Thoughts on the Crucible Lump Hammer?

[Frederick Skelly]

Saw this hammer (https://lostartpress.com/collections/tools/products/lump-hammer) yesterday. Anyone looked at these or have one of them? Are they useful?

Not sure what to make of it. I have a 4 pound (edit, it's closer to 2 1/2) "hand sledge" but I cant imagine using that beast on woodworking.

Thank you!
Fred

[ken hatch]

Saw this hammer (https://lostartpress.com/collections/tools/products/lump-hammer) yesterday. Anyone looked at these or have one of them? Are they useful?

Not sure what to make of it. I have a 4 pound "hand sledge" but I cant imagine using that beast on woodworking. This is about half that weight.

Thank you!
Fred

Fred,

Yes and they are. A lump hammer is very useful in the shop and the Crucible hammer is the best I've found.

ken

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks Ken!

[Mike Brady]

...also known as a solution looking for a problem. In thinking back at the my projects, I can't recall a situation where my rational ( as oppossed to frustrated) choice would be to strike wood with a steel hammer that heavy. That said, there are advocates.

[Tony Zaffuto]

I've had what I call, a 2-1/2 lb. mash hammer, for better than three decades. I've replaced the handle once, needed done again, but that time, I shortened it, re-using the broken handle. Very useful, but not quite how the "lump hammer" is to be used. After the new hammer was getting some press, I tried my mash hammer on a few tasks and it's not for me, for those tasks, although it sure can bury a chisel into wood!

My mash hammer exists on a shelf, with cold chisels, a couple of pry bars and some other demo tools.

[John Lanciani]

You can buy an Estwing for a whole lot less $$; https://www.lowes.com/pd/Estwing-48-oz-Smooth-Face-Steel-Head-Steel-Drilling-Hammer/1000383367?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-tol-_-google-_-lia-_-217-_-hammersprybarsandcoldchisels-_-1000383367-_-0&store_code=1858&placeholder=null&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIktDOoP2z5wIVh5OzCh2AjQMzEAQYASAB EgJE7PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[ken hatch]

You can buy an Estwing for a whole lot less $$; https://www.lowes.com/pd/Estwing-48-oz-Smooth-Face-Steel-Head-Steel-Drilling-Hammer/1000383367?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-tol-_-google-_-lia-_-217-_-hammersprybarsandcoldchisels-_-1000383367-_-0&store_code=1858&placeholder=null&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIktDOoP2z5wIVh5OzCh2AjQMzEAQYASAB EgJE7PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

John,

Yes you can, and I have one. I have not used the Estwing since getting the Crucible except for dirty jobs around the house. BTW, in answer to Mike. Everyone is different but a lump hammer is one of the most useful tools in the shop and it is used on wood, most of the time not directly but has many times been a life saver. But then I build mostly workbenches and very few small boxes.

ken

[Neil Gaskin]

Ken, What makes this hammer better than a dead blow hammer? Thanks. Neil

[Jim Koepke]

A person would have a hard time convincing me to use a 2-1/2 pound steel headed hammer to get my dovetails to go together.

Maybe if my dovetails were a bit tighter off the saw they might need such a driving force.

jtk

[Oskar Sedell]

I have a similiar hammer. 1 kg head (about 2 pounds) found at a flea market, very very cheap. Made an ash handle and keep it on the bench since. I use it for setting hold fasts, adjusting the planing stop, for mortising and chisel work when appropriate, occasionally as a small anvil for peening something, knocking (not bashing!) joints together (with a scrap wood piece inbetween) etc etc. Very practical hammer.

As these are so easy to find cheap, I cant see why one would by a new one, apart from looks.

[ken hatch]

A person would have a hard time convincing me to use a 2-1/2 pound steel headed hammer to get my dovetails to go together.

Maybe if my dovetails were a bit tighter off the saw they might need such a driving force.

jtk

Jim,

I can't remember using a hammer to get dovetails to go together or even to pull them apart, clamps yes but not hammers. M/T's are another story, a lump hammer has saved many glue ups. Again, I build mostly workbenches, chairs, and stick furniture, our needs may differ.

ken

ken

[ken hatch]

I have a similiar hammer. 1 kg head (about 2 pounds) found at a flea market, very very cheap. Made an ash handle and keep it on the bench since. I use it for setting hold fasts, adjusting the planing stop, for mortising and chisel work when appropriate, occasionally as a small anvil for peening something, knocking (not bashing!) joints together (with a scrap wood piece inbetween) etc etc. Very practical hammer.

As these are so easy to find cheap, I cant see why one would by a new one, apart from looks.

Oskar,

You are correct, they are easy to find and cheap. I like nice things and do not like my money very much, so the Crucible hammer works for me. BTW, everything you said about a lumpy is what I use one for, I have a couple so one is almost always at hand.

ken

[ken hatch]

Ken, What makes this hammer better than a dead blow hammer? Thanks. Neil

Neil,

A dead blow hammer will do most of the same jobs.

ken

[Tom M King]

I have a number of similar hammers from Trow & Holden for stone work. https://trowandholden.com/hammers.html

For the 2 through 4 pound range, the Estwing drilling hammers are hard to beat, inexpensive, and can be found in the box stores. https://www.estwing.com/collections/specialty/products/drilling-hammer I have one each of those, but they are just used depending on which stone chisel I'm going to hit. They're nice little hammers, and I have not felt the need to replace one of them with the Trow&Holden hand hammers.

I have never used one for woodworking, or even had one laying on a woodworking bench.

[David Silverson]

Here’s mine next to a #4, 425115425116

[David Carroll]

I do like the looks of the lump hammer, and if I didn't already have several similar (but not nearly as nice hammers) I'd pony up the money simply to get a nice hammer and to support them. I have an old mild steel 2-pound hammer that I bought in college for marble sculpture that I grab first when I need to knock stubborn things into compliance. But more and more these days I use my urethane covered "Wood is Good" carvers mallet (18 oz.) for that sort of stuff.

DC

[mike stenson]

John,

Yes you can, and I have one. I have not used the Estwing since getting the Crucible except for dirty jobs around the house. BTW, in answer to Mike. Everyone is different but a lump hammer is one of the most useful tools in the shop and it is used on wood, most of the time not directly but has many times been a life saver. But then I build mostly workbenches and very few small boxes.

ken

I imagine the difference is similar to the feel between an 19 oz estwing and a hart 19oz trimmer.

[ken hatch]

I imagine the difference is similar to the feel between an 19 oz estwing and a hart 19oz trimmer.

Mike,

Bingo!

ken

[mike stenson]

Mike,

Bingo!

ken

Yea, and I'll even use a mid-century Stanley with a loose head (I need to get the plastic out ... yea one of the ones with a nice handle, filled with plastic at the top of the head and fix or replace the handle) over the estwing (I also, have a hammer problem it seems). But the Hart, that's a whole different league (and about the same price difference when they were still available, as I recall).

[ken hatch]

Yea, and I'll even use a mid-century Stanley with a loose head (I need to get the plastic out ... yea one of the ones with a nice handle, filled with plastic at the top of the head and fix or replace the handle) over the estwing (I also, have a hammer problem it seems). But the Hart, that's a whole different league (and about the same price difference when they were still available, as I recall).


Mike,

Back in the day I could swing a 32 oz Estwing all day, even then I liked wood handled ones better. Today, I doubt I could hit the nail the second time with a 32 oz hammer wood handled or not. I'd love to run across a nice Hart in the wild, not that I need more hammers but then what does need have to do with it?

ken

[Günter VögelBerg]

I have the crucible hammer. I do not use it often, but when I do I find it to be the perfect tool for knocking together a stubborn joint (not for dovetails!), loosening a stuck holdfast, or driving a big pig sticker chisel into old-growth oak. The concentrated weight and short handle provide tactile feedback that is satisfying in a way wood or rubber tools aren't. There are cheaper tools that are equally effective but the crucible hammer is finely crafted and a joy to use. For me woodworking is experiental, so the crucible hammer is well worth the price.

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks everyone! All good inputs and all appreciated.
Fred

[J. Greg Jones]

But the Hart, that's a whole different league...
I don’t remember when I bough my first Hart, but it was a very long time ago! I had never heard of the Hart until I read Tools of the Trade by Jeff Taylor (excellent book, but I expect it is long out of print). I was never in the trades, but life on the farm required frequent use of a framing hammer. I was using a Bluegrass hammer at the time and I bought this Hart 21 Framer to add to the toolkit. Shortly after that, I bought the Hart 16 pictured as well.