The price? A mere $262.50. I had no idea you could spend that much money on a hammer.
Does anybody have one? Do you like it?
Monday, July 14, 2008
32 Ounce Framing Hammer
So it's an old Stiletto hammer, and I should have known that. Thanks, Stephen. I see that the largest hammer you can now buy from Stiletto is a 21 ounce model with a steel head. But man oh man! The one I'd love to hold in my hand, to test its grip and its balance and its reverberation (hopefully its lack of reverberation) is the titanium 15 ounce model which they claim drives with the force of a 28 ounce steel hammer. If I'd had one of those in my younger days, I might be able to lift my hand above my shoulder now without wincing.
The price? A mere $262.50. I had no idea you could spend that much money on a hammer.
Does anybody have one? Do you like it?
The price? A mere $262.50. I had no idea you could spend that much money on a hammer.
Does anybody have one? Do you like it?
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Joe,
ReplyDeleteI don't own one and I am wondering how they can claim that their 21 oz. hammer can strike like a 28 ounce hammer. Let me do the math, think about the physics and no it can not. It can only strike with the force plus the weight of the hammer and its speed, f=ma.
Sorry to get technical but when people make stupid claims, I just must raise my hand.
Stephen
Yes, I agree. But perhaps the acceleration is higher with a lighter hammer, which would increase the force.
ReplyDeleteI read a review by somebody who stated that he needed two strikes to sink a 16 penny nail with it, whereas he could sink with one whack using his old hammer. Personally, I could never sink a nail with one blow, so I don't know how to judge his comment.
Without a field test, I guess there's no way to tell.
Also, if you double the acceleration, wouldn't that double the inaccuracy of your aim? And what would the reverberation be like after striking the nail?
Well, first of all, it's a marketing claim, and should be taken with a grain of salt. :-)
ReplyDeleteBut just for the exercise:
Kinetic energy = 1/2 mv^2, so doubling the velocity gives 4xKE.
So, if people swing the lighter hammer faster: to get 28/21 times the kinetic energy you would only have to swing the hammer sqrt(28/21) times faster, or about 15%. quite feasible.
But most carpenters don't swing hammers as fast as they can, so it's likely both hammers would be swung at the same speed, giving it a relative KE of 21/28, or exactly what you would expect.
Of course, it's been years since I took a physics glass, so this may be complete bunk :-)
I suspect you're right: "But most carpenters don't swing hammers as fast as they can, so it's likely both hammers would be swung at the same speed." I don't feel like I swing a 16 ounce finish hammer any faster than a 22 ounce framer, but it would take an outside observer to measure it.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I'd like to try that 15 ounce framing hammer if I could find one in a store. It's definitely something you want to hold in your hand - and whack a few nails - before you decide to spend over $200