Taking a quick coffee break here at work, I'm looking at my Estwing 16oz straight claw hammer I bought almost 30yrs ago. It still does the job now, as it did when it was new. When I first got into carpentry work, I started with a home builder who did much of the work on his houses. He subbed out electrical, and HVAC work but we dod everything else. I quickly noticed each man on his crew carried an Estwing hammer, and many owned two, one for framing, and a lighter one for finish work. There's a reason for this. Estwings are tough, American made quality tools. They last a lifetime. I own four Estwing Tools now, a heavy framing hammer, the 16oz hammer, a 3lb small sledge hammer which belonged to my dad, and a leather handled campers hatchet. All are at least 25 yrs old, and all still get the job done every day. It would be very hard to find a product that's American made, that offers this much durability, for the price. If they start to rust, simply sand them off and and give them a light coat of oil. They'll be good to go for a lifetime. Just like Channel Lock pliers, one of the great American tool companies, still doing it right. I know there are many tradesmen, and retired trademen on this site. Do you still use or have you used Estwing tools. In my opinion,the best hammers on the market. You simply can't go wrong ??

 

 

Iv’e still got 4 or 5 down i my shop that I used for many years also.great hammers and hatchets.had several stolen  which still ticks me off.can’t leave quality hand tools laying around now can ya?

When I first joined a framing crew at 18, my boss had me buy a 28oz wooden handled estwing. I've since moved on to lighter all metal hammers. I have 3 estwings now, same ones for many years.

31 minutes ago, flatcreek said:

Iv’e still got 4 or 5 down i my shop that I used for many years also.great hammers and hatchets.had several stolen  which still ticks me off.can’t leave quality hand tools laying around now can ya?

I think the only reason I've kept mine so long is I watched it like a hawk.Agree, guys are always trying to steal tools.

I got sick of bending cheaper hammers, and bought an Estwing.  It wasn't that expensive, either.  Around $20.  Well worth it to me.

1 minute ago, J Francho said:

I got sick of bending cheaper hammers, and bought an Estwing.  It wasn't that expensive, either.  Around $20.  Well worth it to me.

J Francho, you'll own it forever!

I have Estwing hammers and they’re great. I hardly use them since I got out of the construction trade but I still have them. My dad has been doing construction 30 or so years, that’s all he uses. Even the handles are bulletproof! 

1 hour ago, Mobasser said:

J Francho, you'll own it forever!

I didn't know owning an Estwing was a thing, until now.  I was in Home Depot for some stuff, and looking at hammers, these seemed like the best quality, and it didn't seem that expensive.  Good to know it will last.  I threw out three bent hammers when I bought this one.

5 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I didn't know owning an Estwing was a thing, until now.  I was in Home Depot for some stuff, and looking at hammers, these seemed like the best quality, and it didn't seem that expensive.  Good to know it will last.  I threw out three bent hammers when I bought this one.

They are so durable they will last a lifetime. Not expensive when you consider how many cheap hammers you can go through. The very worst are the wooden handle 2.99 hammers they sell at some discount stores. Make sure nobody is close whan you swing one of those! If the handle doesn't crack, the head could come flying off, which can really hurt someone. This will never happen with an Estwing. You made a good choice. Estwings have a well earned reputation for durability.

I have one of the futuristic looking Estwings with the blue and white handle. This is actually the second one, the first had a square head and I always thought it would be better with a round head. The van got broken into again and all my tools vanished, so when I went to replace the hammer I bought the same again, though this time they'd modified the design to have a round head. It's the perfect hammer for me.

 

 

Doing a google search for this image it appears that they've discontinued the hammer. Hope nobody steals this one!

31 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I didn't know owning an Estwing was a thing, until now.  I was in Home Depot for some stuff, and looking at hammers, these seemed like the best quality, and it didn't seem that expensive.  Good to know it will last.  I threw out three bent hammers when I bought this one.

Welcome to the cool club. ?

My dad has always owned and used Estwing hammers, and also has a hatchet and a small axe, like in between a hatchet and a regular size axe. He's had most of them since I was a little kid and still uses them to this day. I own 1 hammer and it is an Estwing. Great tools.

Made in Rockford, IL where I live.

3 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

My dad has always owned and used Estwing hammers, and also has a hatchet and a small axe, like in between a hatchet and a regular size axe. He's had most of them since I was a little kid and still uses them to this day. I own 1 hammer and it is an Estwing. Great tools.

Yes. They are great tools. My next one will be the 26" campers axe. 

3 minutes ago, Randy Price said:

Made in Rockford, IL where I live.

Not sure when this company was started, but I believe 80yrs ago. Maybe longer. Their the ones that all other hammers have to measure up to. 

We had a guy help us this summer who had a Stilleto. Magnesium head hammer, with a nice axe handle made of hickory. I think he paid 100bucks for this one. All was good untill we had to do some demo, knocking out old studs, lathe and plaster, and pulling old nails on 3 walls. Our 30yr old Estwings ate it for lunch. That's why I still like them the most. I'll stick with the old blue handle any day.

2 hours ago, Mobasser said:

Yes. They are great tools. My next one will be the 26" campers axe. 

Not sure when this company was started, but I believe 80yrs ago. Maybe longer. Their the ones that all other hammers have to measure up to. 

We had a guy help us this summer who had a Stilleto. Magnesium head hammer, with a nice axe handle made of hickory. I think he paid 100bucks for this one. All was good untill we had to do some demo, knocking out old studs, lathe and plaster, and pulling old nails on 3 walls. Our 30yr old Estwings ate it for lunch. That's why I still like them the most. I'll stick with the old blue handle any day.

Stilletos are nice for framing all day. Anything other than that, yeah they won’t hold up. 

My dad has been a sub contractor and had the same estwing his whole career. That thing still rotates perfectly when you toss it up.

I found an old estwing hammer in the dirt as a child in Miami. We lived at an apartment complex that was being renovated at the time. I took it home and cleaned it up. It has served me well over the last 30 years. I fully expect it will do the same for the next 30 years as well. Excellent quality tool!

16 hours ago, J Francho said:

I didn't know owning an Estwing was a thing, until now.  I was in Home Depot for some stuff, and looking at hammers, these seemed like the best quality, and it didn't seem that expensive.  Good to know it will last.  I threw out three bent hammers when I bought this one.

J Francho, I thought I might mention this. In all my years around construction work, I've only seen 1 broken Estwing hammer. The claw had broken off of a 28oz framing hammer, that was used by a commercial concrete form carpenter. It got dropped accidently, and run over by a backhoe. He found it later, contacted the company, and they sent him a brand new one a few days later. He was showing off his shiny new Estwing hammer at work that day.

I've got three different sized Porter Cable nail guns and a three gallon portable compressor. The rest of the time I use screws. I've got one of those $7 box store yellow handle hammers that I use to pull a nail out now and then or knock a piece of wood into place. I've hammered way to much all my life. It's compressed air for me.

7 minutes ago, DanielG said:

I've got three different sized Porter Cable nail guns and a three gallon portable compressor. The rest of the time I use screws. I've got one of those $7 box store yellow handle hammers that I use to pull a nail out now and then or knock a piece of wood into place. I've hammered way to much all my life. It's compressed air for me.

We use nail guns for 90% of our work too. When we frame walls, we still use hammers to tap studs on layouts, demo, and for a small job when you don't want to drag out compressor, hoses guns etc. It's faster and easier for us to nail by hand. We still use our hammers every day. We couldn't get by without em. 

I have two nail guns, brad gun, staple gun and a compressor too, but I'm not doing all that when I just need to tap a proud nail in on something.  I threw out three $7 hammers that bent when trying to pry a nail.  The Estwing was $20.

Just now, J Francho said:

I have two nail guns, brad gun, staple gun and a compressor too, but I'm not doing all that when I just need to tap a proud nail in on something.

Agree. We had to put up one 10ft piece of 5" lap siding yesterday. We nailed it by hand. Just as fast and easy. We had it cut and nailed up in less than 10min. We would have spent that much time dragging out the compressor, hose, oiling the gun and loading nails. 

56 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

oiling the gun

Quick question - I oil them after each use.  Should I do it before too?

15 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Quick question - I oil them after each use.  Should I do it before too?

We oil them before we use them. For brad nailers or finish nailers, 3 or 4 drops will do. For bigger framing guns, most say 8 or 10 drops before use. Makes them last much longer

Oh man, I went cordless on all nailers. I hate compressors.