Excuse my ignorance, but what is the performance difference between a hammer with a smooth head and one with a milled head?
jt8
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The milled head tears the skin on your thumb when you hit it, instead of just bruising it.
The milled head slices through the air with less boundary layer resistance, thereby striking the nail harder.
The milled head can double as a meat tenderizer?
In all seriousness, I've heard various explanations but the general consensus seems to be that a milled head is less likely to slip off the struck item.
Ummm, milled for paint-grade trim, and smooth for stain-grade?
Found this on "Anatomy of a Hammer"
Striking face. Striking faces range from the smooth face most often found in multipurpose claw hammers (variations include bell face, plain face and octagonal face), to the milled/checkered face of a framer hammer (grips the nail head and reduces glancing blows), ...
Edited 11/10/2004 4:42 pm ET by PaulB
Edited 11/10/2004 5:16 pm ET by PaulB
What if the customer can't make up their minds whether to paint or stain?
Beginners need a milled head because it teaches them faster how to hit a nail. Tearing the skin off the thumb a few times learns them to line things up and strike at the right angle of attck.
Then they can graduate to smooth faced hammer heads and just put normal pecker tracks in the trim wood.
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Dang, and here I thought those milled heads were for grinding meat (well, maybe flour in a pinch)<G> Don't worry, we can fix that later!
John, I much prefer a milled head. Most of the nails I drive are cement coated sinkers. They also have a checkered head. The hammer rarely slips off.
The one disadvantage is it will leave a grid pattern for a hammer mark. On smotth exterior finish trim, that's a problem.
Some milled hammer heads are so deep and sharp that I grind them down before I use them.
blue
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
I prefer the grid pattern dents in finish work because it gives the filler better bite.
That pattern leaves a nice tooth for the bondo filler to grip!
You gotta remember to look at the positive.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Great minds think alike....but this time I beat ya to it! :-)
Ya, I was slowed down by half my brain thinking about the customers who can't decide whether to paint or to stain.
Shep, Tell'm that failure to decide means they pay for the more expensive stain grade regardless.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
If you swing a milled head fast enough it whistles on it's way to the nail. Now, If you can file some of the milled points down a bit more than others, there can be harmony in that whistle. Also, doesn't it stand to reason that with a milled head there is less surface contact with the nail head and therefore less force in the blow? You have to swing hard to get a better blow. If you get a milled head, or a puffed head, or any head at all, do what I do...swing your hammer a few times then leave it in the toolbox and go on to other things.
The milled head does not bend the nail as often and does grip the nail head better. We only use them for framing. For our finish work we keep smooth head hammers in the trim trailer. It is true that an experienced carpenter should be able to use a smooth head for framing and we did only have smooth head years ago. But in all honesty the milled head does catch the head of the big nails better.
James Hart
Milled head to make mini waffles smooth head to make mini pancakes.