What's your favorite Mallet?

[T45]

Looked today at cman usa (vaughn) and it sheds rubber all over...nice tool otherwise...perfect weight and balance for $9.99. Been looking at a couple others like Estwing, but undecided still and wanted to see what do you guys like? I'm looking to see if I need to save up for a couple hammers or if there are some good general purpose ones that would take up less $$ in my budget and space in my box.

 

[Jure]

 

[dutchgray]

Wood mallet for wood chisels, rubber for knocking timber into place and paving slabs, soft face deadblow for anything that needs an impact to clip it on.

 

[Addrock]

These are my favorite. I haven't tried anything even close.
http://www.mscdirect.com/industrialtools/lixie-hickory-hammer.html

 

[gh0st]

My orange 22oz(?) harbor freight dead blow hammer is one of my favorite tools. I'm not a hammer snob though

 

[PBCampbell]

http://www.vaughanmfg.com/shopping/Products/24-OZ-Rubber-Mallet__RM24.aspx

I have one of these that I like well enough though I've sometimes wish it weighed a bit more. Those Lixie hammers look nice.

 

[merbie]

Pb swiss or Thor

I'd rather close my **** in a car door than wear a headlamp.

 

[PBCampbell]

I forgot about Thor hammers. Near works of art but not widely available in the U.S.. I have one tiny one with copper inserts.

 

[mtnwalton]

Rawhide

 

[Farmall450]

My orange 22oz(?) harbor freight dead blow hammer is one of my favorite tools. I'm not a hammer snob though

They actually aren't too shabby. I also use the small Vaughan/cman one w/ the hard/soft tips a lot.

 

[zkling]

The craftsman 4 tip, on sale for ~$12 is one of, if not the best value in a med size soft face mallet.

 

[fivespdcat]

It really depends on what you're trying to hit. You may want something really soft (rubber)or hard but non marring (nylon, uhmw) or even harder like non hardened steel or copper. For general use a plastic dead blow works pretty well and the HFs are disposable. They're not great but they're cheap enough to toss. For a little bit farther up the price scale there's trusty cook or Garland, who also makes excellent split heads. Hammers are a black hole, tread carefully...

 

[AceofSpad3s]

What brand is that? I picked one that is built the same way as that but has green metal instead of brown and the mallet heads are a bit smaller.

 

[fivespdcat]

What brand is that? I picked one that is built the same way as that but has green metal instead of brown and the mallet heads are a bit smaller.

Green you say? Probably a garland

 

[AceofSpad3s]

Green you say? Probably a garland

Here is a picture http://i.imgur.com/Y2ZoJsJ.jpg. Other side says amazonia. I don't remember seeing garland on it, there was a sticker on the top of the head but It was too faded to read.

 

[fivespdcat]

Here is a picture http://i.imgur.com/Y2ZoJsJ.jpg. Other side says amazonia. I don't remember seeing garland on it, there was a sticker on the top of the head but It was too faded to read.

Yeah that's not a garland, they make split heads and mallets in their "own" green.

 

[Packard V8]

I'm looking to see if I need to save up for a couple hammers or if there are some good general purpose ones that would take up less $$ in my budget and space in my box.

Space and dollars lost that argument in my shop a long time ago. Probably got two dozen in three different areas.

Rawhide, plastic, brass, rubber, wood, in varying size from a few ounces to ten pounds. There's not one which can be your only one.

Do you do more metal or wood? More small stuff or big arn?

jack vines

 

[mossyboy6]

I love my pb swiss'

I am going to pick up on of their deadblows soon and turn a brass insert for it.

 

[stikman56]

My Harbor Freight dead-blow hammers get employed often. They are great.

 

[T45]

Thanks for all the ideas and inputs...

 

[T45]

This is for work on machinery/metal primarily, as part of a two-hammer kit for strking (punch/chisel) and for fitments/nudging/persuasions (a soft-face). The first is looking like a 8-16 oz ball peen or engineers. The second hammer would be a complementary soft-type (multi-face, deadblow softface, or rubber/etc).

So, here's my Hammer wish list

- 8 oz ball peen ($12/vaugn)
- 12 oz engineers hammer ($28, habero/on sale)
- 16 oz dead blow ball peen ($45,snappy/ebay/used)
- 32-48 soft face dead blow ($32,estwing)
- Multi-face hammer 24 oz mabye? ($???)
- 16-18 oz Rubber Mallet ($10-17)

So that is maybe $100-150 of hammers.

My excercise is pick two hammers from the list for under $50 that will get the most work done in the most compact size/footprint. These two will be carried when I travel and need to be portable / packable.

I'm also open to changing these wish-list hammers with some ideas here. I've seen a snap on and a pb swiss with metal/plastic sides in a combined hammer...not sure how much of the above these types could replace? Or if they are just fancy/luxury types of hammers for the shop that has everything already...

some range of work pretty typical, but

General fabrication/shop use - hard hammer
Punch/chisel - hard hammer
Pistons/top end rebuilts - deadblow/mallet
Brakes/ Rotors - deadblow/mallet
Motorcycle axles - deadblow/mallet
Persuading stuff that might crack or dent... - deadblow/mallet

I don't know if I need plastic/nylon, I do need non-marking and non-shedding (I've been known to put a nitrile glove over a hammer to make sure its not gonna be an issue)

What do ya'll think of these hybrid styles, BTW?

 

[fivespdcat]

I would definitely use a hybrid type hammer, but may move into a split head that will allow you to change the heads at will. In this configuration I would use rubber or rawhid and a nylon or uhmw head on the other. I really like the No 2 size for general work and you can get just about any type of face to fit in it. Beware that most of the kits sold have a little lighter hammer either a 12 oz or 16 oz which I find less useful. For striking a ball peen is the way to go.

On the rubber mallet side of things, I haven't used mine in years, the bounce back doesn't play well with me and I would much rather use a regular soft face dead blow.

 

[Jure]

What brand is that? I picked one that is built the same way as that but has green metal instead of brown and the mallet heads are a bit smaller.

halder

http://www.halder.de/produkte/main.asp?k=5&g=&menu=296&submenu=products&s=uk

 

[1950mercury]

This is for work on machinery/metal primarily, as part of a two-hammer kit for strking (punch/chisel) and for fitments/nudging/persuasions (a soft-face). The first is looking like a 8-16 oz ball peen or engineers. The second hammer would be a complementary soft-type (multi-face, deadblow softface, or rubber/etc).

So, here's my Hammer wish list

- 8 oz ball peen ($12/vaugn)
- 12 oz engineers hammer ($28, habero/on sale)
- 16 oz dead blow ball peen ($45,snappy/ebay/used)
- 32-48 soft face dead blow ($32,estwing)
- Multi-face hammer 24 oz mabye? ($???)
- 16-18 oz Rubber Mallet ($10-17)

So that is maybe $100-150 of hammers.

My excercise is pick two hammers from the list for under $50 that will get the most work done in the most compact size/footprint. These two will be carried when I travel and need to be portable / packable.

I'm also open to changing these wish-list hammers with some ideas here. I've seen a snap on and a pb swiss with metal/plastic sides in a combined hammer...not sure how much of the above these types could replace? Or if they are just fancy/luxury types of hammers for the shop that has everything already...

some range of work pretty typical, but

General fabrication/shop use - hard hammer
Punch/chisel - hard hammer
Pistons/top end rebuilts - deadblow/mallet
Brakes/ Rotors - deadblow/mallet
Motorcycle axles - deadblow/mallet
Persuading stuff that might crack or dent... - deadblow/mallet

I don't know if I need plastic/nylon, I do need non-marking and non-shedding (I've been known to put a nitrile glove over a hammer to make sure its not gonna be an issue)

What do ya'll think of these hybrid styles, BTW?

Add a brass hammer to the list

 

[maico]

halder

http://www.halder.de/produkte/main.asp?k=5&g=&menu=296&submenu=products&s=uk

Some of the Halder dead blow hammers seem identical to the Gedore 248 recoilless and wiha versions.

I wonder who makes them ?

http://www.halder.de/produkte/artgr...7&g=15&intas=1&s=uk&menu=296&submenu=products

http://www.gedore.de/en/products/group_overview.html?oe_opt[list_set]=210582

http://www.wihatools.com/pdf/WihaShopToolsCatalog.pdf

 

[rodsnratfinks]

What are all your thoughts on Nupla hammers?

 

[zkling]

Very good quality, OEM for many re brands from Craftsman to Snap On.

 

[Monte]

Some of the Halder dead blow hammers seem identical to the Gedore 248 recoilless and wiha versions.

I wonder who makes them ?

Halder produces their own dead blow hammers www.halder-werkzeuge.de
(they used to be made in switzerland but it seems they produce them now in germany at their new subsidiary in Achstetten/Bronnen (link above))

Wiha makes their own dead blow hammers in germany

Gedore makes their dead blow hammers in Austria.


If you take a closer look at all 3 manufacturers you can see the differences...

on the left you can see the Halder hammer where the head is welded to the handle. On the right you see a Habero/Gedore hammer where the head is soldered to the handle:

Here´s the Wiha:
if you look at the head you can see several crimpings/indents....:

View media item 30707
...on the shaft you also can see this hex sign...:

 

[ttpete]

Everyone working on machinery should have brass or copper hammers. I have them up to 4 pounds. They don't bounce and work as good as or better than plastic dead blow hammers. I also have rawhide and lead hammers.