ghosttrain

I bought a 14 oz. Stilleto waffle faced California framer over three years ago. The waffling wore off within the first year. I am in the habit of tapping all the nails out rather than wrenching on the cat's paw; another way to save your wrist and elbow. Unfortunately, the waffling suffered, which suprised me because I was told titanium was harder than steel.

The weight was hard to get used to at first. I found that I had to swing it alot harder than the 21 oz. Deluge (my previous hammer, stolen)to get the same driving force. My own experience makes me skeptical of the proclaimed 97% energy transfer. It felt lighter in my bags and, therefore, was easier on my hips.

At first, the $80 price tag was the only reason I kept it; I didn't want to look like an chump at work. Especially with all the heckling my titanium hammer got from the old timers:, "Now you can hit your thumb everytime!"

In spite of this critique, I am still swinging it. It's time to re-grind the lopsided face and sharpen the claws again, my handle is pretty tired too. I thought about getting a new one, but I bought a positive placement nailer instead. I use a pneumatic nailer for most of my framing. When I do use the stilleto it is usually to hit the cat's paw or nail off facia. It now performs remarkably well as a smooth faced framer. Worth noting that it has lasted longer than any other hammer I have owned. This might be more of a testament to Stilleto's workmanship than the titanium, maybe a little of both.


To sum it up:

If you want to drive a lot of 16 lb nails by hand, a 21 oz. steel hammer is king. If you want to save your body, use a nail gun and get a titanium hammer. As an aside: I would never spend $200 on a hammer, nor would any building professional I know of.