03-02-2014, 09:43 AM
Years ago I took part in a marketing/focus group that was looking into the feasibility of producing a new dead blow carpenters/claw hammer. It had a hole through the side of the hammer head with a split line running to the top that looked something like this:
(Sorry for my poor PhotoShop job...)
They had sample pieces of wood (pine 2x4's) with a few common nails sticking up out of them. Just barely started into the boards. A demonstration was given using an everyday claw hammer. Just lightly holding the hammer by the handle, the weight of the hammer alone was allowed to fall and strike the nail head. It was not swung with any force. The hammer head pretty much just bounced back off of the nail head.
This was repeated with the new prototype "deadblow" hammer of the same weight. The hammer head fell and struck the nail head, sinking it into the wood farther without bouncing back. Then we were all given the chance to try it for ourselves and got the same results. We were set up with more boards and nails and told to try it again but using normal swings like you would when hammering in nails.
I have to say I was quite impressed with how much more easy it was to fully sink the nails with a lot less effort and fewer swings of the prototype hammer. It was also pointed out that we had far fewer divots in the wood when using the new hammer. The "regular" hammer would bounce off the nails and wood leaving "double strikes" on the woods surface.
Discussions were started about if we thought the hammer was weak or thought it would break easily from the modifications etc., etc., then we were presented with another model that had a firm rubber plug molded into the hole in the hammers head.....
All in all it was an interesting evening, and I've been waiting ever since to find them being sold somewhere and purchase one. It doesn't look like it ever got past the design stage though.
I have a number of the plastic mallet type dead blows and use them quite often. My favorite dead blow is still a lead hammer. I can get some serious licks in without destroying the item or its finish. I just used one a few days ago to straighten out an old abused Colt revolver frame and never scratched the bluing.
(Sorry for my poor PhotoShop job...)
They had sample pieces of wood (pine 2x4's) with a few common nails sticking up out of them. Just barely started into the boards. A demonstration was given using an everyday claw hammer. Just lightly holding the hammer by the handle, the weight of the hammer alone was allowed to fall and strike the nail head. It was not swung with any force. The hammer head pretty much just bounced back off of the nail head.
This was repeated with the new prototype "deadblow" hammer of the same weight. The hammer head fell and struck the nail head, sinking it into the wood farther without bouncing back. Then we were all given the chance to try it for ourselves and got the same results. We were set up with more boards and nails and told to try it again but using normal swings like you would when hammering in nails.
I have to say I was quite impressed with how much more easy it was to fully sink the nails with a lot less effort and fewer swings of the prototype hammer. It was also pointed out that we had far fewer divots in the wood when using the new hammer. The "regular" hammer would bounce off the nails and wood leaving "double strikes" on the woods surface.
Discussions were started about if we thought the hammer was weak or thought it would break easily from the modifications etc., etc., then we were presented with another model that had a firm rubber plug molded into the hole in the hammers head.....
All in all it was an interesting evening, and I've been waiting ever since to find them being sold somewhere and purchase one. It doesn't look like it ever got past the design stage though.
I have a number of the plastic mallet type dead blows and use them quite often. My favorite dead blow is still a lead hammer. I can get some serious licks in without destroying the item or its finish. I just used one a few days ago to straighten out an old abused Colt revolver frame and never scratched the bluing.
Willie