Tripped over my own chipping hammer yesterday and snapped the handle clean off

I was working a repair job on a boiler down at the old power plant site near the river (nothing dangerous, just a flange gasket swap). Got done with the weld, went to chip slag off, and my hammer head flew right off the handle because the wood had a hairline crack I never noticed. Landed on the concrete floor and split the handle in two pieces. Had to borrow a buddy's old hammer to finish up, which felt weird because his handle was way longer than mine. Now I'm shopping around for a new one, maybe a fiberglass handle this time (I heard they hold up better in humidity). Anyone else ever snap a hammer handle mid-job, or am I just unlucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

christopher_coleman1710d ago

Man that sucks! You might be overthinking the wood vs fiberglass thing though. Humidity ain't your real problem here. I'd bet money that hairline crack was already there from when you or someone else stored that hammer leaning against a hot pipe or some welding ground clamp. Heat dries wood out way faster than moisture ever will.

rowan_hayes10d ago

Yeah, I had a buddy lose a good hammer that way, just left it too close to a furnace vent.