- Joined
- May 30, 2009
- Messages
- 2,538
Glad someone stepped in
Estwing makes dead-blow mallets of weights ranging from 9 oz to 12 lbs in a few different styles, all with fairly comfortable handles, all Made in USA by a reputable company... but ~$30.
Well I saw the 3lb hammer and it was too heavy. I looked around and couldnt find any 2lb or 2-1/2lb Estwing hammers. I dont even mind its $30...
The HF deadblows have square handles (read "stupid uncomfortable - why the f*** would they do that???"), Made in China, ~$10.
Hmm... never thought about that. Even with gloves on those corners will rub.
That said, I own a 3lb HF mallet and not an Estwing, but I don't use the mallet when splitting, I just use a a piece of oak branch (from one of the trees I took) as a baton. When one "wears out", it becomes fuel and I get/make another. I don't want my baton bouncing back or absorbing the blow, i want it transferring the blow into the blade and on into the split. My batons are about 2"-thick and 16" long, weighing about 1-lb that's distributed along the length, light & quick.
Well my problem is consistency no matter where I'm splitting. I dont always (hardly ever) have a hardwood branch available. I've been using my SR RD to baton for about a month now with random branches and I've just about narrowed down, to the ounce, the weight I like my baton to be. I'd get the 3lb estwing in a second, but it seems very head heavy... like if I dont choke up, my wrist will be screaming. I hear what you're saying about the force transfer, but if you smack a hard 3lb anything against a knife blade, there's enough energy transfered to do the trick.
The only thing the dead blow is doing is assuring ALL the force goes into the object, and not the rebound. Thats the point of the weights inside.