Best Sledge Hammer for Concrete Work
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- Опубліковано 9 вер 2018
- My opinion on the best overall sledge hammer for forming concrete. To see this hammer in action I recommend watching this: • How To Set An Edge For...
This is the hammer we are talking about. amzn.to/2N3JGQc
The one in this video is brand new, and came from White Cap. Like nearly everything else is can be purchased on Amazon, the only downside is you can't select the handle. I prefer buying used tools, but there is certainly something fun about a brand new tool - especially when it is something like a hammer that will never wear out and never break. With a little luck this hammer will be in the family 50 years from now!
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Thank you, be safe, and be grateful.
They went from 250 men to 600 after you left? Dang, I didn't know you were that good that it took 350 men to replace you 😉
Tyler Johnson He probably is that good! Excellent common sense video as always from you! Love your presentations!!!
In our team, when the old woodworker retired, we had to replace his expertise, skill, and speed, with 5 different shops in order to match the kind of results we had. Our luck was in the fact that his apprentice was willing to continue the collaboration and took his place. Those were 2 tough years in which no matter how far we searched, we neither found the character or the quality the old man had.
As a younger, starting architect, my advice is to always look and learn the cut of the people around you, because sometimes, as the old saying goes, you'll never know what good you lost, until it's too late.
Agh! Ya beat me on that one (by 4 days)
😅 funny but also true
Many years ago did a 6 month course in carpentry. Practiced laps, mortices, dovetails. Head teacher was an old school perfectionist who refused 90% of what you showed him.
One afternoon he cut and glued up 14 differently sized drawers, perfect gang cut dovetails, by hand, from scratch. In 2 hours. Without a word, no fuss, no rush. Until you see it, you won't believe it.
ironworker here, I've heard a 16 pounder called a "monday", swung it a few times and realized why it's called that. no one likes Mondays
Dylan Miller I call black people mondays
Don't bring your racist trolling into this positive community.
I think momentum is more important than energy when hammering.
@@zachary3777 the 1 foot by 1 1/16 drift pins i send through 8 inches of steel beg to differ lol
Could be wrong, but it seems more likely the name comes from that being the hammer you use on Monday, when you're all rested and feeling like super man, then you use a lighter one the rest of the week cause you learned your lesson.
There's an old saying "there is no substitute for experience" - and you're the living embodiment of that. I searched sledges and was so pleased when your channel came up. It's like going to an old and trusted friend and asking their opinion. Thanks for taking the time to make this. And you're right - force is speed x mass not just the mass. Ego has no place in working with a tool :)
The kinetic energy in a blow is [mass x velocity squared] divided by 2.
The energy delivered is proportional to the square of velocity, whereas mass is in direct proportion.
a 5kg hammer at velocity of 5m/sec kinetic energy is [5x25]/2 = 62.5
double the mass, same velocity gives [10x25]/2 =125
double the velocity, original mass [5 x 100]/2 =250
(units of kinetic energy are kilogram-meters squared per second squared)
I love how you refer to people as if they're already known. Truly. You say "their supervisor was Dennis Bunker" not "their supervisor was a man by the name of Dennis Bunker". It shows that you consider them important and is really pleasant. We should know him already because he's an important guy. I love that.
Every time I watch one of your videos I can't help but smile all the way through. Thank you for taking the time to share your stories and your wisdom, it's priceless.
I like your statement
"Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should" I worked for a 1.5 years loading UPS trucks and now I'm 35. Recent few years has been spent paying dearly in lower back pain due to my young stupid self thinking that I can do anything. Now when I see people abusing their bodies I try to advise them, the problem is people don't want advise :)
Thank you for all your knowledge!
When my aunt was about 20, she won a sports car moving boxes faster than anyone else in the company. 25 years later, probably always working hard, and she has so many bone spurs on her spine the doc said "I don't know how she's still walking around." My uncle has been a paramedic for years and his back is in horrible shape from all the awkward lifting involved (people don't always fall somewhere that's easy to get to, and they're not always small). My dad wrecked his back on one of his first jobs; the shift boss didn't care about the workers, just the output, and ordered shortcuts that made the work harder and downright dangerous. Dad followed orders and has paid with 50 years of being unable to get enough sleep because of his back. My first full-time job loused up my wrists; an unexpected tweak can mean I can't grip or lift for a week. I wasn't even aware that I was hurting my wrists while I was on the job, it was a sneaky chronic strain and I was good at ignoring pain.
So yeah, keep trying to get through to younger folks, especially about repetitive strain. We should all ask, "Is this one job or method worth a lifetime of pain, doc bills, and inconvenience?"
I'm sorry to hear about all of you family problems. But yes there is so many potential options to harm yourself for life. God bless you and your family!
Arek Kosinski - right on, I'm sitting here at 51 years old, nursing my back that's been nagging at me the last couple days, then I see this video and think of my career choices as a young man... "Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should do it."
Ain't *that* an understatement!
@@billythebake,
Do situps and it'll fix it right up.
My guy got hurt at ups GTFO your soft
I'm a 22 yr old apprentice framer and I love watching your videos. Even when they have nothing to do with framing your awesome.
Anybody who takes a job where you have to hammer all day has my respect.
Ever had your arm lock up after running a 4 Lb. for a couple hours?
@@jimallen1485 more like has your arm ever locked up from swinging your framing hammer...
My dad has been gone for a few years now, but the sage advice from your videos makes life worth living. Me? oh I’m past 70.
Portable, manually operated, optically guided, inertial impact delivery device.
a good ol' Pmoogiidd. thats what grandad always callem em.
hand-held thumb finder.
I love it
swing press
The thing I like the most about your channel, is I get to learn about parts of construction that I have never worked in, or really given a second thought to. Nice Spyderco para military btw
I could listen to this guy talk forever, he’s very smart and always gives a well calculated response to everything. Hope he gives us another 60 years
As a young man in the construction industry, growing up on a farm building and fixing all manner of things, I truly enjoy and look forward to your videos. Thank you for all the videos you all produce and the knowledge you share!
I think it is a bit late for you to be worried bout your elbow being torn out at 26 years.
I enjoy your videos. Teaching is a huge part of a being a great craftsman. Keep the great videos coming. Thanks.
Love the videos, keep rolling them out. By far the most informative channel with the best content on youtube! Thanks Scott and Nate!
Saw this vid the first day you posted. Found a 6lb head today at a yard sale for $1.00. Bought a new hickory handle and will create my own single jack later today. Love your vids. Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge.
Great video dude!! love hearing you talk about all the stuff you've learned through out the years!!
When I was a kid I would work with my older brother in construction and he had a helper/ mentor named Mr. Harvey.
Mr Harvey was full of story's and stuff you should know. You remind me of him.
Thank you.
After 33 years , my definition for me was 2 , 12 lb. sledgehammers on two ends of job . Then as I got older I had 2 / 10 lb sets . Your lengths , 16”, are perfect . Now it’s a stone hammer 🔨. Thanks for all your knowledge and experience in those boom times in Vegas . I know of SF works...5 years ,the rest in Hawaii. ... Great channel..
I love your calmness and the way you explain everything in basic comment sense terms
Your content is so we'll thought out, I love these videos. So much knowledge about the simplest details... I am continually amazed.
Your charisma and spoken words are a great instructional inspiration. My dad would have been about your age and was a journeymen electrician but my grandpa was a cement mason and ww2 vet. He illegally joined the navy at 14 and legit joined at 17. Everyone that worked with him said Don was a master of his craft and as soon as the cement truck rolled up he went from friendly to boss mode in a heartbeat. A few of the folks who were friends of my dad and worked with gramps said he was a great mentor. I only worked 1 job with him after he was retired but learned a lot and wished he was younger or myself older some years to work with him. He was full of knowledge like you sir.
You and my grandpa seem like you fellows would get along. Summer of 65 gramps decided to build the 1 story house into a 2nd story. My dad and uncle were on summer vacation and the neighbor was grandmas cousin who was a ww2 army vet and after chose roofing.. My uncle said "Tom wore my ass out going up and down the ladder with roofing shingles".
Soo much for summer vacation for them. I believe they were sophmores in highschool going on junior year back in 65. Dad graduated in 68.
I appreciate how you demonstrated another use of the sledge hammer at the end of the video -- providing mass to keep a form from moving while you use another hammer against it. Well done.
Just a great video. I'm just a homeowner/hobbyist and it never occurred to me to modify a tool in so simple a way to make it perfect for myself. A real "no duh" moment for me but it took your sage advice to flip that switch. THANKS!
I left Vegas in 94 also! Never ending concrete!
This is the best channel on UA-cam. I can’t wait for the next video
Loved the part about caliche. I grew up in New Mexico and was thwarted in digging countless holes when my shovel hit a layer of that stuff. Thanks.
Thanks for the tailgate chat... I took your survey a while back and it asked why do I watch the videos. Today the fact was driven home like a stake from a 6lb sledge that I watch the videos cause I miss my father, I miss talking tools and work, mostly i miss listening. I'm 44 and lost my father nearly two years back. Keep up the great videos. It is sure lots of fun and educational reminiscing with you and the other viewers.
Video idea - How did you protect yourself from the sun working in Vegas all those years. How you protected against sun stroke, ect.
Wide brim hat and long sleeves is a good way
Long sleeves and something on your neck. I worked there a few years you learn to listen to the Mexicans about beating the sun.
Sounds like a new idea for a video topic
The video showing the bkock wall/cinder blocks shows how they beat the sun perfectly. Look at the workers in long sleeves, hats and handkerchiefs on their necks.
Water. I’m sure it gets crazy. But I’ve grown up here in Vegas and as long as you’re drinking water you should be ok. And don’t be afraid of a good long sleeve and a hat
Great common sense teaching and I hope many people listened to you.
I weighed 100lbs. at age 16 and a 6lb. splitting maul is what I used to drive wedges and split stave bolts, my daily summer job. But I did enjoy seeing the 230-260lb. men swing a 10 or 12lb. hammer to do the same job as me, just twice as fast!....lol ....13
I almost got my face rearranged with a 3 pond. A coworker was setting a top plate after we had wet set thread all. As he swung forward the fiber glass handle failed and the sledge flew across the room and as it grazed my jaw it hit me square in the chest just missing the collar bone. I was lucky to only have a bruise.
Just wanted to take the time and thank you for this great advice on cutting down the handle to 16" on a 6lb sledge. Best combination ever and the weight is amazing. Your a genius. This is my go to hammer for a lot of my projects. Again thank you.
Does anybody else wish they could work alongside Scott for a day?
Bossman, I stumbled across your channel on night looking at UA-cam videos. I think I've seen just about every one of them so far.
It's clear your passionate about your work, and passionate about sharing your knowledge.
Guy's like you need to be teaching the trade to the next generation.
I myself am not an expert by any means, but I'm very knowledgeable in many aspects of construction.
I've learned a lot from your videos. And would love to work alongside you some day.
I was going to write about the kinetic energy scaling with the square of the velocity, but was happy to see the equation pop up :) Keep up the good work!
I gotta say you are the best and most inspiring craftman I have ever seen haha and I hate flattery so it's a complement from respect and admiration love your channel it's amazing keep up the good work thanks
Another valuable lesson. Thanks for sharing
Thank you, sir, for your informative and thoughtful videos. Your perspectives always offer more than simply show and tell, how-to or 'what I know that you don't' videos will.
That said, I was curious as to what was your most serious on-site injury and how you recovered and dealt with the potential long-term affects. I've lived and worked with the results of some pretty horrible injuries and would like to hear how you may have dealt with it. Take care, and keep up the good work!
Its so nice to see someone cut towards themselves. I remember my Dad showing me how much control you have that way and that you can cut straight back into your thumb with no harm. Just make sure it is straight back. Lol
Good, sensible, useful information.
#1 on You Tube in that category.
Thanks Scott.
As an aspiring carpenter, I'm constantly watching your videos!
Nice Knife! I love the Paramilitary 2! It's the knife that got us all into knives.... now here I am, 9 Spidies deep! I've switched to collecting tools now tho so my wife and wallet are much happier haha
I love my jackson 6lber!! I’m a millwright and work in one of the large steel mills right off of Lake Michigan. Bc our work is so greasy we like to take a grinder and cut 3-4 1/4” groves around the bottom of the hammer handle to help get a better grip when the gloves and hammer are covered in grease .
Thank you for creating
I find this channel's grain orientation to be just right. Best wishes from across the Pond :)
Hi Scott & Nate. Thank you for another informative and smartly done video. I agree, the hammer size and configuration depends on circumstance and individual. My son has C.P., he certainly can't use the same hammer I can, but he tries just the same. At 19 he wants to be my equal. Well he's tall enough, but the strength just isn't there. I admire him because; although reluctant, he asks for help and I'm happy to give it. ya know, I can relate to the gentleman you brought up earlier, I too had expectations (for my son) that were different than the reality. It was...difficult to accept my son's differences but I thank God for giving me the people and teachers, such as yourself, to help see the need for patients and tolerance not only with something as simple as concrete but how much more so with each other. Now you didn't come right out and say that but maybe its your nature. You bring out the best in me. thanks. Paul
Another fantastic video. Thank you so much.
As usual you are spot on. I debate this constantly with my framing crew. I love my 6lb sledge they like the 10lb
At the tire shop we had a 20lb hammer with a 1 1/2" schedule 40 steel pipe as the handle. We called it the persuader.
I graduated early from highschool and got a job as a laboror on a concrete crew, I use a 15oz estwing ultrapro with a leather stacked handle that swings like a 22 and a 12 pound sledge for pounding stakes and I love it!
Great vid! Thanks for sharing
Good observations! Until you mentioned it on another video about hammers, I had never thought of the tradeoff between mass and velocity in generating the striking force of a tool. It’s a point I won’t forget.
Fantastic video! Thank you very much!
I like your videos .. very very much.
Thank you for sharing
Always good information! Gracias 👍
Yep, thats the size I use, a 6lbs. with a 16” to 18”handle since 1977. I don’t do much with it anymore but as a door stop. lol. Nice video.
6:13 Thats GOLD advice
I'm so glad you brought that issue if speed up. I'm a landscaper and I laugh when I see young guys swinging 6lb mattocks. A 3lb when swung with speed is sufficient. Much easier on the elbow and back too. You gotta be able to work a frequently used tool comfortably all day. Accuracy and speed usually trump heft.
Great topic especially for new concrete formers. Would been good advice when I started out with a 10 pound sledgehammer to form and 20 pound to help break concrete
Glad to see someone else use the terms double jack and single jack. Most people just look at me funny when I use them.
Calvin OR CRAZY LOL.
Same here lol. But the old timers appreciate it and I dig that.
Awesome information for young guys.i also love my Hilti te-70 with a stake driver attachment it's a beautiful thing.
MS concrete you may have known a man named Phil Hayes. He was running there shop at that point hell of a guy. He was my first boss and employer he taught me how to use my brain and do it right. Great friend, boss and one of the smartest people I've ever known.
A perfect common sense video. Thank you.
Worked very well.
5:14 Hands rough enough to be used as sandpaper. This is a real man, America.
A mid-weight hammer with a moderate handle on it is a great thing to work with day to day. But an eight to ten pounder on a long handle? It's a thing of beauty for a job that actually calls for it. If you don't have a bin of hammers and bars on your work truck, you'll eventually "make do" with the wrong hammer for the job.
But a really slick rig I've seen recently: pneumatic driver with two guys walking along with a cart for the compressor and a stack of stakes. The two of them went around and did three of the four sides in the time the four other guys did the last.
Technology does that. You can either invest in the tools to do the job faster or you can hire more labor and do things the hard way.
What a simple but sophisticated man
good job man! love to have your disposition around me!
I work for one of the biggest construction outfits in the United States as a form carpenter/rodbuster/finisher, and on their required tools list for Carpenters they call for both a single and double jack hammer. I've asked all of my supervisors throughout the 3 short years of my carreer, and none of them have been able to answer with certainty what that means.
Thank you for teaching us younger generation all of the tricks of the trade and techniques that one day hopefully we'll pass down to our own apprentices.
Um,,, a single Jack is a short handle; a double jack is a long handle. For one hand and 2 hand operation…
Your welcome
I came to the same conclusion some years back while splitting firewood short handled 6 does well and if you want use a long handled 8 too after your wedge is set. I’ve gotten comments using my 6lb shorty on construction jobs but people usually change there mind after using it to drive a stake
Love the stories. I like when those get mingled into the videos. Thanks!
Good advice Thank you
I'm a heavy diesel mechanic and we got all types of hammers. Very precise brass 1/4 hammer, up to 15lbs of persuasion. But my favorite is my 14inch 4lbs sledge. It just fits my hands and is weighted enough to persuade almost anything I need to persuade.
Great video
This video just gave me a reason to keep more hammers around.
All shapes and sizes..duplicates etc..😅 I have alot of different hammers, big, medium..small.
My dad gave me some more hammers and lots of hammer heads. I've been doing yard sales the last couple weekends and knowbody bought any hammers or heads..now I'm glad and think I'll keep them and keep some for the handles and some for the heads..make me a group assortment of every hammer I might need.
True good old brake down straight to the point .
Great video. Love the music.
Again Scott, with the old yellow Stanley labeled tape. Gotta love a long used tool. My regaurds to you and Nate. God bless
A little "Knockin' on heaven's door" in the middle, very nicely done.
Great advice again!! 👍👍👍😎🇨🇱
I also use a 6lb hammer while driving steel stakes but I cut the handle a bit longer about 24 inches and I make a notch at the 16 inch in the handle for quick measure for a standard residential footing. Has made my life so much easier and quicker
You make a fine teacher !!!!!
I actually buy old pick axe handles (generally old tools from "home and garden shops"), and convert them in to hammer handles. Excellent source of wood, tried and tested, aged well, and cheap.
I buy large sledges and picks regularly at car boot sales for a couple of dollars or thereabouts, simply for the hickory handles which are imported and would cost between 12 and 20 pounds in UK.
A couple weeks ago I landed on a sidewalk crew for a mason super, needless to say, I was busy with a hammer. Great thoughts on hammer weight. Thanks for adding quality content to you tube.
Also, could I get a hoodie in 3x? Thanks.
I have two 8 lb double jacks with 14" handles... one 12 lb with a long 33" handle... I use put my hand at the end of the 8 lb ones. Thanks for sharing, take care.
I put a short handle on a 10# and my neighbor said it would blow my arm out. Decades later & I'm fine. Glad to hear some one else agrees.
Concrete man here and I agree a 6 lbs hammer is the only way to go. Although I cut my handles so the total length is 16” so I can set my inside footer boards without pulling a tape out (production pro tip)!
my Grandpa was a combat engineer in the pacific during ww2, he always had a saying when we would be working on something and things weren't working, "get a bigger hammer".
Nice Clint quote thrown in there !
32oz Vaughn Framing Hammer is the Ideal concrete workers hammer, and a 6lb sledge for caliche when we run into, got lots in Southern Idaho.
Excellent video. When do you expect you might get back to your spec house? Also because of you I've asked the two concrete guys in my company to train under them. You've convinced me of the value as a carpenter how important concrete skills are! Thanks
The best sledgehammer is the one you're not swinging :)
When I was a kid maybe 15 my grandpa told me that he would pay me $400 to bust up his patio and sidewalks. Being 15 and having the universe revolve around me I thought this would be easy money.
It took me 4 days swinging a sledgehammer by hand to bust it up. Lucky for me there was minimal rebar and looking back 24 years later I know he got a good deal!
Excellent advice. You can go years just making do with a hammer and not knowing what weights and lengths work best. Time to get the saw out!
This video are the best.
Thank you EC. True words spoken. Now lets talk about that saw lol. The same applys with a splitting maul people ask why use a 6# instead of a 8# i give a little twist just as the head hits the wood to pop it apart instead of just slaming the maul strait down the 8# is harder to control and slower. 6# for driving stakes works good. Take care.
In Norway (sort of the true home of axes etc) they use very light splitting axes rather than mauls. Of course this references what s it was saying about speed over weight. Of course the wood split if often spruce or birch and doesn't have a huge diameter compares to some of the wood you get in the states. Interesting mind.
PM2 for the win. Nice knife Scott!
We do things pretty well the same here in Canada. For roadwork like curbs and sidewalks we always have a crew of two that set forms. Almost always one guy is on the sledge and its always an 8 pound with the short double jack handle you showed. The one thing you forgot to mention is that the face of the hammer should be flat and not rounded so it doesn't slip off the stake when striking.
I am an engineer and a pilebuck / journeyman bridge carpenter. Absolutely correct about the short handled 6 pound single jack.
Like the Eastwood quote ;)
I always wondered what defined a sledge as a double jack or single jack, I thought it related to weight. Thanks for the knowledge!