Many things about Jackson’s Total Control Elite 8-lb. demolition hammer stand out. First and foremost is its unique dual function head. One side looks like any normal sledgehammer, but instead of the traditional round head, the other side is a wedge shape that supposedly deliverers 5X the impact force.
Besides the weird head, the hammer sports a 36″ fiberglass handle with a thermo-plastic elastomer (TPE) overmolding for a better and less fatiguing grip. Also, the handle’s end is flared to help prevent losing the hammer with an errant swing. More overmolding where the head and handle come together protects the handle from overstrikes.
Pricing for this demolition hammer starts around $40 before shipping.
Demolition Hammer [Jackson]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
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11 Responses to Not Your Father’s Sledgehammer
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Looks like Thor will come looking for Mjöllnir soon.
way back, 1971 b.c. (before cordless), i was working an apartment job and a big, burly plumber was using a 2 pound version of this hammer, as a drill.
a smart rap of the pointy end would shell out an inch, inch and a half hole in cement block. absolutely amazing.
the tapered end really did concentrate the energy of the strike.
as long as you have access to both sides of the block, it’s way faster than a drill.
Craig,
I still have one of those smaller hammers. I’ve put on several new handles over the years, but I love the thing. A sturdy blow with the wedge end frees up the most recalcitrant parts.
Cross pein sledges are good for heavy duty fullering too.
I like the “supposedly”…if the small side has 1/5 the area of the big side, then an equal swing would produce 5 times the force per unit of area — pounds per square inch — on whatever you hit. Which end would you rather get poked in the ribs with? That’s why! Also the same idea as a woman in stilettos marking up the nice new flooring you just laid…her weight is the same in bare feet, but it’s concentrated in a small area, causing damage.
@Ryan:
I’m not sure if you are being sarcastic or not about the supposedly, But I don’t think it is as simple as comparing the area of the two sides. To hit something with the entire surface of the larger flat side you’d have to hit something that is at the same angle as the head of the hammer coming down. If the surface is perpendicular to the ground the handle would have to be parallel with the ground which is not the way you’d want to use a sledge hammer.
Even then you’re assuming a perfect swing and hitting the object square. More than likely you’re hitting with the upper part of the face off slightly to one side or the other.
It wouldn’t surprise me if their 5x number came from a simple analysis of surface area, I’ve seen companies make less responsible claims, but I’ll give Jackson the benefit of the doubt and assume they would at least use a target with a force sensor. Even then that would be theoretical maximum because life is never as neat as in the lab.
I was being a little sarcastic, yeah 🙂
BTW, the handle wouldn’t have to be parallel to the ground to hit a vertical surface squarely…imagine a sledge with the face of the head flat on a vertical surface. You could spin the handle 360 degrees around the head and still maintain the exact same contact area, meaning you could have it at any angle in that plane — could be vertical with the head up, vertical with the head down, sideways, at a 45-degree angle, or anything in between. It would have to be parallel with the working surface (in a vertical plane), however.
I certainly prefer to contact a working surface squarely with a striking tool (although obviously it doesn’t always work that way), and it seems reasonable to use surface area to calculate the force, although it is a kind of a matter of using an impressive-sounding statistic to communicate the obvious on their part — but yeah, when you are hitting something squarely with the entire face of the hammer, 1/5 the area means exactly 5x the force per unit of area given an equal swing. Just having a little fun with your wording and physics, that’s all 🙂 Love the site!
Like “Big Dave”, I have a smaller model I’ve re-handled many times after using it to break blocks, etc. Never seen another in stores. Guess the makers can’t profit much off handles, unlike batteries and mason bits.
The “beak” is offset to the top end of the head. Should be no problem hitting something square with that.
I believe that it could be very useful. Surely, there will be situations in which you cant profit of that shape, but there will be many more where you surely can.
So, let’s not look for problems to the solution. 😉
craig Says:
… i was working an apartment job and a big, burly plumber was using a 2 pound version of this hammer, as a drill.
One more reason why plumbers/HVAC people are not allowed inside my house (the first has to do with Sawzalls).
Toolhearty, there’s a time for fine detail and time for the roughing out.
You don’t make toothpicks by turning each one out of a whole redwood, do you?