Has anybody broken a solid steel Estwing Handle?

S

SR69

Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
238
I've "heard" of broken Estwing handles maybe 3 times in my life.
Never actually saw one though. I guess that's like a 'real myth'.
Then again...

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Worst I've heard of is people putting a set in the neck. And that was usually in hammers that were constantly pried with laterally rather than the right way.
 
Honestly, I'd LOVE to see the person that breaks an Estwing Handle using it for what it was intended for. LOL!
I've heard Estwing opponents saying yeah, they break too! But when I've asked for details, I get crickets chirping.

Oh well...I guess this will be my holy grail!

:D
 
I was a commercial electrician for 18 years. I use them to bust up blocks, pried with them. I have never heard of one when the handle got broken. do you have any pictures of it please??
 
Ive used Estwings for my whole professional career in concrete and i have never seen a handle break. In fact the only reason ive ever seen ine replaced is because the claw had become so worn over 20ish years that it couldnt pull nails anymore.
 
Never seen one break, they seem stout. Not what I would consider an ergonomic and effecient wood working tool though.
 
Never seen one here either. I have an Estwing Fire Side Friend and broke a cheap hatchet by hitting the sledge portion of the Estwing to the back of the hatchet. On a side note, I noticed Lowe's quit carrying Estwing, but went into a Sears today looking for something else and saw they had a nice full line of Estwings, and that made me happy.
 
I bent the steel shaft above the head on an estwing camp axe.... Pissed me off...

Tearing apart a large wooden display for a YMCA camp...

Doc
 
Doc_Savage said:
I bent the steel shaft above the head on an estwing camp axe.... Pissed me off...

Tearing apart a large wooden display for a YMCA camp...

Doc
Click to expand...

Hey Doc,

Sorry to get all specific on you but...a shaft "above" the head?
Do you mean right below it (the neck)?
 
When I was cleaning out my grandfathers shop after his passing I found an old leather handled 20oz straight claw that had been broken. Both parts were there. I believe it was broke about an inch above the handle. I don't believe it was his, I think he picked it up on a job somewhere and brought it home. I sent it back to Estwing and got a new one. I love the Estwing hammers but have bad tendonitus and can't swing them for too long.
 
spike116 said:
When I was cleaning out my grandfathers shop after his passing I found an old leather handled 20oz straight claw that had been broken. Both parts were there. I believe it was broke about an inch above the handle. I don't believe it was his, I think he picked it up on a job somewhere and brought it home. I sent it back to Estwing and got a new one. I love the Estwing hammers but have bad tendonitus and can't swing them for too long.
Click to expand...

NICE!

My dad's boss bought him a Sears hammer once...IN 45 YEARS!
Every year he'd wear it out, every year he'd turn it in for a new one.

Now the hammers I could see breaking more than an axe.
They get pounded head-on into things. But an axe?
It'd have to be severely defected for it to break.
 
I have both sizes of their framing hammers, 2 3 and 4lb lump hammers, both sizes of drywall hammer, Rigger's hatchet, Kindling maul and rock hammers. There's even a leather handled hatchet that I salvaged.

I tore the end off one of the rubber handles through carelessness...just found it that way under the debris pile when we pulled down ceramic tile walls cemented to wire lathe.

I say they range from early 70s to recent purchases.

Bullet proof.
 
My pastor broke his 22oz framer trying to pull a tent stake that he had driven into a tree root a week and a half before. He is a pretty big and strong guy and he said that he had the hammer for about 15 years. I have had the same 20 oz Estwing for over 10 years now, other than using a grinder to sharpen the claws so that it will still bite into wood the hammer is still going strong. I've used it pretty much every day for 10 years I guess you could say I'm kinda attached to it.
 
nope, i have several hammers with the leather missing, no broken Estwings around here

buzz
 
That's the thing about an Estwing axe....they're so inefficient nobody chops long enough with one to ever hurt it!
 
They're great utility/campfire axes but I wouldn't call them bushcrafting/backpacking tools, for sure. :)
 
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