I ordered this hammer just two days ago, and just now received it. Amazon Prime, you know.
I had a favorite old hammer for many, many years. One day, I finally managed to break it.
Here at Amazon I found what looked like a good replacement, this Stanley 20-Oz. rip claw hammer.
My main concert was that it might not be a “full-sized” hammer. I have one of those small hammers
ideal for light jobs like driving brad nails into the wall, for hanging pictures. But, there are times when you need
a hammer for the bigger jobs. Amazon lists this as almost 13 inches long, which seemed to me to be too small.
I measured the hammer and it’s 13 1/8 inches long. Sure enough, it’s a full-sized hammer, and quite hefty.
Maybe too hefty. The hammer feels a bit top-heavy and when swinging it about, I feel like the hammer is swinging me.
You know, wag the dog. If your an old-time carpenter who thinks nothing of driving an 8-penny nail into a beam with
one or two good hits, this is your hammer. On the other hand, I suspect that about 90% of all users would prefer a slightly
lighter hammer. Knowing what I know now, I believe the ideal general purpose hammer is the 16-Oz version. Go with the 16-Oz
model with the curved claw and you will have the hammer that you remember from Dad’s tool belt.
You may wonder if this hammer is suited to pulling nails? Yes, it is. The claw has a V-shaped gap which is about 1 3/8″ long.
The wide end is about 3/8″ and it tapers to a narrow point of about 1/16″.
I like the finish on this hammer. Like brushed stainless steel. A finely ground look, like a stainless steel kitchen sink. I like this hammer
and will certainly keep it, but I do think the 16-Oz would have been a better choice. So, I will summarize this way:
(1) This is a full-sized hammer.
(2) For most of you, the 16-Oz. is the better choice.
I hope this was helpful.