Slate Claw Hammer 20 oz
Forged head, hickory handle, milled face
$52.00
USDStandard shipping $9.00, free over $85. Arrives in 3–6 business days. 30-day returns.
A 20 oz rip-claw hammer on a hickory handle. Twenty ounces is the weight that drives a framing nail without wearing out an arm on a full day, and hickory is the handle material that absorbs the shock a steel or a fibreglass handle sends back up your elbow.
The face is milled. A milled face grips a nail head and will not skid off it, and it leaves a waffle print in anything it touches — that is the trade, and it is why this is a framing hammer and not a finishing one.
Working load limits
What this item holds, in the material you are fixing into. Every figure is a working load — the safety factor is already taken out.
Safety factor4:1 — every figure below is the tested mean divided by four.
| Substrate / condition | Working load | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nail pulling at the claw, 3.5 mm shank | 480 lb | Withdrawal through the claw. Use a block under the head past about 40 mm of exposed nail. |
| Handle-to-head joint | Full head weight at 400 mm leverage | Epoxy-set with three wedges. Re-wedge if the head ever moves; do not soak the handle to swell it. |
How these were arrived at
Claw figure measured on a nail-pull rig, ten samples, at 68°F. The head is differentially hardened so the face and claw tips resist deformation while the eye stays soft enough not to crack — that is why a hardness figure for the whole head would be meaningless.
The specification
Everything we know about this item, stated plainly. The same record is printed on the card in the box.
- Composition
- Drop-forged carbon steel head, differentially hardened — face and claw tips hardened, eye left soft. American hickory handle, epoxy-set with a steel wedge and two ring wedges.
- Dimensions
- 20 oz head, 32 mm milled face. 405 mm overall. Rip claw with a 6 mm nail slot.
- Weight
- 805 g complete
- Finish & variation
- Head polished on the face and claw, black oxide elsewhere. Handle sanded and oiled, not lacquered — lacquer blisters and then the handle is slippery.
- Made
- Forged, hardened and tempered in Sheffield, England, then ground, honed and handled here in Pennsylvania. Working faces left unplated.
Care
- Keep the handle unfinished and oiled. Never varnish or lacquer it.
- Check the wedges each season; a loose head is the failure that hurts someone.
- Wipe the face clean — a dirty milled face stops gripping and starts skidding.
Cautions
- Not for finish work. A milled face prints a waffle into anything it touches, including the workpiece when you miss.
- Not for striking hardened steel. Hammer face against a hardened chisel back or a masonry nail can chip either one, and the chip travels.
- Not for prying. Levering on the claw across its width snaps the claw off, and the handle is not designed for the bending load.
Shipping
$9.00 standard, free over $85. 3–6 business days. Full policy
30 DAYS
Returns
Unused and in original packaging. Refunded within 5 business days of reaching us. Full policy
Questions about this product
help@livwellhardware.comEvery message answered within one business day.
