Buying Quality Auto Body Hammers - Four Essential Features

A quality auto body hammer is an essential part of you auto body toolkit. This simple guide will go over a few things to look for when purchasing a new auto body hammer.

Handles

The handle is an important part of the hammer. After all, this is where the driving force comes from. A cheap hammer handle will fall apart quickly. There is also a key difference between the materials used to create the hammers.

Wood: A wood auto body hammer handle will offer you the advantage of being able to feel the striking power. It offers more sensitivity as it doesn’t absorb the shock as well as other materials do. The down side to having a wood handled hammer is that after repetitive use the wood can dry out causing the hammer head to become loose. There are tricks to fix this though. Soaking the hammer in a mix of water and antifreeze will cause the handle to swell and retain the water, ending the loose head problem for a little while. It’s not a permanent fix however and will have to be repeated.

Fiberglass: A fiberglass handle will last for a lot longer than a wood handle will. They are less prone to loosening and breakage. The fiberglass will also absorb quite a bit of the shock caused from striking the hammer. Some people prefer this, but others like to be able to feel the strike power. This will depend solely on your preference and what you’ve become used to. A wood handle can offer more precision in working with some panels over a fiberglass handle.

Hammer Face

A quality auto body hammer will have a contour on the face. It shouldn’t be a drastic curve, but a slight contour should definitely be there. This is to avoid leaving a ring shape on the panel you are working on as you strike it. A cheap hammer will not have the proper contours.

Forged Metal

Your best bet for any auto body hammer is to ensure it is made of forged steel. Forged steel is shaped and then heated to shrink the metal down to the desired shape and size. This assures a much stronger form of steel than just casting. The steel in these hammers is far less prone to get cracked with use. A quality tool manufacturer will proudly display the fact that it’s made of forged steel. You can generally tell by striking the hammer against a dolly. You should hear a ring if it’s forged, a thud if it’s not. Sometimes forged steel will still have a seam in it, but if you see any plugs or multiple seams chances are it’s not forged.

Sets

If you are purchasing a hammer set as opposed to just a single tool, you will want to verify the quality of all the components. It’s not uncommon to find a set that has one or two high quality items, and then ‘fluff’ or lower quality parts for the rest. If you’re wanting to ensure you have quality tools, go ahead and spend the extra money for a set that is all higher quality. This will save you money by not having to replace tools later.