Vaughan and Bushnell / Dasco Maybe Closing Soon -

I've got another Grayvik hammer coming, and again it's a hammer I didn't realize V&B made because their website kind of sucked for awhile and some stuff had to be specifically searched for.

HJE lists this one as a 12oz " Tinners hammer ".

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small cross peen hammers just aren't that common here in the US, I haven't seen that many on Ebay and never at a flea market or yard sale.
I guess that's because our kind of default not claw hammer for general purpose use is the ball peen.
 
I have a little tinner's hammer like that and it's my absolute most-used tinkering hammer in the shop. Great for all sorts of miscellaneous tapping and knocking.
 
Now I wonder if I should hang onto my new Vaughan camp hatchet and keep it unused. I brought it because I wanted it. Not to flip.
 
My local hardware store had the half hatchets on sale so I had to grab one.

These , the Estwing drywall hatchets, and the nupla fiberglass handle deadblow mallets ,and the hammer handles were all on the clearance table.
I hope that doesn't mean they're clearing out all the real hammers for imported hammer shaped objects, but I didn't look at the hammer section so I'm not sure.
 
I don't know why but it seems like the V&B replacement handles are great while the handles coming on their tools have been almost unusably fat in the past 10 years.
That tinners hammer I got last week has an a perfectly dimensional handle, and the rubber/ plastic face mallets have handles that are just fine, but others including this half hatchet had massively thick handles.

That gave me plenty of material to slim down and octagonalize though, and all it took was a card scraper with 2 differently honed edges.
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It feels great in hand now.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Here's that Vaughan 13oz tinners hammer BTW, I love this thing and really wish I had bought one years ago.
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I'd actually say you can thin the neck out on that a LOT! A region about 4" long just under the shoulder can be brought down to a tapered wasted zone about 3/8" thick and 1/2" wide at the thinnest dimension. Does wonders for shock reduction. A wonderful and VERY useful hammer pattern and size.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I'd actually say you can thin the neck out on that a LOT! A region about 4" long just under the shoulder can be brought down to a tapered wasted zone about 3/8" thick and 1/2" wide at the thinnest dimension. Does wonders for shock reduction. A wonderful and VERY useful hammer pattern and size.
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Probably.
I'm not swinging it hard though, and most important is how it feels where I'm gripping it.
Maybe at some point I will , but for now I'm not concerned.
 
For reference, this is the one I use. Unknown maker. It's an absolute joy.

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Interestingly, the current version of the rig builder's hatchet doesn't have the nail notch on it, according to the Marshalltown website images.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The Dasco plant will be remaining open, I believe, but the V&B plant will be shutting down. Sad, since their half hatchets are some of the best still available.
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I found this head on the side of the road while riding my bike. Put the toughest handle I could find in it. Great tool, it's in my truck right now.

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FortyTwoBlades said:
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Interestingly, the current version of the rig builder's hatchet doesn't have the nail notch on it, according to the Marshalltown website images.
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Well that's just F'n great. I seen some on the shelf the other day, guess I will pick up an extra while I still can.
Looks like the poll might have changed as well.
Rarely is change for the better.
 
Yeah I can always add a notch myself but I'd rather have one with it in there from the factory. I find it handy for more than just nails. But I know a lot of folks dislike them so I suppose if it was a matter of having it vs. not then it's erring on the side of caution.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Yeah I can always add a notch myself but I'd rather have one with it in there from the factory. I find it handy for more than just nails. But I know a lot of folks dislike them so I suppose if it was a matter of having it vs. not then it's erring on the side of caution.
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I'm guessing that the people who like to modify them are the ones who dislike the nail notch ?
I don't use it, but don't hate that it's there.
 
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