Comments on: Hot or Not? Target Guard

By: jeff

jeff — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:58:45 +0000

It doesn’t just save your hand from a direct strike but also from the vibration that is sent through the chisel. Even if you are the most skilled hammerer and never strike your hand, the vibes will kill your hand after a few hour of use

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:51:30 +0000

HOT…I have a similar one I used to bust up a room with tile floor in my basement on concrete. It is a long tedious process and when I got tired I was more prone to missing and was glad the ring was there to save my hand.

By: james b

james b — Tue, 27 May 2008 03:52:40 +0000

kinda hot
But I cut the guard off my chisel before I welded a 3′ steel rod to it to make a floor scraper for drywall mud.

By: fred

fred — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:04:53 +0000

I think that the old Dasco stonemason’s chisels had flared-out striking heads to prevent mushrooming. That being said - don’t let an OSHA inspector find a bunch of mushroomed head cold chisels being used on a jobsite. - And Osha aside, you toolmongers should know enough to grind off the “mushroom caps” before an errant piece of steel comes flying off and strikes something important.

By: Brian Dolge

Brian Dolge — Mon, 26 May 2008 15:40:48 +0000

HOT-
I have a set like this and not only have they saved me several fingers from hammer strikes, they also protect the holding hand from the nasty edges that result as the top mushrooms out from long use,

By: John Eisenhower

John Eisenhower — Sun, 25 May 2008 17:13:09 +0000

Most definitely HOT. I won’t buy one without the guard. I’m a swimming pool mason and the guard helps from getting your fingers smashed when removing the tile around the edge of the pool. In other words, we lay the chisel on its side with the guard actually hitting the work, and our fingers fit just underneath it to stabilize.

By: Zathrus

Zathrus — Sat, 24 May 2008 01:47:38 +0000

Why would you need to cut flats in the guard? The rather large, flat chisel on one end is going to stop that quite effectively.

By: fred

fred — Fri, 23 May 2008 21:04:43 +0000

When we take on the GC role - my mason/landscaper subs seem to use older (maybe Dasco - grey-black) toothed chisels that are more struck with drilling hammers to “adjust” stone and concrete than to cut it. I don’t see much use of long-handled sledges with chisels or brick sets. In the past guillotine cutters often showed up on site - but now its mostly wet saws that do the brick and paver cutting. I still see roto-hammers and feathers/irons being used on some big stone blocks when we get material that needs to be cut on-site. As far as gloved-hands go - I find its a struggle with some of the old timers to get them to wear the appropriate (OSHA) PPE - and many seem to prefet taping their fingers rather than wearing gloves.

By: Steve French

Steve French — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:28:38 +0000

I don’t use it all the time, but as a periodic user it comes in quite handy, I wind up hitting the guard about one percent of the time.

By: Fredex

Fredex — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:02:36 +0000

This is hot. Even professionals miss occasionally.

I’d be tempted to cut flats on the guard so the tool doesn’t roll around.

By: chvynut

chvynut — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:24:19 +0000

I have one of these as well, and aside from offering some protection from the occasional miss, the large grip area is very comfortable and provides good grip in gloved hands.

By: peter johnson

peter johnson — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:13:48 +0000

FWIW - I think its a usefull addition to the tool, doesn’t completely protect your hand but lessens the impact and can prevent most of the cuts/abrasions when you miss. Everybody misses once in a while, especially when you get a little tired swinging a big hammer (5-10 lb sledge).
Also makes the thing easier to pick up with gloved hands.