Toolfreaks Anonymous

[bantam5s]

A Friend made this for me...a good while ago...use it for one of my other hobbies... It is a very good copy of the same tool made by Ibex...

A luthiers tool right?

[bantam5s]

I just finished whipping up this simple wrench pouch out of some leather I salvaged off a lounge chair somebody threw out.

[anti-squirrel]

I'm a major " toolfreak " for Vaughan & Bushnell,  the greatest hammer manufacturer in the business.

Nice hammer, but I'm an Estwing and Plumb hammer fan.  I have a shorty 20-ounce Estwing with leather washer handle- belonged to my grandfather   I have several Vaughan hammers, though my all-time favorite is an Estwing 20-ouncer with the vibration dampening blue handle.  It has built many houses, lots of sheds, decks, done a number of additions, and even been used to coerce pieces of metal into moving an RCH when a 4-pounder was too much.


Estwing also has some REALLY nice geologist tools- there's a couple in my Wishlist on Amazon.


Speaking of tools- got one for Sonja- a Hoover electric skillet with broiler.  Yeah, kitchen tool, but still a tool.

Plumb made good hammers at one time but of course they're just a name owned today.

My most treasured hammer but most hated from a tool standpoint is a 20oz plumb.
I treasure it because it belonged to my grandfather who I watched re-roof his workshop and build my toy box with it , but as a tool I hate it .
It's an 80's cooper era Plumb with an uncomfortable fat gripped fiberglass handle.
It's poorly balanced and feels heavier and clunkier than it is.
That's all an issue with the handle though,  if the head itself was marked I'd put it on a hickory handle.

I understand people liking Estwing and the Vaughan steel eagle hammers because they're durable,  but I just can't use them myself
For me it doesn't get any better than the Vaughan & Bushnell 999, V&B has been in the game for over 150 years for good reason.

My Vaughan just reads Vaughan, but it is well balanced.

Funny you mention the Plumb fiberglass (mine was red, my father's was white, both were over-sized and the "rubber" grip was Not Good).  I had that exact model at one point and my father had it's twin.  The handle started splintering so I cut/drilled that hateful handle off and went with a Ace Hardware hickory handle.  That was the first tool I ever re-hafted- maybe 16 at the time?  Anyway, I've picked up several Plumb heads (12oz, 16oz, and a hatchet) over the years at thrift stores.  The 12ouncer in particular is nice- really fat contact surface with a well shaped claw.  I have an octagonal handle that's perfect for it but I haven't taken the time to do the work.

The Estwing ripping and framing hammers are real workhorses.  I like the total ambidextrousness of them- forward or reverse swing, left- or right-handed, underhanded, vertical/under-swing, you name it.  Everybody I worked with preferred DeWalt hammers until they hand to stand on scaffolding or tall ladders and swing under-handed.  The handle shape of those DeWalts would blister a palm in no time flat if you were working with well-cured lumber and any nails bigger than 12-penny.  I had a Dead-On hammer with a extra spur on the handle shaft for twisting 2x4/2x6 etc but the hammer itself was poorly balanced.  It could smash a nail like nobody's business, but was best suited for demolition work.


BTW- slick pouch!

[K.O.]

A Friend made this for me...a good while ago...use it for one of my other hobbies... It is a very good copy of the same tool made by Ibex...

A luthiers tool right?

yep... I make dulcimers and acoustic lap slide guitars once in a while since was a kid... use it and chisels(80's Sheffield Marples) to cut the channels when I do bindings...

[K.O.]

I'm a major " toolfreak " for Vaughan & Bushnell,  the greatest hammer manufacturer in the business.

Nice hammer, but I'm an Estwing and Plumb hammer fan.  I have a shorty 20-ounce Estwing with leather washer handle- belonged to my grandfather   I have several Vaughan hammers, though my all-time favorite is an Estwing 20-ouncer with the vibration dampening blue handle.  It has built many houses, lots of sheds, decks, done a number of additions, and even been used to coerce pieces of metal into moving an RCH when a 4-pounder was too much.


Estwing also has some REALLY nice geologist tools- there's a couple in my Wishlist on Amazon.


Speaking of tools- got one for Sonja- a Hoover electric skillet with broiler.  Yeah, kitchen tool, but still a tool.

Plumb made good hammers at one time but of course they're just a name owned today.

My most treasured hammer but most hated from a tool standpoint is a 20oz plumb.
I treasure it because it belonged to my grandfather who I watched re-roof his workshop and build my toy box with it , but as a tool I hate it .
It's an 80's cooper era Plumb with an uncomfortable fat gripped fiberglass handle.
It's poorly balanced and feels heavier and clunkier than it is.
That's all an issue with the handle though,  if the head itself was marked I'd put it on a hickory handle.

I understand people liking Estwing and the Vaughan steel eagle hammers because they're durable,  but I just can't use them myself
For me it doesn't get any better than the Vaughan & Bushnell 999, V&B has been in the game for over 150 years for good reason.

My Vaughan just reads Vaughan, but it is well balanced.

Funny you mention the Plumb fiberglass (mine was red, my father's was white, both were over-sized and the "rubber" grip was Not Good).  I had that exact model at one point and my father had it's twin.  The handle started splintering so I cut/drilled that hateful handle off and went with a Ace Hardware hickory handle.  That was the first tool I ever re-hafted- maybe 16 at the time?  Anyway, I've picked up several Plumb heads (12oz, 16oz, and a hatchet) over the years at thrift stores.  The 12ouncer in particular is nice- really fat contact surface with a well shaped claw.  I have an octagonal handle that's perfect for it but I haven't taken the time to do the work.

The Estwing ripping and framing hammers are real workhorses.  I like the total ambidextrousness of them- forward or reverse swing, left- or right-handed, underhanded, vertical/under-swing, you name it.  Everybody I worked with preferred DeWalt hammers until they hand to stand on scaffolding or tall ladders and swing under-handed.  The handle shape of those DeWalts would blister a palm in no time flat if you were working with well-cured lumber and any nails bigger than 12-penny.  I had a Dead-On hammer with a extra spur on the handle shaft for twisting 2x4/2x6 etc but the hammer itself was poorly balanced.  It could smash a nail like nobody's business, but was best suited for demolition work.


BTW- slick pouch!

 

you both know from the axe thread I like the old plumb axes...well, I only have 3 Plumb hammers... a 13oz finish and two 16 oz framers... one is a Victory and the other is a Leader... my fav Framing hammer is the standard setter to me  (pic below)... do have a collection of thrashers just cause got very cheap at garage sales n such...like the two True Temper Rockets... one is an A20 other is A20 RL...

[bantam5s]

These are the sizes of Vaughan & Bushnell rip claw hammers I have.

A minimum of 2 and as many as 4 of each size.
3 #9 10oz, 2 #99 16oz, 4 variants of the #999 20oz, and 2 of the #505 24oz.
I'll get the 2 largest sizes eventually.

[anti-squirrel]

Nice set of hammers

My all-time favorite is my leather-washer 20-oz Estwing- it's a couple inches shorter than the starter 20-ouncer.  I rarely use the claw for pulling nails since any time I'm driving nails I use end-nippers.  Occasionally, I check out hammers at the stores- maybe one day I'll get a titanium hammer; I'm not in the trades anymore and a steel 23-oz framing hammer never bothered me even on the longest days so it would be more of a guilty pleasure versus a need. 

[bantam5s]

Nice set of hammers

My all-time favorite is my leather-washer 20-oz Estwing- it's a couple inches shorter than the starter 20-ouncer.  I rarely use the claw for pulling nails since any time I'm driving nails I use end-nippers.  Occasionally, I check out hammers at the stores- maybe one day I'll get a titanium hammer; I'm not in the trades anymore and a steel 23-oz framing hammer never bothered me even on the longest days so it would be more of a guilty pleasure versus a need.

I don't own a single titanium thing and probably never will, the stuff just doesn't appeal to me whatsoever and I don't remotely understand it's appeal in tools and especially EDC keychain gadgets.

[Novagun]

I haven't bought any new tools for a while. I seem to have all i need. I enjoy this thread very much. A titanium hammer. My Estwing serves me very well, even my Stanley Rockets are good  woops mistake.
I bought  a no name 8 oz claw hammer at a flea market . Wooden handle and well used . Just wanted to spend 10 dollars for retail therapy.

[Snatchcan]

A friend of mine gave me a cheap Menards titanium framing hammer years ago. My memory is a little foggy but I believe it was a 20 oz, about the same size as a steel 24 oz.

I loved that hammer.  For beating on anything metal it was great. Trying to move a stud, or a wall over 1/8" not so much,  a heavier steel hammer was was always better,  but for nails and anything made out of steel it seemed to out perform a steel hammer of similar weight. I broke the haft and I should really get a new one.  I should warn that the waffle head really does a number on even hardened steel...

[avator]

This is the camp axe I bought today at the local hardware. $21 and change out the door.

https://www.vaughanmfg.com/Products/SC1-14-Supersteel-Camp-Axe__33220.aspx

[bantam5s]

This is the camp axe I bought today at the local hardware. $21 and change out the door.

https://www.vaughanmfg.com/Products/SC1-14-Supersteel-Camp-Axe__33220.aspx

They're not pretty and the handles could stand to be reshaped a bit ( if you care about how well handles used to be shaped ) but the steel is great and they're good performers.
The council tool hatchet is a little nicer looking but these have better steel.
I don't have that one, but gifted a couple of the Craftsman rebrands of it and they sharpened up very well as expected with Vaughans 1085.
About 7 years ago the nearest Sears still had a bunch of them left for $16 so I bought a couple to gift.



I already had 2 modern examples ( gave a 3rd away ) plus a 1960's Craftsman rebrand of it,  but when I learned that they were bringing their little 8oz Super sportsman hatchet back for 1 final production run I had to order another a couple weeks ago.






If I was to buy myself one if their 1.25lb camp hatchets I'd do everything to it that I do to the little 8oz super sportsman hatchets that I love so much, rememove the handle and reprofile it, strip and smooth out the head, then rehang it.

[bantam5s]

If you're not familiar with their little 8oz super sportsman hatchet , they were making them for themselves and others continuously since the 60's until about 2 years ago.
A lot of people think they're rare salesman samples ( even though they're very common) or from a child's tool set, but that's not even remotely true.
They're just a small little belt hatchet, mostly intended for hunters.


For Craftsman, True Test, LL bean, Palco, and probably some others I haven't come across.
There have also been a number of companies ( like the knife company bark river ) who would spiffy them up to sell at a profit.

Basically if you find a little mini 8oz hatchet that looks like the Vaughan ( they were also shaped slightly different at one time ) then you can bet that it is a V&B , and if you find one with a plain black head,  that's the LL bean or Palco version which were unmarked and just had a sticker.
Marbles is basically the only other company who made hatchets this small, and they didn't look the same.
Here's a picture with a bill for scale, I think this was the 1st that I ordered 10 years ago.

[avator]

I didn't specifically shop for this hatchet. I was clearing a trail through a section of woods here at the house and needed something hand held to cut down several saplings. I jumped in the truck and went to the local hardware and this is the one they had. Matter of fact, it was the ONLY one they had.
It will also serve me well for splitting kindling for the camp fire. And I can keep it in the rear rack box on one of the ATVs.
Works for me.

[bantam5s]

I didn't specifically shop for this hatchet. I was clearing a trail through a section of woods here at the house and needed something hand held to cut down several saplings. I jumped in the truck and went to the local hardware and this is the one they had. Matter of fact, it was the ONLY one they had.
It will also serve me well for splitting kindling for the camp fire. And I can keep it in the rear rack box on one of the ATVs.
Works for me.

You got lucky that the only hatchet that had happened to be a good one, it could have been one of those soft low quality Made in Mexico collins hatchets.

[Novagun]

I have just made a new trigger part for one of my rifles. It was a foray into the area of making a very close tolerance part out of steel. My first thought was that a Dremel rotary tool would be needed so off I went. The prices for what I wanted were too high for me so I went to an auto supply shop and bought a Rockwell tool on a black Friday special. Rockwell might be an America. brand name but this tool was made in China. It was well presented and so far it works satisfactorily. As it turns out the tool was no substitute for a bench grinder, good files and a lathe mounted sanding disc.
It might be handy in time to come but I am pleased that I did not spend a lot of money on something that I didn't really need.

[bantam5s]

I use my rotary tool so often that for me it pays to get the best model I can, and I've always been a Dremel Moto tool guy.
I wish they were still made in Racine Wisconsin,  but then while I'm at it I also wish Sheridan was still around and made in Racine Wisconsin.

I'm not positive,  but I think today the Dremel tools are made or assembled in Mexico?

[anti-squirrel]

Although I used to love my Dremel (early 90s model, I forget which because...) I find my Makita rotary equivalent to be the one I grab the most- referring to their 1/4" die grinder.  It's a monster of a rotary tool.  I also have an ancient Ryobi that has seen a lot of use.  Regardless, a quality rotary tool is wayyyyyyyy up there on the list of tools every person should own, along with slip-joint and needle-nose pliers, a 16-ounce hammer, a pair of vice-grip  (or equivalent) pliers, and a quality handsaw.

David- thanks for sharing the info about those hatchets.  I have a few Craftsman hatchets plus a number of larger axes, but I find I'm more inclined to use my Parang or my wife's Golok for chopping.  Mind you, the brush we clear on our property is pretty gnarly stuff (brambles, greenbrier, blackberry as thick as my wrist, poison ivy/oak/sumac...  I was using both my Stihl (made by Fiskars) and Estwing camp axes but those just don't have enough blade length for hacking through thigh-sized vines without a lot of sap splatter.

Regarding those axes made by Fiskars; the edge is very brittle and chipped despite perfect hits on Honey Locust branches that- I kid you not- were barely larger than a pencil diameter.  That's without a doubt the toughest wood I've cut thanks to how fibrous it is- even worse than red gum.  My Parang handles limbing the locust (and Cedar) trees much easier and with less effort than an axe or hatchet.

[avator]

I prefer my Fugi pneumatic die grinders from my tool and die making days at Honda. One in 1/4" and one in 1/8". I also have a couple pencil grinders from those days. I have a box of burrs, bits, stones and collets for them

[bantam5s]

Although I used to love my Dremel (early 90s model, I forget which because...) I find my Makita rotary equivalent to be the one I grab the most- referring to their 1/4" die grinder.  It's a monster of a rotary tool.  I also have an ancient Ryobi that has seen a lot of use.  Regardless, a quality rotary tool is wayyyyyyyy up there on the list of tools every person should own, along with slip-joint and needle-nose pliers, a 16-ounce hammer, a pair of vice-grip  (or equivalent) pliers, and a quality handsaw.

David- thanks for sharing the info about those hatchets.  I have a few Craftsman hatchets plus a number of larger axes, but I find I'm more inclined to use my Parang or my wife's Golok for chopping.  Mind you, the brush we clear on our property is pretty gnarly stuff (brambles, greenbrier, blackberry as thick as my wrist, poison ivy/oak/sumac...  I was using both my Stihl (made by Fiskars) and Estwing camp axes but those just don't have enough blade length for hacking through thigh-sized vines without a lot of sap splatter.

Regarding those axes made by Fiskars; the edge is very brittle and chipped despite perfect hits on Honey Locust branches that- I kid you not- were barely larger than a pencil diameter.  That's without a doubt the toughest wood I've cut thanks to how fibrous it is- even worse than red gum.  My Parang handles limbing the locust (and Cedar) trees much easier and with less effort than an axe or hatchet.

For locking pliers I recommend going to Harry J Epsieins and getting a pair of the Malco eagle grips before they're gone.
They have been tested to be the highest quality locking pliers available, sadly they were too expensive for their own good and only stayed in production for a year.
They were the best ever made and there will likely never be such high quality locking pliers made again.
They really did things right too,  they bought the original Peterson factory in DeWitt Nebraska and even hired some former employees who knew what they were doing,  they did all that and even put out exceptionally high quality pliers instead of just leaning on the legacy instead of just being American made.