Air tool question

[Jerry Bransford]

I have a pretty fair assortment of Harbor Freight Tools air tools, all of which I've been really happy with for 4-5 years now. Perhaps my satisfaction with them is nothing more than ignorance-is-bliss but that's a subject for a different day.

My question is about my air impact hammer. Do the more expensive models hit harder than the cheapy $20 HFT hammer I have does? I know you can buy double-anvil air impact wrenches which produce higher amounts of available torque than the single-anvil models like I have do.

So is it the same with air impact hammers? Are there double-anvil models like there are for impact wrenches?

I was hammering out some granite buried in a hole over the weekend using my HFT impact hammer and was just wondering if a better impact hammer would have made the job go faster.

No problem on air volume out of my compressor, it's a big belt-driven model that has way more capacity than I can use.

Thanks!

[DsrtJeeper]

Let me guess.....you were trying to remove gravel from the hole where your gate latches? Damn granite! I use a long pry bar to break it loose and the air blow gun to blow it out of the hole.

[Jerry Bransford]

Originally posted by DsrtJeeper
Let me guess.....you were trying to remove gravel from the hole where your gate latches? Damn granite! I use a long pry bar to break it loose and the air blow gun to blow it out of the hole.

Good guess but I bought a 20' aluminum flag pole at the county fair last weekend that I'm trying to plant. It needs a 20" deep hole and I spent 2 hours getting down 12" before I punched a hole in a hidden 1" diameter irrigation water pipe. Which wasn't discovered until the next morning when it almost flooded my pool with muddy water.

[DsrtJeeper]

lol! Been there; done that! Those aluminum flag poles are nice. My neighbor has had one for years and it has held up through some whicked storms.

[truckjohn]

The cheap ones do a yeoman's duty at knocking bearings loose and cutting sheet metal.

For heavy duty hitting -- breaking big rocks and reinforced foundations, 1" thick metal, stuff like that, you want the big suckers -- which cost the $$$$.

When you are talking about hours and hours of pounding away, the cheap air hammers will just pound themselves to pieces.

for auto duty, I like my little cheap-o $12.00 C-H air hammer -- it just does great.

Best regards

John

[Paradiddle]

Jerry - I'd rent a good one before spending big money on a tool you'll use once or twice. HD should rent good/big ones.

[Jerry Bransford]

Thanks guys, but does anyone know if the more expensive air impact hammers are double-anvil or not and if they truly hit harder/cut faster?

I know the better brands will hold together longer but I can buy 8-10 $10 HFT air impact hammers for the price of one "good" brand... and so far, my cheapy HFT has held together with quite a bit of use over the past year. It did a hell of a job on my all reinforced concrete barbque island all things considered... so would something better have done it easier or faster?