Dead blow hammer weight?

[zootroy]

I'm going to HF this weekend and am planning on picking up a dead blow hammer. Any opinions on weight? They range from 1lb to 4lbs. What's the best weight for tapping joints together?

TIA
Jason

[drumpriest]

I have and use a 24 ounce that I found cheap. It's a bit too heavy really. I would think that a 16 ounce would be good.

[monte]

I use the 16 oz. Works very well.

[LarryG]

I have one-, two-, and three-pounders. I use the one-pounder most, perhaps 60% of the time, the two-pounder the remaining 40%. So far I've never gotten ticked off enough to grab the three-pounder.

I have seen catalog listings for both 20 and 22oz dead blows and one of these days I'm going to buy one or the other, probably the 20oz. The 16oz is a little light at times and I think a 20oz would be just right.

EDIT: Just noticed your mention of HF. That's where my dead blows came from. I have the black ones, and have found that they will mark the wood if you're not careful. Two solutions. Either wrap the head in clear packing tape, or buy an orange hammer.

[sweensdv]

Ditto on the one pounder and also on buying the orange over the black. I too had problems with a black one leaving marks on the wood but don't have that problem with the orange one.

[zootroy]

Thanks for the additional info on the black vs. orange.

I'll go with the 16 or 20 oz orange hammer.

Thanks everyone
Jason

[Jim-Iowa]

Hmm I`m a Big Hammer guy! I find I can do finer work with one blow from a Big Hammer than several taps with a light one?

[LCHIEN]

I'd say 1 lb for line-up work in assembly of WW projects (fine furniture) unless you do a lot of heavy lumber.

[Stick]

quote:Originally posted by Jim-Iowa

Hmm I`m a Big Hammer guy! I find I can do finer work with one blow from a Big Hammer than several taps with a light one?

I'm like that too most of the time. The hammer that I use most is a 2-1/2 lb club hammer. For what we're discussing here though, I like either a very light deadblow or just a light soft replaceable face hammer. I have two of those, one for wood only and the other for metal only. Oh yeah, dead blow hammers come in sledge versions too, I have one at work that's about 24 lbs.

[JimD]

I only have a 2 lb hammer but it works fine for me. You don't have to hit harder just because the hammer weighs more. It's nice to not have to move it fast and just have more mass to nudge things along. Maybe I would like a 1 lb better if I had one. Next time HF has the orange ones on sale....(store not catalog)

Jim

[Rob R]

i bought the 3 pounder. way too heavy. i would start with 1 and work my way up.