Customer Reviews:
 I saw the lightness... June 13, 2005
B. R. Kmack (Houma, Louisiana, USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
...after hauling around my 20-oz. Estwing, I bought this 16-oz. model as a spare. I was skeptical about this tool after previous reviewers complained of an annoying ringing sound, but I either cannot hear this or it just does not bother me. When I first picked it up, I appreciated the shock reduction grip. It is quite an improvement over Estwing models of just a few years ago.
My concerns about 16 ounces not being enough mass to drive large nails were alleviated the first time I used this hammer to demolish and re-frame parts of an exterior wall for window and door installation. I found it comfortable to swing and easy to aim given the decrease in mass. It is perfectly balanced.
The one-piece design inspires confidence that I won't see the head of this baby go flying by my head on the back swing. If my mind were to wander to thoughts of lunch, I know that a misplaced blow won't pulverize some wooden handle or worse, send slivers of fiberglass into my eye. All metal construction, sufficient mass, and quality craftsmanship combine in an exceptional all-purpose hammer.
 Great hammer if you are deaf May 4, 2005
Frans Vandeven (VT)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I bought this hammer from the big box chain, and now realize I did not get a top notch deal. However, the hammer does exactly what it is supposed to do, drive nails all day. The handle is comfortable and the head is such that nails don't automatically cave over. In short, it would be a pleasure to work with if it wasn't for the ring. Every whack it goes "poiiiing", and drives me batty. I just replaced the nice new shiny non marring non bending Estwing with my old trusty Stanley that bends nails all the time, just because I couldn't handle the tuning fork noise. I tried winding electrical tape on the handle, the stem or whatever and could not get rid of the noise. I know it is kind of "soft" to complain of noise of a hammer, but this is just too much.
If I was deaf however, or enjoyed wearing earplugs, this hammer would be impossible to beat.
What hammer should I get now?
F.
the only hammer to carry June 7, 2004
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have used the 16 0z rip hammer for about 16 years--the same hammer that is, and it is still going strong. An awesome tool.
Building Alchemy
dads singing hammer June 15, 2000
gary mullin (UPSTATE NEW YORK)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
my dad had a 16oz. leather hammer when I was just a little kid. All the guys on the crew made fun of the little hammer, because it would ring every time it hit a nail, but that hammer outlasted any other hammer that I ever saw. my dad had that hammer over 28 years and it built alot of houses. It is strong enough to frame with, yet light and well balanced for trimming with. The smooth leather handle won't blister your hand. Now I have my own construction co. and I have over a dozen estwing hammers all different styles, from brick to drywall, to millfaced framers. I have hung many hundereds of thousands of sq. ft. of drywall, built houses, and quite a few log cabins compleete with this hammer as my main trim hammer, but my dad never used any other hammer and works with me now and won't use any other hammer. his old sining hammer has worn down, but it still gets the job done every day, year after year. It's never gave a splinter in a finger, never cracked or broken a handle in over 28 years. I would say the hammer has nothing to prove, it's been there and done it all for our family businesses. Deffinately has been a great hammer. (and it carries a good toon)!
Dad's Singing Hammer June 13, 2000
gary mullin (UPSTATE NEW YORK)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
in 1972, my father and my uncle started a construction co. and began building houses in our area, while my father also operated our dairy farm. Their choice hammer was a 16 oz. straight claw, leather handled, steele shank estwing. The other guys on the crew all had bigger heavier wood handled hammers. The guys on the framing crew all made comments about the brothers little 16 oz. singing hammers, (the steele shank made a ringing sound every time the hammer hit a nail), but none of them could drive a 16D nail as fast, or as straight as the little 16 oz. Through the years, my dad would bring me to the job sites so I could work with him, (he said that he hoped that something would rub off on me), sometimes he would let me try out his hammer. While I watched the crew build many houses over the years one thing became clear, even though the guys made fun of the singing hammers, the other hammers would chip, crack, or the handle would break off, but the two estwing hammers were the only hammers that came back to the job sites year after year after year. The nice reddish tan leather started to get darker and the claws wore down shorter, but the hammers rang on. My brothers and I used to take dads hammer without permission and build tree houses and other projects. The "old man" would let us know loud and clear what that hammer meant to him, and that he did not want that hammer lost or left out in the rain. The fact that he liked the hammer so much seemed to make us boys want to use it all the more, we wanted to be just like dad. The hammer got left out in the rain so manny times over the years by all four of us boys, that the speach about the hammer was quite common around our house. at some point in the late 80's the hammer came up missing and I realized what the hammer really meant to my dad. Sorry dad! As a boy growing up on the farm and going to the job sites, I worked with my dad every day of the year, sun-up to sun-down, and lots of things he did made an impression on me, but the singing hammer was always near the top. In 1989 I bought my first 16oz. leather estwing, I have over a dozen estwing hammers all different styles and I have never owned any other brand. In 1992 I started my own construction co. and my dad came to work with me, he is still using the same style hammer, I've watched him swing that hammer for over 28 years now, he realy loves the leather handled hammer. He is a little older now and he dosen't swing so hard so he frames with a 22oz. milled face, but he still trims with the 16oz. I can say without a doubt that this hammer has held up to its competition.
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