Really Basic Hammer Questions

[Jsf721]

OK, I own, and have owned a few types of hammers.

I have

Regular standard Hammer with a wooden handle, fiberglass tyle handle and steel handle

I own rubber mallets in a few sizes

Sledge hammers in various sizes and weights form small hand held to giant ring the bell at the carnival types when I was breaking up an old BB court pole from a cement pour.

What is a dead blow hammer and when would you use it?

Same for a ball pein hammer

Thanks in advance for the education.

 

[Dave455]

A dead blow hammer has a space inside the head, filled, typically, with lead shot! When you hit, the shot rushes forward to prevent rebound! Especially useful with plastic and rubber mallets that can be a bit bouncy! Use one whenever you would use a pastic or rubber mallet such as knocking metal parts into place, or apart!

To an engineer, a ball pein hammer is a standard hammer! The ball pein was originally used for peining over rivet heads, or in sheet metal work, but the balance is generally better than other types so it became the standard for engineers, at least in the U.S. and U.K.

 

[ericcbeckett]

What is a dead blow hammer and when would you use it?

Same for a ball pein hammer

Thanks in advance for the education.

Dead blow hammer has a fluid weight in it, usually sand. The sand accelerates at a different rate than the hammer head. This reduces the amount of bounce back when the hammer strikes a surface. Hence the "dead" blow, you hit it and it does not jump back. The advantage is mainly ergonomic, you are not transferring that jarring back to your wrist.

A ball pein hammer has a smaller surface area that strikes the surface. So the amount of pressure at that point is increased. Think of a needle. The amount of force that you push the needle is concentrated at the needle point. Thus increasing the pressure and allowing it to pierce. The same force applied with a peg is spread out over a greater area and thus reduces the pressure.

 

[RogueFab]

Dave has it right. To add, dead blows are nearly always on the rack or table of a milling machine. Machinists like them for tightening and loosening the draw bar and table vise. They have many uses. I like to use them to move stubborn things I don't want to break. The softened thud is ideal for adjustments on a lot of things.

 

[ddawg16]

A dead blow hammer is useful when you need to 'move' something, but don't want to do damage to it.

As Dave above pointed out, a rubber mallet will bounce, the dead blow does not.

They are great for driving in things like a retaining pin. The dead blow is soft enough to not damage (flare the pin) and does not bounce....whereas, a regular hammer might damage the pin.

You can get one on sale at Harbor Freight real cheap if you want to try one out. As long as you don't mind orange.

 

[thom1968]

Being about as smart as a bag of hammers, I prefer leather mallets for non-marring work. I have them in all sizes from about an oz up to, well, I don't know. It's about 4" in diameter and 6" long. It will drive a wooden stake like nothing else. Vampires look out!
My FIL left me a bunch of tools including a lot of leather mallets. Some were very worn at an angle across both faces. He was a printer so I can only imagine that he used them for years at a time to adjust or drive home some printer part. Yea, I'm keeping those.

 

[CWP1616L]

Dead blow hammers have next to no rebound.

Ball pein hammers are used for punches and chisels.

 

[woody 73]

I guess the World has changed; some say for the better but I am still sitting on the fence on that one.

long story short version as a young boy in Jr. High school the shop Teacher would hand out a wooden mold of a small bowl; along with a square piece of copper that you placed over the top of the mold. Each boy in the shop was given a ball-peen hammer along with a bowl mold and we were taught how to "Peen" the copper in order to make a bowl.

Times have changed now it is computer class, maybe one day we will come full circle back to working with shop tools.

 

[d.mcfarland]

The hardness (or lack there of in this case) is why ball pein hammers are used for hitting other metal. They will not crack, but instead, they will mushroom with enough use I'd guess.

 

[rlitman]

As long as you don't mind orange.

Actually, orange (or red, or anything other than black) is preferred.
Black dead blow hammers can leave black streaks on the surface. The orange ones are like non-marking sneakers.

 

[tjmonsen5]

Dead blow hammers have next to no rebound.

Ball pein hammers are used for punches and chisels.

For punches and chisels I'm sure you are supposed to use the flat end? I would be scared of smashing my fingers if I used the ball end.

 

[BK13]

Sorta related question: saw an Estwing dead blow (48oz. maybe?) at Home Depot today. Anybody ever use one? I like my other Estwings (they are pretty popular among land surveyors) and thought I might pick one up, pending good GJ reviews, of course.

 

[cburnscrx]

I use my ball peen for drywall work believe it or not. THe dimple it makes in the drywall makes it easy to fill the scratch, divot, ect without puncturing the paper. It works much better than I am describing, but I am tired...

 

[fourjeepin]

Sorta related question: saw an Estwing dead blow (48oz. maybe?) at Home Depot today. Anybody ever use one? I like my other Estwings (they are pretty popular among land surveyors) and thought I might pick one up, pending good GJ reviews, of course.

I have an Estwing dead blow. Been using it for years and have been very happy with it. I do have a thing for their hammers though. Without looking, I think I have nine. There are a couple more in my eBay watch list, so this count may change at any time. . It's a sickness.

 

[03protege]

I'm a fan of Harbor Freight dead blows, I have a 4lb and either a 1 or 1.5lb. The both of them cost about $12 total and so far have been holding up great. At this point if they fall apart I would have no problem shelling out money for another one.

Ball peins are great hammers and are now my go to unless I am doing woodworking or in need of some other specialty hammer.

On my wishlist is a ball pein dead blow hammer.

 

[TwoInch]

Dead blow hammers have next to no rebound.

Ball pein hammers are used for punches and chisels.

ball peen hammers are for peening, and metal shaping. although many use them for other purposes like punches/chisels(myself included)

drilling hammers are the proper tool for punches and chisels. they are superior i must say, the shorter length to weight is just right for that type of work.

The hardness (or lack there of in this case) is why ball pein hammers are used for hitting other metal. They will not crack, but instead, they will mushroom with enough use I'd guess.

regular ball peens are very hard hammers, although not as hard as a claw hammer, they are designed to peen over rivets and shape metal. they are not soft by any means.

 

[d.mcfarland]

regular ball peens are very hard hammers, although not as hard as a claw hammer, they are designed to peen over rivets and shape metal. they are not soft by any means.

Agreed. I guess I should have qualified that the hardness was less than a standard claw hammer by design.

 

[Jsf721]

Guys, thank you all for your responses and explainations. I will be picking up a Dead Blow Hammer and a Ball Pein for the Box now that I know what the heck they are used for-LOL.

Wish I knew about the dead blow when I installed the interlocking tile in the shed. That rubber mallet was bouncing back at me like crazy.

Thanks again.

A dead blow hammer has a space inside the head, filled, typically, with lead shot! When you hit, the shot rushes forward to prevent rebound! Especially useful with plastic and rubber mallets that can be a bit bouncy! Use one whenever you would use a pastic or rubber mallet such as knocking metal parts into place, or apart!

To an engineer, a ball pein hammer is a standard hammer! The ball pein was originally used for peining over rivet heads, or in sheet metal work, but the balance is generally better than other types so it became the standard for engineers, at least in the U.S. and U.K.

Dead blow hammer has a fluid weight in it, usually sand. The sand accelerates at a different rate than the hammer head. This reduces the amount of bounce back when the hammer strikes a surface. Hence the "dead" blow, you hit it and it does not jump back. The advantage is mainly ergonomic, you are not transferring that jarring back to your wrist.

A ball pein hammer has a smaller surface area that strikes the surface. So the amount of pressure at that point is increased. Think of a needle. The amount of force that you push the needle is concentrated at the needle point. Thus increasing the pressure and allowing it to pierce. The same force applied with a peg is spread out over a greater area and thus reduces the pressure.

Dave has it right. To add, dead blows are nearly always on the rack or table of a milling machine. Machinists like them for tightening and loosening the draw bar and table vise. They have many uses. I like to use them to move stubborn things I don't want to break. The softened thud is ideal for adjustments on a lot of things.

A dead blow hammer is useful when you need to 'move' something, but don't want to do damage to it.

As Dave above pointed out, a rubber mallet will bounce, the dead blow does not.

They are great for driving in things like a retaining pin. The dead blow is soft enough to not damage (flare the pin) and does not bounce....whereas, a regular hammer might damage the pin.

You can get one on sale at Harbor Freight real cheap if you want to try one out. As long as you don't mind orange.

Being about as smart as a bag of hammers, I prefer leather mallets for non-marring work. I have them in all sizes from about an oz up to, well, I don't know. It's about 4" in diameter and 6" long. It will drive a wooden stake like nothing else. Vampires look out!
My FIL left me a bunch of tools including a lot of leather mallets. Some were very worn at an angle across both faces. He was a printer so I can only imagine that he used them for years at a time to adjust or drive home some printer part. Yea, I'm keeping those.

Dead blow hammers have next to no rebound.

Ball pein hammers are used for punches and chisels.

I guess the World has changed; some say for the better but I am still sitting on the fence on that one.

long story short version as a young boy in Jr. High school the shop Teacher would hand out a wooden mold of a small bowl; along with a square piece of copper that you placed over the top of the mold. Each boy in the shop was given a ball-peen hammer along with a bowl mold and we were taught how to "Peen" the copper in order to make a bowl.

Times have changed now it is computer class, maybe one day we will come full circle back to working with shop tools.

The hardness (or lack there of in this case) is why ball pein hammers are used for hitting other metal. They will not crack, but instead, they will mushroom with enough use I'd guess.

Actually, orange (or red, or anything other than black) is preferred.
Black dead blow hammers can leave black streaks on the surface. The orange ones are like non-marking sneakers.

For punches and chisels I'm sure you are supposed to use the flat end? I would be scared of smashing my fingers if I used the ball end.

Sorta related question: saw an Estwing dead blow (48oz. maybe?) at Home Depot today. Anybody ever use one? I like my other Estwings (they are pretty popular among land surveyors) and thought I might pick one up, pending good GJ reviews, of course.

I use my ball peen for drywall work believe it or not. THe dimple it makes in the drywall makes it easy to fill the scratch, divot, ect without puncturing the paper. It works much better than I am describing, but I am tired...

I have an Estwing dead blow. Been using it for years and have been very happy with it. I do have a thing for their hammers though. Without looking, I think I have nine. There are a couple more in my eBay watch list, so this count may change at any time. . It's a sickness.

I'm a fan of Harbor Freight dead blows, I have a 4lb and either a 1 or 1.5lb. The both of them cost about $12 total and so far have been holding up great. At this point if they fall apart I would have no problem shelling out money for another one.

Ball peins are great hammers and are now my go to unless I am doing woodworking or in need of some other specialty hammer.

On my wishlist is a ball pein dead blow hammer.

I want to buy a new hammer in different type because I use some other hammers that’s handle are made with wood, iron, steel and mettles but I think that are not better for daily use so I think the plastic or rubber handled hammer are better for use because it is not create trouble for catch it in humans hand due it its softness. Sledge hammer in various sizes and weights from hand to giant ring the bell at the carnival types when I was breaking up an old BB court pole from cement pour. What is a dead blow hammer and when would we use it?

ball peen hammers are for peening, and metal shaping. although many use them for other purposes like punches/chisels(myself included)

drilling hammers are the proper tool for punches and chisels. they are superior i must say, the shorter length to weight is just right for that type of work.



regular ball peens are very hard hammers, although not as hard as a claw hammer, they are designed to peen over rivets and shape metal. they are not soft by any means.

Agreed. I guess I should have qualified that the hardness was less than a standard claw hammer by design.