DEWALT DWHT51054 20 Oz. Rip Claw Hammer

Product Information

This smaller version of our top pick is great if you need something that’s easier to swing or that has a more delicate touch for hanging photos or assembling furniture. The leather handles have a neat look but offer less padding, and the leather grip has a coating, so there’s no natural tack to the handle.

And smaller hammers will struggle with larger nails and projects like building raised beds or a garage workbench, or for deck repair.Heavier, longer, and more powerful per swing than our top pick, this 20-ounce hammer shares the great features common to all Estwing hammers. Only a Stanley hammer distinguished itself here, due to the extremely steep curve of its claw, but that hammer has been discontinued. Ultra Series Hammer is comparable to the E3-20S; this one adds a few flourishes, but none of them are necessary or successful. In my own extended use of various Estwing hammers, I’ve found the negative effects from vibration don’t really occur— with occasional use.

To learn more about hammers, I interviewed Mark Piersma and Mike Lancelotta, two high-end carpenters who work in the Boston area.It gets the job done for small stuff—but so does our 16-ounce top pick (which we prefer as a more versatile option, since the 12-ounce hammer can struggle with larger nails). Mark Piersma, with 12 years of construction experience, has a 16-ounce Estwing that “is pretty much my go-to hammer for everything. During the first few years of use, the hammer goes through a “molting process,” which may bother some people. Estwing sells a series of metal-handled hammers with a wound leather grip instead of the blue nylon-vinyl one. And I noticed that some of them must have had them for over 30 years or so, because the blue rubber handles were so worn.