Saying good by to an old tool

Today is a sad day. My Estwing standard strait claw hammer that I have had for almost 30 years gave up while pulling a nail. The handle split in half leaving the head of the hammer stuck on the nail and the remainder of the handle in my hands. Upon closer inspection there was a nick in the steel where it failed. A battle scar from some project many years back. Anyway it is kind of sad. This hammer is one of the very first "real" tools I ever purchased. It has worked on so many projects and made me a lot of money over the years. At least it went out doing what it did best. Working! Not lost in some pile of debris and tossed out with the trash or left out in some field to rust away.

I know, kind of dumb and sappy but I wanted to share.

sorry for your loss. if i ever broke my favorite hammer i don't know what i would do. i've used it pretty much every day to make my living for the last 13 years.

You broke a steel Estwing? Don't want to meet you in a dark alley. But yeah, I know what you mean. Mine has been a lot of places with me over the last 18 years or so.

.. there's no tool like an old tool.., sorry for your loss, sniff

I have an old hammer.. I think it was a craftsman, that I got from my father 20 years ago.. and I remember him having it when I was a kid.. so it is probably 40 years old at the minimum.. and still going strong. I would hate to break it

I'd hate to see the motherberkeleyer that can break an Estwing.

Sorry for your loss. When my dad passed in '91, I inherited his Estwing. He built the house I grew up in with that hammer, so when I got it, it immediately became my most cherished tool.

Whatever I happen to be working on, I will find a reason to use it, even if that job would not normally require a hammer.

I have no idea how old the thing is, all I know is that it just feels so "right" every time I use it.

Derick Freese wrote: I'd hate to see the motherberkeleyer that can break an Estwing.

LOL Well here is the hammer.

Also note to self really old framing holds on to nails really well!!! I was pulling a 16d spike that was through a 2x4 in to a stud (that is circa 1961) I had put the 2x4 up in my shed so I could mount rakes and stuff on nails that I would then put in the 2x4 that was running across the studs. I had driven it about a week back and I remember saying that it was like nailing in to concrete. I had the claw up between the 2x4 and the stud and was pulling down on it when it broke. I ended up getting a 3 foot crow bar to get it apart!!

...Weld it back together and keep it alive?

Challenge shifter ?

I was actually thinking about welding it. I am just not sure how smart and idea that is.

I've had a couple of old dear tools do that. Stunned disbelief best describes the feeling. It's going to piss you off every time you reach in the tool box for the new one too. Everything about will feel wrong until the grip wears in. The last Estwing I bought rang like a bell every time it hit something, it drove me batty. I think I swinging a Stanley at the moment.

Sorry for your loss.

That was some nail you were trying to pull you sure you weren't trying to pry a Mill or a lathe to level it?

I've been swinging an Estwing now for 36 years. No other one can replace mine- I can feel the difference from other "identical" Estwings. I own a couple, but I know mine by feel.

The older my tool gets, the more I like it. Wait, that didn't come out right...

In reply to Toyman01: Yes, some of them "sing" annoyingly, but it is not a universal design flaw. It is unique to each piece. Always "test drive" them listening for the ringing, because it can be really annoying.

Breaking one is impressive- I've heard of someone cutting off their finger with the shank of one, but never seen one break.

Give it a new life! I like the shifter idea!! I built a nice picture frame once out of 4 hammers assembled head-to-handle-to-head-to-handle.

hmm looks identical to my dads hammer that he's been swinging since before I was born... I hope to inherit it in 30 or so years...

I was thinking of mounting it / framing it and hanging it up in my office. I still may weld it back together. Ya I am probably most definitely going to weld it back together. I just can not bring my self to replace it.

I have a hammer I bought back in 1987 when I got a house. My dad has a hammer from the late 1950's.

How weird is that?

Pete240Z wrote: I have a hammer I bought back in 1987 when I got a house. My dad has a hammer from the late 1950's. How weird is that?

Ok you lost me. I think I need more information.

Karl La Follette wrote: Challenge shifter ?

DO THIS!

Derick Freese wrote: I'd hate to see the motherberkeleyer that can break an Estwing.

i've seen a lot of Estwing hammers fail. they usually break up close to the head.. i saw this almost weekly during my 9 years in a truss factory, and i came to the conclusion that they aren't made to be swung hard 10,000 times a day. i personally only broke one- and that was one too many. i replaced it with a Craftsman fiberglass hammer.. i got that one about 4 years before i quit that job, and the only time i ever saw one of them break was when it got ran over by a forklift with a unit of lumber on it..

I broke my favourite ratchet years ago an no-one made that style anymore.

Took a couple years of swapmeet table searching before I was able to replace it.

It was like the Yoda of my toolbox.

I was wishing it was a wood handle so it could be fixed. Sorry for your loss man

That "I've had this same axe for 37 years!" joke springs to mind, but it's not really practical for an all-steel hammer.

("...and I've only replaced the head three times and the handle five times!")

In reply to Trans_Maro:

Yeah, the new Craftsman ratchets suck and the sad part is they used to be the best you could buy unless you went tool truck. The cartridges to repair that style are no longer available.