pete]

Drawers are difficult, hangers are neat. Nothing dumber than a bag though!

 

[ATC]

i giggled when i read this. I dont know how many times i have seen young/new guys grab a claw hammer out of their modest box and attempt to use it on mechanical stuff. This generally makes me ask them if they are carpenters--which makes them puzzled. thus the explanation of hammers do's and dont's followed w/ me giving them a hammer to keep if i like them or sending them to hf to buy the $15 set to get them started

Claw hammers do have a place in mechanicing. It's a hammer with a built-in pry bar...no need to switch tools back and forth in some cases.

 

[Spud McGee]

Somehow I picked up the organization pattern from my mom. My toolbox has a drawer for twisty things (screwdrivers), squeezy things (plyers), etc. the Hammers go into the "smacky things" drawers. There's a drawer for dead blow hammers, a drawer for mallets and small sledge hammers, and a drawer from other ones.

Exceptions are my machinist hammer is strictly used at my mill/lathe so it lives by those guys.
There's a hammer with plastic and brass inserts that's part of a gun tool kit so it lives with the roll pin punches and things that are strictly gun tools.

 

[JradM]

I use a roll-out tray with cutouts for the hammer handles on one of my tool carts. Basically a drawer without sides and with holes cut in it so I can slip hammers in. This is the best organization idea I've had in awhile; the hammers are easy to retrieve and identify - and I can store a LOT in relatively little space.

That idea only works on open-bottom tool carts obviously - otherwise your hammers would be hanging into the drawers below.

 

[Ton ton]

Claw hammers do have a place in mechanicing. It's a hammer with a built-in pry bar...no need to switch tools back and forth in some cases.

I agree with you.

 

[JradM]

Found my photos, since I think my explanation was hard to follow. This isn't every hammer I own, nor did I take my time to make the drawer super pretty - but it sure does work well for what it does.

I just drill a new hole with my holesaw whenever I want to add a spot for another tool. At some point I'll probably cut another plywood piece and redo it - just so I can line everything up better.