New TEKTON German Made Hammers

[Steve_P]

No about they did the research and priced them accordingly, but what is the brand's goal? Rebrand everything and just be a distributor? Plenty of companies like that already.

There aren't that many sources of these German hammers in the US besides KC Tool and a few others. Tekton seems to be doing fine with their business model but feel free to continue to advise them.

 

[Fedwrench]

Correct. See below
If you really want quality hammers for pennies on the dollar, yard sales and flea markets are probably the best bet. It is not like hammers don't get dinged up and handles are easy to replace.

It's been more than awhile since I bought a new hammer so, $60 seems high to me but by ordering from Tekton.com you get 10% back in rewards points that spend like cash on future orders and free shipping on orders over $25 shipped to the USA. Those are great incentives for me to order directly from Tekton. 10% doesn't seem like much but, it adds up quickly and is better than getting poked in the eye by a sharp stick. Not a fan of German made hammers? Jersey Discount tools offers the Trusty Cook red 36 oz dead blow ball peen for $55 out the door. No one is forcing you to buy a specific item or brand.
Hell, the Tekton Peeps probably read the many threads here praising German made tools and hopped on the bandwagon

 

[Buckgnarly]

I gave in and ordered the 3 pack of the mining sledge....should be here tomorrow, but maybe Monday because of the White ****.

 

[Kurt4440]

Why would Tekton, who did a big MADE IN USA push, not try to domestically source a hammer manufacturer then? Now screwdriver and hammers have been outsourced internationally.

Unfortunately, I wasn't consulted on the hammer decision. Fortunately, we get to decide how we want to spend our money.
This might help:

 

[CHI_Tool&Die]

Yo

I gave in and ordered the 3 pack of the mining sledge....should be here tomorrow, but maybe Monday because of the White ****.

You are going to like them. Those hammers are very well made and stout.

As for the dudes clamoring for US-made hammers, you still have Vaughan and Ewing. I’m pretty sure Vaughan is the OEM for the BluePoint hammers.

 

[d.mcfarland]

Tekton seems to be doing fine with their business model but feel free to continue to advise them.

It makes sense for Lowes to get rid of Flex, and also Skil (which may not happen). Flex is a small seller which directly competes with DeWalt, and Skil competes with Kobalt, which I believe has a much bigger line of products. It's better to cut out the brands with low sales that directly compete with top selling brands, focus on the big sellers, and dedicate the shelf space to what sells.

Brands like Flex, Ridgid, Bosch, Makita, Skil.... must each only have a few percent of brick-and-mortar cordless tool sales in the US.

^^^^ You posted a lot of business opinion in the FLEX thread ....



Anyways, I'm saying they picked an obscure hammer manufacturer for higher margins, not to support US tool manufacturing. Can't sell a rebranded Vaughn for twice what someone can get it for on any number of websites easily.

 

[ptgarcia]

Ever consider the possibility they approached USA manufacturers but couldn’t come to acceptable terms?

 

[d.mcfarland]

Ever consider the possibility they approached USA manufacturers but couldn’t come to acceptable terms?

A 16 oz Vaughn ball peen hammer sells for $14.40 at Home Depot. Slapping a Tekton name on it and charging 3x that is going to result is terrible sales numbers. Tekton doesn't have that aura that Snap On does.

 

[Callelle]

Why would Tekton, who did a big MADE IN USA push, not try to domestically source a hammer manufacturer then? Now screwdriver and hammers have been outsourced internationally.

Because they used "Made in the USA" as nothing more than a marketing gimmick. They get a contract for a certain period of time, if their bid gets beat, they move to the next supplier. The Wilde pliers may stick around since they also contract for the pry bars. I doubt the hammers will be around much longer than the USA screwdrivers were.

 

[liliysdad]

Because they used "Made in the USA" as nothing more than a marketing gimmick.

Really seems to be that simple.

 

[neophyte]

Yo

You are going to like them. Those hammers are very well made and stout.

As for the dudes clamoring for US-made hammers, you still have Vaughan and Ewing. I’m pretty sure Vaughan is the OEM for the BluePoint hammers.

It may be Martin, at least for some of the hammer designs.

 

[Vinny]

I prefer Estwing all steel hammers. They take the most abuse out of any I used, and most are made in the USA.

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

So the 28oz/ 800g cross peen variant is roughly a 25,- EUR/ 29.00 USD hammer here. It can be found for marginally less.



And while Picard makes an all-around solid product, no question there. I have a hard time seeing the 50.00 USD price tag.

That said, with free shipping from Tekton, the relation changes a bit. If I was just ordering that hammer from the above source, I’d have to pay for shipping as well. Which in this case would be 6,50 EUR/ 7.66 USD. Which makes it an almost 36,- USD hammer. … Still not 50.00 . Which I would not pay for this basic hammer.

Kind regards,
Olli

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

And for comparison’s sake.

Here’s a 300g cross peen and a 1250g sledge. From Peddinghaus and Elora/OSCA.








300g



800g / 28oz. Price is nearly identical to the price of the Picard.



And the Elora/OSCA



Really just to put things into perspective.

Kind regards,
Olli

 

[KnurledNut]

@Nobody-named-Olli
Are you aware of a SecuTec version of the ball peen available anywhere else?
Still wondering if that's a Tekton exclusive.

 

[JeepYJ]

Which in this case would be 6,50 EUR/ 7.66 USD. Which makes it an almost 36,- USD hammer. … Still not 50.00

German things sold in the US have some extra taxes added on for US consumers.

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

@Nobody-named-Olli
Are you aware of a SecuTec version of the ball peen available anywhere else?
Still wondering if that's a Tekton exclusive.

I was wondering that myself, so far I wasn’t successful in locating that variant.

German things sold in the US have some extra taxes added on for US consumers.

I’m aware of that, and it makes the whole move even more mind boggling to me. Unless this was “years in the making”, I don’t understand it - at all.


Kind regards,
Olli

 

[Pexto]

German things sold in the US have some extra taxes added on for US consumers.

It must be a lot of taxes, since the German prices already include 20% MwSt. (Mehrwertsteuer - or VAT).

 

[CHI_Tool&Die]

Dang, some of you guys are extra bitter about the MiUSA stuff. There’s only so may hammer manufacturers in the US and I know Estwing is already maxed out and Vaughan was sold and is probably trying to keep up with what they got. Sometimes it isn’t some nefarious thing as to why a tool company may want to sell US tools but have to source stuff from overseas. Like the US manufacturers just may not be able to add more production.

 

[Ohio Andy]

The only use I’ve personally found for the ball end is for setting on the divot on kingpins and hitting the other end with a hammer.

My last purchase of ball peen hammers was for use in classrooms to break windows in case there was an emergency requiring students to exit quickly through windows that were not easily opened. The ball end was deemed A good compromise with an ability to concentrate Force sufficient to easily break the glass In the rooms in question.

 

[MovingAlong]

Call me cheap but $50 for a mundane hammer is outrageous.

Guessing you don't care for the Stiletto brand then? From Home Depot:

 

[sk farmer]

i don't really think that a stiletto hammer is a good example. it is made from a different material that is known to be more expensive and offers several functions to do specific tasks.


i don't believe these hammers are designed for any special purpose or have any exotic materials.

i find it quite telling that our german member, nobody-named-olli states a few posts back that he feels it is overpriced for what you get and that while it may be a perfectly fine hammer, he seems to be saying there is nothing special about it.

once again. it seems to me this is a rebrand and if you want the real or better tool at possibly even a better price, buy it from the oem.

 

[winlinmac]

If the handles are included under warranty I guess it might make some sense but yeah I’m with everyone else, those are steep prices. I’m wondering why Tekton didn’t just go with a US forge?

Companies like Tekton don't have in-house designs, they pick up whatever they can get some suppliers around the world by first starting with an opening bid. Germany, Japan, USA, China, Taiwan are common go-to's for Tekton. Quality is quickly becoming a moot point now unless we are buying old stock from decades ago.

 

[winlinmac]

Tekton is confusing as a brand; the majority of their hard line tools are Asian imports, yet they have some domestically sourced tools as well as very high end imports (tool boxes, Hammers, screwdrivers, etc.)

I embrace most German made products, yet these hammers don't make sense to me. A 32oz Vaughn (made in USA) ball peen is $25 at Home Depot, whereas the Tekton is $60. I'm sure the Tekton are top notch as the Germans produce absolute quality, yet my Vaughns have been perfect for 20yrs and they keep Americans employed.

Tekton is chasing after ill-informed consumers that don't know the origins of where most tools come from. A typical consumer will see a "Made in Germany" stamp and quickly jump to conclusion that it is high quality when in reality, this statement does not always hold true especially when now many German tool companies are sourcing metals and other materials from other parts of the world.

Take Wiha for example - now making "stuff" in the USA now with Americans being their target consumers now; over the years, their bits have been manufactured in Vietnam. Reception is overall mixed.

 

[winlinmac]

I will admit to being agnostic with respect to tools. Don't care where they come from as long as they're the best in their class. TEKTON is trying to pull a Harbor Freight ICON move by moving upscale in quality. There are several possible reasons they have gone to Germany for their latest products. 1) They may not be able to find domestic manufacturing of equal quality - I do know for a fact that their new Witte screwdrivers are vastly superior to the Mayhew wedges (that Mayhew claims to be screwdrivers) they previously sold.

There is no domestic equivalent to the NWS pliers wrench whereas in Germany there are several including the original Knipex.
Nice hickory handled hammers are becoming rare in America and these, though overpriced, seem to be of excellent quality.

Tekton does use Trusty Cook for their deadblows and do their own domestic manufacturing of some of their wrenches. The are trying but just like the Fireball Vise costing twice as much for the American version making something in America is going to be a problem if it cost twice as much as an equal quality Taiwanese tool. I didn't kill American manufacturing Wall Street did.

I miss the offerings from Toptul though - their satin-finish wrenches are finely made and Tekton and Harbor Freight can never match them.

 

[dnschmidt]

I miss them too but the combination of issuing a 1099 for every dollar earned on EBay instead of the $2,000 threshold and the doubling up of USPS flat rate boxes killed that business for me. How could I sell a forty dollar set of wrenches when the postage to send it to the customer cost $25.00? That killed the TOPTUL business model for me. I had fun while I did it but all good things come to an end.

 

[KnurledNut]

Are these in addition to or a replacement of the Trusty Cook hammers they have carried for a few years now?

The TC's are still available.
I believe the new ball peens are a replacement for these:

 

[neophyte]

Companies like Tekton don't have in-house designs, they pick up whatever they can get some suppliers around the world by first starting with an opening bid. Germany, Japan, USA, China, Taiwan are common go-to's for Tekton. Quality is quickly becoming a moot point now unless we are buying old stock from decades ago.

Picard makes very nice hammers.
Grobet used Picard as the manufacturer for their metalsmithing/metalforming hammers for decades, and hand forming for metalsmithing requires a lot of hammering, and the user wants a perfectly balanced hammer. The Picard hammers were wonderful.
The hammers for metalsmithing/metalforming from MOB-Peddinghaus that are made in France are nice, but not as nice as the the Picard hammers from what I’ve seen.
As far as I’m aware, neither Martin or Vaughan made hammers that covered the types Picard and MOB made for metalsmithing.
Martin does manufacture auto body hammers, and those are usually sold in the USA, instead of imports from Germany of Picard hammers, who makes similar auto body hammers, or maybe MOB.
I’m not sure whether the auto body hammers from Picard are made to the same standards as the metalsmithing hammers from Picard.

 

[LopezBart]

I've had a Peddinghaus Dutch pattern sledge for years; it's my favorite hammer when blacksmithing. Short handled and hits very solidly. I've relieved the edges a bit w/ a flapper wheel to avoid creating folds. It was not cheap 25 years ago.

 

[KnurledNut]

Companies like Tekton don't have in-house designs,

Thats not true. They have designed several of their tools in house.

 

[winlinmac]

I miss them too but the combination of issuing a 1099 for every dollar earned on EBay instead of the $2,000 threshold and the doubling up of USPS flat rate boxes killed that business for me. How could I sell a forty dollar set of wrenches when the postage to send it to the customer cost $25.00? That killed the TOPTUL business model for me. I had fun while I did it but all good things come to an end.

I recently stumbled across USPS Ground Advantage and Pirate Ship, making shipping to buyers cost-effective. However, prices can quickly go up depending on weight unfortunately

 

[Buckgnarly]

I gave in and ordered the 3 pack of the mining sledge....should be here tomorrow, but maybe Monday because of the White ****.

Well the white **** delayed them Sat, but looks like not even the ice **** can stop them today....poor FedEx guy is gonna have a ****** day today delivering around here.....

 

[Snaparxon]

Hang in there @Buckgnarly, we need the white **** to make the green **** later on

 

[Buckgnarly]

Hang in there @Buckgnarly, we need the white **** to make the green **** later on

Yup,....delayed, AGAIN. Can't blame the guy though, ice was wicked today. Maybe FedEx should supply leaf blowers?......haha

I do agree though, we need some ground moisture!...ironic after the last 2 summers!

 

[Buckgnarly]

Made it! Some hammer comparisons.....handle is FANTASTIC for stubby beating hammers, which is what I was looking for. Screw wedge thing is interesting, will see how it holds up but like the fact that you can tighten it I assume....I think I'll get a set or at least the bug one and let the animals at school have at them that's a real test.

 

[four.cycle]

I believe the new ball peens are a replacement for these:

In which case, the German hammer will be a huge improvement over their previous offerings.
I bought a box of those red-handled Tekton ball peins from "YourPartsPlace" on ebay a few years ago. The price was a screamin' deal for a set of four (or five?) ball pein hammers.
They felt cheap and inadequate in the hand. They looked flimsy.
As I recall, I gave a couple to the boy, and the others went to @BlakeTheCarGuy or @Chrome Vanadium Cody (who has been AWOL for 16 months now.)

 

[mikey03]

am I the only one who prefers fiberglass handles or not really?

 

[liliysdad]

am I the only one who prefers fiberglass handles or not really?

I don’t care for them.

I prefer wood over any other handle material for shop/ball pein hammers.

 

[four.cycle]

hickory or ash = only way to go

 

[Farmall450]

I've said this before and got into it with people on the reddit tools sub about how Tekton has completely changed from what made them popular. I don't understand why they (as a company) are trying to build a premium brand by selling high priced rebranded tools. We live in a time when there is access to the original manufacturer, why the need to buy the rebrand? Warranty? So Tekton wants to be the warranty company? They keep trying to find their niche.

I would understand that approach if they were big in the tool truck business or something similar where the convenience coupled with financing and a warranty makes sense.

I am also completely confused. When I first found Tekton in the wild it was in Meijer when I was in college (2018 or so). I don't think a grocery store is the scene for $50 ball peens (or even a farm store, the only other place I've seen Tekton in the wild (a few months ago) - might as well get Estwing at that rate, which most farm stores carry).