Fiberglass handle hammer

[Smiddyt]

Hello, I just bought an old coal forge from a neighbor who use to restore wagons. I bought the forge and will buy the anvil this payday. I am using it at his house until I get my blacksmith area set up so I have plenty of tools. I dont know how many of the tools I get with my forge so I am starting my own collection. Today at Home Depot they had a 2.5 "BlackSmith Hammer" that looks like a crosspeen to me, but it has a fiberglass handle. They also had a 24 ounce ball peen with a metal leather wrapped handle. Are these good hammers or should I try to find wooden handles.

[Rich Hale]

I prefer wood handles and hickory if I have a choice. I have used fiberglass and steel handled hammers,,neither of them for very long at all. i think the wood softens the shock that runs up your arm on each strike..Others feel differently about this.
if you look in tools area I did a overhaul of a hammer i got for under six bucks at harbor freight, 'i thought folks that are new and tight on money could use the information.

[Francis Trez Cole]

I my self prefer a fiber glass handle. When starting out blacksmithing you will have a tendency to grip the handle tight. This is a problem with any handle. fiber glass converts the vibration to ones that are more forgiving. I have fiberglass, wood and metal handles in my shop the metal I do not like the composite they use on the handle. I have made converts down here in South west Florida with fiber glass handles. for $20.00 get the 4 pound hammer better investment. I have several of the harbor freight hammers as well they are just fine. The biggest problem with wood is the replacement handles they sell are for 2 pound hammers I have broken them right off the head. ;If you make your own handle you can control the shape and size. I have posted links on hammers and hammering on you tube my channel is nokomisforge. Enjoy

[MOblacksmith0530]

For me I like wood. The fiberglass feels wrong to me and I don't like the way it feels on rebound. Hickory or ash is what I use and I buy my handles locally and haven't really had any issue finding them. I live in Missouri which is known for its hardwood so it is not a fair comparison for other areas of the country. I have had some hammers over the years that have had either metal of fiberglass and I still have a couple of framing hammers that have metal with rubber grips. I find I get tired faster using them than I do using wood, not sure why though.
It is surely a preference thing. Maybe if you start off using fiberglass you will always like it.

[Francis Trez Cole]

MO I started out with wood.

[ThomasPowers]

One of the nicest sets of blacksmithing tools I have seen is on the wall of a NW Arkansas wood handle manufacturer---they are their "master gauges" to check the fit of their handles against and they wouldn't turn loose of any of them unfortunately.

[MOblacksmith0530]

Francis, I guess it is what you like. And what works for you.

[jgirard13]

Swing two hammers (1 wood and the other fiberglass) close to the same weight (don't have to be the same style of hammer) See how they feel. Don't be to picky at first

[Ten Hammers]

My shop, my ways. Fiberglass splinters are hard to find. I have nothing with fiberglass. Dad and the old dogs liked glass in maul handles simply because it would out last wood in some cases. i like the way thinned wood feels on forging hammers.

[Frosty]

They all have their upside and downside. I find not missing does a LOT for not splintering a handle regardless of the material. Okay, steel doesn't splinter very easily at all and Eastwing makes some darned nice hammers.

It's your shop, your tools, your rules. Just make safety number one and you're good with me.

Frosty the Lucky.

[Smiddyt]

Thanks for the advice. So lets say I want to replace the fiberglass handle with a wooded one. How do I get the old handle out? Burn it out?

[K. Bryan Morgan]

No, don't burn out a fiberglass handle unless you plan on re-hardening and tempering the hammer. I would do a few things. 1. I would ware a filtration mask of some sort. Fiberglass is bad for the lungs. 2. Cut the hammer handle off at the bottom of the hammer. 3. Drill out the hole. 4. Clean out the debris. Then you can replace the handle with a wooden replacement. I find my replacement handles at a local small hardware store. The big ones don't usually have them anymore.

[rockstar.esq]

Oddly enough, it's hard to find hammer handles but a lot of hardware stores have replacement shovel handles. I can get quite a few hammer handles out of a shovel handle.

[ThomasPowers]

Note that some of the fiberglass handled hammers have very small eyes and are not suitable for converting to wooden handles.

[Everything Mac]

I'm not a fan of fibreglass handles personally but don't let that put you off.
A 2.5lb hammer is a good weight to start off with. 4lb is a bit too heavy for me personally.

No reason why you shouldn't get the hammer and add a wooden handle at a later date, if the eye is a good size.

Cheers?

[Zack S]

I personally prefer wood handles because I have found metal handles transfer way to much vibrations to my arm and they add more weight than wood or fiberglass handles. I also don't like Fiberglass because as soon as the binding agent starts to break down I get fiber glass embedded in my hand and it is very difficult to remove them. Also with wood handles if I don't like the shape I can just reshape it or cut it so it is comfortable.