Popular Mechanics - USA (2021-03)

THE FOREVER HAMMER

ESTWING RIP

On a summer afternoon 40 years ago,

my boss, Paul, returned from the lum-

beryard with more than lumber. He also

had a pair of hammers, one each for his

young helpers. I picked one, my col-

league Winifred (we called him Winny)

picked the other: a fiberglass-handled

Plumb with a milled face.

My choice: an Estwing with a smooth

face and a straight ripping claw. I own

and use that hammer to this day. It

helped put me through college, and later

lasted through countless repair and con-

struction jobs for a young family and as

many with me in my work as a volunteer.

Forged from a single piece of steel, its

head will never come flying off. It can’t.

Even the vinyl rubber grip is molded not

just onto the handle but into it.

This is what makes an Estwing more

than a hammer. It’s a piece of expertise

wrought in heat-treated steel. Use it for

all it’s worth, and pass it down to the

next generation of hammer swingers.

Now picture my Estwing on a blister-

ing Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia

decades after I got it, as fellow volun-

teer, carpenter, Pop Mech contributor,

and good friend Mark Clement and I

worked to install a fence at a small park

and garden we were building. Out of

each posthole came more than dirt.

There was rock, chunks of bricks, hunks

of ancient bottles, oyster shells, pieces

of smashed-up plumbing, even the

water pump from a car. In the midst of

one particularly troublesome hole, Mark

asked to borrow the Estwing hammer

hanging off my belt. He then used it

to break up the debris that was block-

ing our progress. He handed it back to

me, and I inspected it carefully, expect-

ing to see considerable damage. I found

nothing.—R.B.

1. BEST SMOOTH-CUTTING
   CIRCULAR-SAW BLADES
   Spyder 13007 and 13018
   From $15
   We’ve made a lot of cuts with cir-
   cular saws, and these blades
   provide as clean a slice as any
   we’ve seen. Consider them smooth
   and smoother; the 60-tooth 13018
   delivers a glass-like surface and
   the 40-tooth 13007 nearly so.
   Those teeth are ground to what’s
   called an alternate top-bevel pro-
   file, which reduces splintering and
   back pressure by providing room
   for chips and sawdust to fall free.


2. BEST STEP DRILL BITS
   Diablo DSD1375S15 $51
   These bits quickly, cleanly, and
   accurately bore holes in plastic
   and metal up to 1⁄8 inch. Still, we
   tried them in steel a touch thicker
   than that, and they did fine. The
   split-point tip fights the tendency
   to skid off the starting point.


3. BEST TWIST DRILL BITS
   Milwaukee 48-89-4631 $25
   T h i s 2 3 - p i e c e s e t —s i z e s 1⁄1 6 - i n c h
   to 3⁄8-inch—proved its mettle in
   our testing. Each bit is ground
   with a sophisticated and thick
   twist and tip geometry for an accu-
   rate start, speedy chip removal,
   and a clean hole.


4. BEST THICK-METAL
   RECIPROCATING-SAW BLADE
   Diablo DS0908CFA $20
   Braze nine carbide teeth per inch
   to a f lexible reciprocating saw
   blade and grind them to a wave
   profile. That’s what Diablo did, and
   now you can cut hard steel alloys
   and cast iron up to a thickness of
   9⁄16 inch. These blades are tough,
   but you need an equally hardy saw.


5. BEST TOOL BELT
   ToughBuilt TB - CT-102-3 $43
   This ToughBuilt consists of a pad-
   ded 31⁄2-inch-wide belt, through
   which passes a strip of webbing to
   provide structural support for tool
   bags, each of which clicks on and
   off the belt. The system is clever,
   tough, and comfortable.


6. BEST GENERAL-PURPOSE
   CIRCULAR-SAW BLADE
   Diablo D0724 $10
   This is about as close to the ideal
   versatile saw blade as you can find.
   It quickly and cleanly cuts every
   typical construction lumber, from
   Doug fir to pressure-treated wood.
   Each of its 24 carbide teeth has a
   tip shaped like a spear, with bevels
   on the sides and front. This geom-
   etry reduces drag, particularly
   important for cordless saws, which
   need all the help they can get.

← BEST OVERALLS

Carhartt 102776 $80

Carhartt riffed on its Classic

R01 bib overall (which it still

offers) to make this garment

from 12-ounce duck. A key

modification is an elastic

gusset where the legs and

back panel meet to provide

stretch. Lack of give has been

a common sticking point with

overalls, and the redesign

helps you better tuck in a

hoodie or insulated work shirt.

Carhartt also doubled the

material at the cuffs for dura-

bility. And pockets? Fourteen.

Rivets? It’s got more than your

average passenger plane.

March/April 2021 67