I have quite a few different hammers and dollies, and will search out or make different shapes that I need for a specific job. That being said, I use my fiberglass handled Martin cross chisel hammer about 95% of the time because I am very comfortable with it...feel is very important. I use my ancient Martin universal and heel dollies almost all the time for the same reason. It is a hard thing to choose a tool based on what if, but you have to start and try different pieces before you get one that really feels right......all my Martin tools seem to do that well....
i am a big fan of the old proto body hammers, my favorite being the 1421. You can find then decently priced on ebay too.
i had the hundred dollar eastwood special set. then i bought a snapon hammer and honestly it was night and day. If your going to spend money on hammers i would just go and do it. Life time warranty and they look nice in your box.
I have been using Mac Hammers for about 20 years. The BTH164 is one of my favorites. My son uses Snap-On. He just bought three good Faimounts and a Plumb off eBay for about 50 bucks. I think I am going to nab the Plumb when he's not looking. My favorite dolly is old, it dates back to the 1940's and was given to me by my Grandpa who did body work back then. It's kind of cool to pick up and use a tool that has some family history to it. I have heard good things about Sykes-Pickavant and am thinking about trying them out. They are available from Fournier Tools.
I'm still looking around on Ebay and craigslist, but I need to go snoop around some pawn shops and some of these little shops out there that sell stuff like that. Maybe I can find some good old stuff there.
Buy Harbor freight. For as much as you will use them they are fine. You can get carried away with spending lots of money if you are not careful. I think this is what you need. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=46779 It even has a slap hammer. Most of all its made out of all the classic American cars we crushed and sold them through the years.
I was looking at this set from Sears. I heard it was made by Snap on or Martin if I remember right. I have a sears gift card sitting around and figured this would be a good spend. Any thoughts? Kevin LFD Inc.
I'm with master of none. I use alot, because I'm a scavenger. But DO NOT get me wrong; My first and favorite body hammer is my Snap-On, bar none. Its about balance. It has great balance. It is not the only balaced body hammer out there, but seemed like it was for a long time. I find it is really important to keep the dome face in nice shape also. Cheap hammers have no dome on their dome face making them damage machines. I have burned up a lot of roloc discs doming garbage hammers... It ends up a futile endeavor. Fairmont, Snap-On, and Martin are my favorites, I am sure there are other good ones also.
I like my Martin hammers and dollies. you might think about going to the local paint supply store and see what they sell. then you don't have to dick around with shipping costs and waiting. I'd use a ball been hammer and a chunk of scrap steel before I'd use that Harbor Freight crap.
The Key with Body hammers is the "Balance" If it feels good in your hand that's what matters. Most name brands are good. If yo can find Skyes Picavat from England there a nice hammer and nicely finished. I also buy the $7.00 specials and then I grind the heads to any shape I need. I won't do that with a "Snap-on" Hammer $$$$. The Old Tinbasher
I'm bringing this thread back up because there's more potential here, I use a plumb hammer as my #1, Martin is my 2nd favorite. I have a ton of hammers, I look for them at swap meets but 98% of the time I'll use one of those 2. caldie tool company is making some awesome hammers, he's on Instagram. Proline makes super nice hammers too. Once you get used to the tactile feel and solid results from quality body hammers and dollies, you will be able to tell if one is good simply by picking it up.
I use Martins also. When I was not so educated about body work, I picked up a set of those cheap harbor freight hammer sets for dirt cheap...there's a reason why they are so cheap they're soft and chip out and distort I don't even think they're hardened!! made body work near impossible. These are tools you shouldn't skimp on, once I started using the Martins the metal just formed like butter and was SO much easier to work and move it to where I wanted it to go it was easier on my sanity also. Buy quality to start to save yourself heartache in the future..
I got a hammer/pick from Eastwood. The balance and feel are so good it turned me into a real-life Ron Covell overnight.
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