When I started out as a radial arm saw operator 30 years ago, I recall being given a hammer to use to nail the “stops” to my wood bench when I was cutting several pieces of the same length. It wasn’t anything special, just your typical hardware store hammer, and it was all I needed. However, it didn’t take too long to notice that all the guys who worked the tables, the guys who built trusses for a living, used another kind of hammer. Thus began my fascination with the Estwing.
A Family Business
Estwing was founded in 1923 by Ernest Estwing, a Swedish immigrant. He patented the one-piece design that was much safer than other hammers on the market. The business started slowly because Estwing’s hammers were twice as expensive ($2) as other hammers. An ad placed in Carpenter Magazine in 1925 received an encouraging response, prompting Estwing to begin his first factory. Estwing is still largely a family business based in Rockford, Illinois.
The Preferred Hammer of the Truss Builder
Specifically, I’m referring to a product that the Estwing company calls a Framing Hammer, which is a subset of their Nailing Hammer product line. I’ve been looking through the photos I have of guys building trusses and I haven’t found any (yet) that don’t show the builder wielding an Estwing.
But Which One?
For the truss builder ready to move up to the truss builder’s hammer of choice, the problem is, “Which one?” The Nailing Hammer comes in 20, 22, 24, 28, and 30 oz. weights. It also comes in 13.5” and 16” lengths, and “milled” (waffle) or smooth face. Although the 13.5” works fine, I think more “pro” truss builders use the 16”, and no doubt, if you can handle it, the 16” can generate more “head speed.” Weight is subjective, like the weight of the bat you use for hitting a baseball. It’s whatever feels right for you. And I would always choose the waffle face – it just seems to me that it “grabs” the plate better when I am striking it, although admittedly I have no evidence to back that up!
What’s the appeal?
Why would one model outsell all the others for building trusses? Almost certainly it is the lightweight, one-piece design, allowing for higher head speed, and the ‘shock and vibration-reducing’ grip. This characteristic “blue grip” has been around a long time, and was improved significantly in 2001.
Until I visited the web site I was unaware of the Hammertooth™ model, which looks like an excellent tool to use if you are building wall panels.
Safety
The Estwing web site emphasizes the importance of eye protection, citing OSHA regulation 29 CFR 1910.133 that requires the use of eye protection not only for workers using striking tools, but for workers in the immediate working area. There is a warning to never strike two heads together, and the site encourages discarding hammers with damaged heads, claws, or handles.