Just for grins and giggles, I would have cold blued the hammer. It protects from corrosion and looks good too. Hundred years, keep it away from it's worst enemy, corrosion, ittle las a millennia!
Polishing up an old tool does not a restoration make. Besides the faces weren't beveled at the edges to prevent chipping. It's not even an American made hammer anyways, this is not an American pattern sledge hammer with a wedge hang oval eye. This is a typical eastern European pattern sledge hammer with a large tapered slip fit eye ( think of a tomahawk or pickaxe where the head just slides on from the bottom) I do not believe that the person running this channel is in the US, because that modern hammer shaped object is not an American pattern which is what the Chinese and Indian factories export to us here in the states. It is again a European pattern. I'm pretty sure the guy is in one of the eastern European slavik countries.
i wonder if they alloyed lead into their iron for more weight, hence its softer. arguably this is a type of design thinking to produce something more practical than just a block of steel. because for example, if you don't need something strong enough to stand up to 100 tons, but just need a regular, weight focused sledge, with attention paid to price point, the chinese sledge should be your first pick. to clarify my example. imagine buying a F1 formula car for driving around town to get groceries. could you really afford do that?
@@ericaugust1501well, the fact that the metal started bending at only 30 tones shows that it will wear down and bend much before the solid steel/iron hammer
@@ericaugust1501.....whose arms? If the sledge is bought by a demolition company, its going to be used by multiple people. In which case the solid sledge is going to give you more production over a longer period of time.
Back then, the foundry's competed to make the hardest, strongest steel possible across the board. Now they compete to find the 'minimum viable product'
Not even close. It a hardened chisel or drill is hit with a hardened hammer, and something is likely to shatter. Both the heads of chisels/ bits and the hammer need to be some what soft. Now strong is good, it will reduce mushrooming. US sledgehammers are made in medium and soft even today. Medium is most common, but soft is available. And if you want softer, brass is available in many designs. I don’t think legacy hammers are any better that current US production ( say Vaughn, Eastwing, Nupla). There was certainly junk made back then if for no other reason than poorer control of their metallurgy from melting scrap.
This is survivorship bias. A million garbage hammers were made alongside some very good ones, and only the very good ones become functional antiques while the others hit the landfill. Also I think the cheap hammer is gonna work just fine as long as you need to generate less than 40 tons of force
As a Chinese (with 20+ years experience in China too), I totally appreciate the quality difference, but I would draw people's attention on this as well: I only use top quality hand tools like Snap-On or Stahlwille myself, but they are sometimes more than 50 times more expensive (sometimes even 100 times mroe) than something you can get from a budget hardware on the roadside, which will do basic jobs exactly the same. For most people, if you only need to touch your screwdriver 4 times a year to tighten some door hinges, quality doesnt mean much to you at all, but price does. You need and you want to spend your money somewhere you think more worthy, like your laptops, your phones, your clothes, etc. the good thing China's mass production these days is that it brought us this: you do have that choice, if you want to go cheap, there is an option for you. when you spend $5 on a sledgehammer like that, you will never use it, or never have an opportunity to use it in a 100 ton environment, right? you just want knock over a few old concrete blocks under your fence. In under 5 ton applications, there is no difference at all. So I see it as a win for the low quality, but the cheap product. $5-5t, or $100-100t, that is your choice, and you now have a choice, right?
Is it kind of pathetic that you all look at that old sledgehammer with such nostalgia knowing that your own country doesn't manufacture it's own stuff anymore, and even if it did it would cost 10 times more, but then you'd all be complaining about that on your way to Harbor Freight happily filling your carts with tools you all know are made in China. But I guess if you need a sledgehammer that can withstand 100 tons of pressure (none of us do), have at it and disparage that Chinese sledge all you want. But for most of you the 10 buck Pittsburgh sledge would suffice, yes?
@@TonyChance-xq5vg they probably dont know not only Harbour freight, or pittsburgh were made in China Milwaukee, Ridgid (or AEG) or Blue-Point are all made in China. What quality we make the tools with really depends on how pathetic these companies are, and how much they would spend on setting their quality standards. so it really has not much to do with "where it is made", it is about how "pathetic" those companies are, Chinese companies, or American companies, they are all the same, and exactly same rules apply.
the funny thing is that here people are laughing at made in China quality and yet 100% of the port cranes in USA now are made in China. i dont even feel like going into C/P or cognitive bias 🤣
@@liyisu i wouldnt call it pathetic unless there trying to sell it as a heavy duty tool. if someone spends 5 dollars making a hammer and they sell it for 7 dollars there not exactly trying to scam you there just selling a cheap tool for cheap uses.
@@GardenGuy1942 Watch again. You call that holding shape for the Chinese hammer? Try fitting a new handle to it...can I be there when you do try.. I need some comic relief!
I really want to see more of this for two reasons: Old American Sledgehammer vs New American Sledgehammer: To know the quality of Steel difference from back then, and what it's like now days. New Chinese Sledgehammer vs New American Sledgehammer: To see the quality of Steel difference between modern day China and USA Steel. I would love to see these videos and know what the differences are
@@bllllood General rule of law, simple tools never become obsolete, only complicated ones. Computers become obsolete, ships, engines. Hammers are fundamentally the same since literal prehistory. The only thing that changed with hammers over all man's industrial and technological revolutions was new methods of driving the hammer, but the hammer itself is the same.
@@MarikHavair computers will never become obsolete.....they may be replace by more advance computers but they have become a must have in life..the amount of things they simplify is just too much to ever become obsolete...hammers on the other hand may be replace by mini-hydrolic press//3d printers...or maybe something in the futur which could potentially release a pressure wave that if aimed at something it does like a hammer..basicly same function but more efficient than an hammer....well...difficult to say what await in the futur...and something like a pressure wave could probably be adjust to move large objects as well......maybe we see it b4 dying..or not..who know
Thank God for the disclaimer. I was just about to fire up my hydraulic press in my living room after seeing the thumbnail, but then the disclaimer saved me.
If you have a hydraulic press then you are probably a grown man and know what you are doing. A child is improbable to have access to one. I on the other hand have lethal machinery that can saw your hand off so much worse or burn your hand faster than you can say 'supercalifragilisticexpealidocious'. I do have robots that like to steal your phones when you don't pay attention to make prank calls.
@@coryminnick1256 just a guess here, but the old hammer is probably a lower carbon steel making it less brittle. I seem to recall that a mint uses low carbon steel because it’s less brittle.
That's what you think, he's just doing propaganda. This is not an American and Chinese hammer, this is what he added himself. The original recording only shows the difference in quality between then and now!
@@bestprice1776 HAHAHAH but how many dreamers are there in these written opinions, Trump DID NOT BRING BACK ANY COMPANY OF ANY KIND TO YANKEELAND IN HIS FIRST PERIOD and you think that "now yes" he will do it hahahah, deluded
There might be a US made hammer, but 95% chance it uses Chinese steel. Still garbage, just finished nicer. All steel today is trash. Sad, but the great makers got driven bankrupt by cheap foreign imports.
Well, most modern American hammers are made the same way Chinese hammers are made. I see this is a case of forged steel versus cast steel. There are many videos showing old European made tools outperform modern American ones. There are good tools being made today, but it's fun to pick a cheap one for a YT video.
@@supremegreaser2399 A lot of Chinese steel refineries have closed down recently. The metal is very cheaply made and bends super easy. A lot of homes they reinforced with the metal are also falling apart.
@@rcrawford42 Yeah no, this isn't a one of a kind painting meant to be observed in it's original form, it is a tool that deserves to be treated well and actually used instead of wasting away on some shelf in a hoarder house.
@@CorrectsYou I agree with you. I’m of the belief that unless the object in question is one of a kind, then it should be used. Hammers like that, while old, are still just hammers and as such should be used as such.
a softer metal passes more of the force to the target. A harder metal bounces back, wasting energy. They dont need to be good at resisting crush, that dosnt show quality.
@@hindugoat2302 Use of softer materials for hammering is based on application, not transfer of force which has diminishing returns. This demonstration would indicate to me durability or the lack of due to the newer one being poorly and quickly made. The older hammer is deformed as you can clearly see so it isn't harder than it needs to be, but it was made to last not just be cheap enough to be bought again and again. The newer one has so many pits I can't help but wonder if it's porous.
Shame that it was allowed to get in that condition. I have had my sledge hammer for over 40 years. It does not look like that. Tools do not have to that condition, if you care for them, and store them properly. None of my tools are rusty.
Im 76 yrs old I have my grandfather's 10 lb sledgehammer. Don't know what all else he used it for but he had only a wood furnace in his house and used the sledgehammer with a splitting wedge to split his firewood. Then my dad had it for years before it passed to me. I too had only wood heat so used the sledgehammer and grandfather's same splitting wedge. Several years ago I did have to replace the handle. Even though I kept the the head of the splitting wedge free of flared edges sadly it broke in half a few years ago. Can't imagine how many thousands of big hits it took. I also still use his two hand planes. One metal with a wooden handle one all wood, except of course the blade and blade clamp. I make big log benches and use the 100+ year old hand planes to shape and smoothen the surfaces. Both still have the original blades.
I have inherited old tools and love their durability. My old tire iron that my great grandfather had made and welded decades ago was far superior than anything that was made more recently that often broke or bent when used. I was quite upset when my vehicle was stolen and never recovered and lost that superior piece of steel.
I have two Soviet sledgehammers, I don't know how old they are, but they are definitely over 70. One is about the same size as the hammer in the video, the other is much bigger. But unfortunately, I don't think about restoring them.
I have a 10-pound Plvme sledgehammer that belonged to my granddad. It has been used and abused since about 1920 and still has its original shape, handle and even some original paint. I refaced it some year ago to retore it's striking profile and it is still the best sledgehammer I own. I've made it my business to only buy and use American made tools. As granddad told me when I was about 10, "you can buy a good tool once or you can buy a cheap tool over and over. They are always worth the extra money". This old hammer is definitely worth restoring. 100 tons under a press and it didn't deform, that's American quality.
I use to buy cheap stuff not anymore. I've learned my lesson. Buy American support your neighbors in employment. Keep jobs in America. I've paid up to 7 times more in price.
PLOMB ( changed their name to PROTO in the 40's ) made great tools. Their hammers are not particularly common though because they had legal troubles and were forced to stop making them 2 different times. There was PLOMB who mostly made mechanics tools, and PLUMB who made axes and hammers going back to the 1870's. They sued because the name was so similar and the court ruled that PLOMB could keep their name as long as they stayed in their lane and stopped making hammers. That was around 1921 I believe, at some point they started making hammers again getting into more legal trouble and eventually decided to just change their name to PROTO.
It seems the old American hammer was made of cheap cast iron, with high hardness but might also high brittleness. The modern Chinese hammer is made of high quality steel which is lower in hardness, but less in brittleness. The high hardness usually has the trade off of a high brittleness, in iron-steel materials. The modern hand hammer has the hardness high enough for general usage with less chance to crack. It deformed at around 30 tons pressure, much higher than a person can provide, and well behaved by deformation without crack when the load was over 100 tons. This performance might be designed by modern standard for safety concerns.
I recently replaced a A/C condenser Fan Motor, it was new A/C unit since 1989 when the house is built. It is still running great except it has a loosen set screw; therefore, I replaced it with a new. The old one is Made in USA by G.E. Yes, the Fan motor still running after 35 years. The quality of America Made products are amazing.
I worked at the GE plant in Springfield, Missouri in 1974. We turned out thousands of these motors per week. No more, now there are no American made motors.
@@caseyj.1332 Very sad but thank you for making such a quality product. By the way, the inside unit - the Blower Motor still blowing hot/cold air after 35 + year. 👍
@@pimpompoom93726 Totally agreed. Another great example is look at all the "old" IBM mainframe machines, how can back to those days, IBM can design and built something that is so amazing which can integrate and run for generations and generations.
I'm 68 years old. My wife has an old American made Sunbeam toaster. I opened it up once to clean it and inside it was dated Feb. 1956. It's older than me, and we still use it. 😊
I want to comment on the transformation. Nice rescue! Makes me think differently now when I see old tools sitting in the corner of an old barn or garage. That is truly an example of a "buy it once" tool.
@@Lambda_Ovine It's totally unnecessary too. We as humans can exert maybe 1 ton of force maximum. considering the fatigue limit, 20 tons in strength is enough. And the cheap Chinese sledgehammer went above 30 tons.
@@absolutez3r019 If you need a quality made hammer, go to an professional tool dealer were the craftsmen purchase their tools. It cost a little more than a super duper bargain hammer at Aldi´s for $2,99. I own an old sledgehammer it belongs to my grandfather, its made in abt 1910. Even the shaft were still original , made of oak.
I never thought I myself, “I want to see a video of a new vs old sledgehammer test. And after that test I want to see that old hammer brought back to its glory”. And I really never thought I’d see myself saying I want one even though I have no use for it. Good video. TH-cam knows what I need to see even when I don’t know.
They start out soft. The more you use them the harder they become. When you hear the term hardened steel it means it has been hammered to make it more durable. You are compressing the molecules that form the metal making it denser.
@@MrLoserpatrol WRONG. 'Hardening' steel is a process of heating it (to around 800-900C), holding it at that temp then quickly quenching (cooling) it in oil or water.
And today, dare I say, most American companies get their shit produced in China and sell it as American to turn a buck. And it breaks way faster, which means that you'd have to buy it again, giving them more money.
There should be a show like “Forged in Fire” but they make handcrafted tools (other than knives) instead and still test them to see which ones are functional and reliable.
To be fair a used hammer will get harder by usage a brand new will be softer repetitive striking will pack the molecules, its the same with rock drills,they are way stronger after several 1000 meters than new.
When I was a kid I found an old axe head around a 200 year old house with a metal detector. Put in on a normal axe handle. Worked fantastic. Didn't bother to even clean it up.
It is almost a sacred task to take a properly forged steel tool and give it a new life instead of tossing it onto the scrap heap. More people should be hunting out and preserving these amazing artifacts from a time that people made good things and were proud of them.
Plastic deformation is when a material's shape or size permanently changes due to an applied force, such as bending, compression, torsion, or tensile stress. The deformation remains even after the force is removed.
As a novice blacksmith, my favorite hammers are the old ones I’ve snagged from antique stores. I wouldn’t grind and polish one unless it’s really deformed, but I’ve had to put new handles on a couple… old American tools were built to last. Hopefully again someday. Lots of Chinese stuff IS useful and affordable, and I’m thankful for the availability, but the quality of the antique American stuff was amazing.
Partially because they're not being used for anything that matters, like building a railway system across the country. This is like comparing a decorative weapon to one used to kill people. Either it works, or it doesn't. And the "doesn't" category is not an option since that means your project, your factory that made it, or YOU cease to exist.
The reason we study materials science is to figure out what is enough so that we can make it enough without over-specifying to be safe. So this argument is kind of dumb. A hand tool never needs to withstand 100 tons of force. We as humans can't exert anything over 1 ton. From the metal fatigue standpoint, you only need the strength to be 20x of the maximum cyclic load. In this case, 20 tons is sufficient for its purpose
Sorry for the downer comment, but: That was an excessive level of restoration. Sure, clean it up a bit, remove the curled over edges, and of course a new handle. But you've gone and removed all the character it's developed in its 100 years. The beauty. The patina. And by welding the pits, you've most likely weakened it significantly. It'll be a high carbon steel, which doesn't take kindly to welding except with very special processes and is now likely to initiate cracking. I've got an old one like that in my garage, BTW.
Very doubtful that head is 'high carbon steel'. This is not a ball peen hammer, toughness is far more important than hardness for a sledge. It's probably .4-.5 carbon max and the welding spot was only mass quenched, not quenched with water or anything like that. No martensite formed, not brittle. But if you're concerned, you can always run a torch over it after welding to stress relieve it, or preheat it prior to welding to prolong the cooldown interval.
@@pimpompoom93726 >>>> "Very doubtful that head is 'high carbon steel'." Yeah I don't know man. I'm pretty sure most, if not all, sledge hammers are forgings made from 4000 series steel which implies a high carbon steel. But, it did come from China, so without actually testing it, who _knows_ what they actually used. ;-)
@@MikeInExile 'AISI 4000 Series Steel; Ferrous Metal; Low Alloy Steel; Medium Carbon Steel' from ASM. They note .28-.33 on the carbon which is even lower than I suspected, but they do have high Chrome and relatively high Moly and Manganese. It seems they are looking for toughness, not hardness with that carbon level and alloying levels? I worked in Heat Treat many decades ago, we used to consider anything .7 and above as 'high carbon'.
A more equivalent comparison would be comparing the 100 year old American made hammer to a present day American made hammer. I’m guessing it looks very similar to the Chinese one in this video. Steel is recycled so much these days that pretty much any products of the same category are not gonna be as strong as it was when made 100 years ago. Also, do the same thing with the Chinese product. If you can get your hands on a 100 year old sledge hammer.
i dont think its a matter of alloying and more of matter of heat treatment of the steel. Modern hammer maker dont have any economic incentive to go extra mile with heat treatment cause it added cost. For manufacturer a hammer that can withstand 40 ton is good enough for human use
Great job. And to wrap it up, I'd consider spiking in a few steel wedges on the top side of the handle to properly set the handle securely into the sledge head. Yes, I know you used the hydraulic press to jam the handle in, but wedges are how you expand the tip of the handle so that should the wood dry and shrink a bit, that the handle is still securely mounted in the sledge head. But regardless, great job on restoring that sledgehammer. Looks wonderful!
What you describe is for ax, hatchet, or small hammers handles because they are inserted in the opposite direction. Hoe, pick, and sledge handles do not require wedging.
@@thehoneybadger8089 all my vintage sledgehammers have factory wedges in them, I just did a new handle on one a couple of days ago for my nephew to use on the farm he is working on
Hello from the UK....l was wondering the same thing and yours is the first comment to say it. And l find that the handle of today do not last long either. l have a small lump hammer l bought a new handle,fitted it, used it a couple of time and it broke and split down the middle.
@@thehoneybadger8089 I was wondering that as I watched.... I've never redone the handle on a sledge but I figured it was the same process as an axe handle and this guy in the video didn't do it "proper".
To be fair, he showed at the beginning that the chinese one was still perfectly capable of breaking rocks and stuff. I'd like to know the weights of both hammers, since there's a pretty good chance that the modern one is made purposefully less dense so that it's lighter and less tiring to swing. That would make it more actually useful as long as you don't swing it with more than, yknow, 30 tons of force or so
you can also observe the chinese one is not flat on the sides which would be more efficient to break even surfaces or objects but not to stand this kind of pressure since it would focus all the pressure in a single point instead of distributing the weight throught the whole body.
I'm curious as to how the Chinese Hammer would perform after performing several million hits and being work hardened like the used Hammer, we can clearly see it deformed over time in the beginning
@@GardenGuy1942 You realize in order to recycle metal you have to heat it and expend carbon - and a lot of it - into the atmosphere right? Sanding it down and adding a new handle is the lowest emission way to recycle that hammer possible. If anyone here loves Global warming it'd be you.
Married a woman from Peru. Her sisters husband, “my new brother in law” asked me, why would we sell our steel company, U.S. makes the best steel in the world? I didn’t have an hr to explain
hahaha, german steel, english steel, spanish steel just in Europe, japanese steel too, c mon, dude, dont be naive, your "new brother in law" just want to be kind with you XD
Swedish steel historically has been made from Norway iron which is the purest iron ore on the planet. Many countries mentioned in above comments all make excellent steel including the USA. Canada and Poland are also worthy steel producers but Sweden takes the prize.
@@Yestopeace365 Well since america doesn't forge steel anymore, it would probably be no different from the chinese one. However, a much more interested question for everyone who watches this video is: do the two hammers actually perform ANY differently? Its a big solid piece of steel used to bludgeon other solid objects. Its not a forging hammer its a sledge hammer. Theres also the consideration of how much energy is transferred to the arm. Rigidity isn't always desired in all cases. Sometimes plastique deformation is preferable. If you've ever seen the video of that chinese guy showing off his bulletproof bike helmets, thats a good example of undesirable energy transfer. You don't WANT a bulletproof bike helmet. You want the helmet to absorb (through plastique deformation) and divert the energy away, not transfer it to your skull. Similar for a bullet, you don't want a solid piece of steel, that will pass right through and not deliver all of the energy to the target. You want a softer metal to splay out, and not fully pass through, to deliver ALL of the energy to the target. For a sledge hammer, you want to direct energy to the thing being struck, with as little as possible being repulsed (like bouncing) or redirected back to the wielder. So you might not WANT a spring temper forged steel hammer when striking other very strong objects. Thats more than likely to bounce when striking something of similar strength. When a hammer bounces like that, instead of energy being delivered, that energy is actually repulsed and redirected back into the shaft. Its not an intuitive thing to consider. But if you were to swing a sledge hammer 500 times a day, the energy transfer back into the shaft is a serious concern, and so is the safety concern of a bouncing hammer head. Another way to think about it is a vehicle's crumple zone. Crumple zones exist to protect humans when the car strikes an immovable object. If you as a human use a sledge hammer to try to destroy the forged armor an M1 Abram's tank, you are DRASTICALLY hopeless in that endeavor. If your sledge hammer is spring temper forged steel, it will simply bounce. Most of the energy will be repulsed and redirected into you. For that chinese hammer (a perfectly good hammer) the softer steel will plastiquely deform somewhat like a crumple zone. Also, more of the hammerhead will end up striking the tank's armor, delivering more energy (like the lead bullet does) Thank you for listening to my TED Talk for why you don't actually want a spring temper forged steel sledge hammer.
That’s because most production got outsourced to countries like China where they do it cheaper. Result is the products get worse while companies line their pockets.
@@gamesguy it’s not clickbait because that IS an American made hammer from the 1900s vs a modern one made in China. Obviously the difference is entirely in material quality, but that’s kinda the point. The reason people get turned off when they see “made in China” isn’t because that country’s products are simply inferior, it’s because that means the material and assembly standards are lower so you it probably won’t be very good.
@@Nesto_ it is entirely clickbait because like most people, you have zero clue about manufacturing or hammers. Steel has grades, he intentionally picked an old forged hammer to compare to a cheap modern cast hammer. A modern higher quality forged hammer from China would be just as strong if not stronger than that old hammer. Chinese factories make some of the highest quality goods in the world. IF you're willing to pay for it. The problem is American companies often tell the Chinese manufacturer they want the lowest possible price - which naturally results in the lowest quality product. You simply have no clue about the topic beyond the usual HURR CHINA BAD memes.
@@gamesguy You're making a lot of assumptions and you're pretty far off the mark, I suspect you know less about this topic than you think you do. You may have even not read my comment. No, Chinese factories do not make some of the highest quality goods in the world; they manufacture a majority of components, both good and bad, some of which are used in or entirely comprise high quality goods which are assembled elsewhere. There is a pretty big difference because if a product is assembled in China for international shipping it is typically made to a laxer standard with less regulation and international customers have no legal recourse if the product is faulty. Meanwhile if for example you buy a Volkswagen, even though a majority of its components are likely manufactured in China the car itself is assembled by a German company and so it adheres to EU standards. As a citizen of the western world there are legal actions you can take if such a product is faulty or misleadingly advertised. None of this applies to Chinese made products. Yes I know about steel grades, hence why I mentioned material quality. However when it comes to Chinese assembled products there is no guarantee of quality regardless of price or what it says on the website because, once again, the company is liable to nothing as long as it adheres to Chinese laws. If you buy a fairly expensive hammer that says it's made of high-grade tool steel, you might find out down the line that it was a sham product that got taken off the site and now there is nothing you can do about the fact you just got scammed. It's an entirely different thing when it comes to products assembled in the west because (due to legal responsibilities) companies have to make sure that their components fit the standards of the countries they operate in, so as a part of their assembly line they have to already have vetted and tested those parts or YOU CAN SUE THEM FOR NEGLEGANCE. Now lets get into why all of this is the way it is. All of these parts are manufactured in China because labor is extremely cheap there, so they could sell them for cheaper meaning western manufacturers couldn't compete. Why is labor so much cheaper in China? Effective slavery, worker and child exploitation, as well as those lax regulations I mentioned earlier. Even high quality parts made there are often the result of somebody getting screwed, but in the current state of the economy it's not like there's a way to avoid funding this shit as an individual.
Two factors at play - material and shape. 1) Probably different materials. Suspect much higher carbon content on the old one. Therefore would expect it to survive better under compression, but to be much worse under tension. 2) Curved face means more force over a smaller area when it is being compressed. Conclusion: requires further control testing for the type of metal and the shape.
The old hammer was like "...what this? This is nothing! Should've seen the guys using me to build a bridge...that curled my edges some...but this? Before breakfast!!!"
Fine Chinese workmanship at it’s finest! Is it any wonder the Three Gorges Dam is slowly failing? I am from the upper Ohio Valley below Pittsburgh and when those mills were in operation it was glorious to drive from Steubenville, OH to Wheeling, West Virginia at night. Better than a fireworks display and making real steel!
Last few polls I have seen…. over 80% of Americans won’t pay more than 10% for American made vs. imported What most people don’t get? Is it is mostly US multinationals making the lion share of those profits inflating the trade deficit between China to the USA Where Chinese companies mostly trade with their Belt and Road country partners these days These US multinationals are the ones sending you that junk These US multinationals are still using the same highly polluting labour intensive factories formula. As they were using more and more illegal labour, smuggled in from South East Asia in their wholly owned factories in China Or more and more automation in their wholly owned factories in China these days These are the same companies who got those trump Corporate tax cuts you for sure cheered about Same companies based in China who derived 392 billion in sales of their goods and services into those Chinese domestic markets in 2018 when trump started his trade war Same companies averaging 20% to 40% of their earnings from China whose high flying stocks are in your 401k/Pensions Same companies who the American farmer and consumer were sacrificed. So the USA could try and get “more” or “better” access for the US multinationals, into those Chinese Domestic markets during the trade war Same companies whose HQ is in a North American city you can easily go stand outside and protest at…. Why didn’t China pull the nuclear trade option and boot these US companies you might ask? For one, it would crash the US Economy And the Chinese don’t believe in a zero-sum game type of thinking As I can show you during the trade war. China didn’t pull out their big trade weapons, in fact they were lowering tariffs to most countries not raising them 👇 Trump’s ‘trade war’ with China won’t be so easy to win Having learned these value chain lessons, Beijing has worked hard to bring more of the high-value-adding parts of value chains into China, and to build hi-tech industries in which it can establish a globally competitive position. China has successfully done this in areas like high-speed trains (CRRC), digital telecoms networks (Huawei), drones (DJI) and hi-tech batteries (BYD). Trump’s team is not wrong to be worried about China’s competitive emergence here, and to target these new-tech sectors in the latest trade war sortie. But here’s the problem: China exports almost none of these new-tech products to the US, making US tariff threats meaningless. Rather, they go to developing economy markets - many embraced by the Belt and Road initiative - where China has succeeded in building a hi-tech, high-value brand reputation. As Trump’s team will quickly learn, the challenge of finding China’s pain points is bigger than expected: for a decade China’s priority has been to base growth on the domestic consumer economy and reduce reliance on the low-value-adding export processing industries (many of which are US- or Hong Kong-owned and concentrated in the Pearl River Delta) SCMP
@@spitfirenutspitfirenut4835 That’s because you have been cheeeep basturds in the past Now in 2024 you say you want to pay 30% or 40% more for the sheet you buy Yeah right 👇 Americans want U.S. goods, but not willing to pay more: Reuters/Ipsos poll A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday found 70 percent of Americans think it is “very important” or “somewhat important” to buy U.S.-made products. Despite that sentiment, 37 percent said they would refuse to pay more for U.S.-made goods versus imports. Twenty six percent said they would only pay up to 5 percent more to buy American, and 21 percent capped the premium at 10 percent. Reuters
There’re are no prove that the dam is failing lol. Not in the slightest even in the most brutal conditions of its location. Now, let’s talk about the fine American made marvels: Boeing! Crashing one plane at a time 😂, DR Horton and many other fine American home builders: build like American sloppy joes, falls apart like a Lego set 😂, Ford, GM, Dodge! Consistently rank at the bottom of the list as most unreliable automobiles 😂, American roads and bridges? Falling apart like a Lego set 😂😂
Mi viejo hacía cortafierro de los amortiguadores de camioneta. En los 90 llegó los cortafierro de china : se quebraban con dos golpes y el de mi viejo hoy después de 30 años siguen vigentes
@@noelstephenryan4837 I certainly would not have welded up dimples in that hammer, but I would have at least ground off that nasty lip around the strike face
As someone who has worked almost 20 years in the quality control department at a steelworks testing steel samples for quality on a daily basis, I could straight away visually see with my trained eye in the first few seconds of the video, the fissures (cracking) in the head of the Chinese made hammer. They have used very low quality steel to make the hammer, which makes it very brittle.
![[UNCUT] The Loyal Pin ปิ่นภักดิ์ EP.15 (2/4)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qbHbshrA1f0/mqdefault.jpg)
I love that you restored the American hammer. It'll be good to go for another 100 years now.
"Good for another 100 years", until it needs to be refurbished again.
@@chrisgraham2904 That thing can last forever
Just for grins and giggles, I would have cold blued the hammer. It protects from corrosion and looks good too. Hundred years, keep it away from it's worst enemy, corrosion, ittle las a millennia!
@@jeffstormI was thinking hot bluing or case hardening. Regardless, it is a product of wise metallurgical. 😊
Polishing up an old tool does not a restoration make.
Besides the faces weren't beveled at the edges to prevent chipping.
It's not even an American made hammer anyways, this is not an American pattern sledge hammer with a wedge hang oval eye.
This is a typical eastern European pattern sledge hammer with a large tapered slip fit eye ( think of a tomahawk or pickaxe where the head just slides on from the bottom)
I do not believe that the person running this channel is in the US, because that modern hammer shaped object is not an American pattern which is what the Chinese and Indian factories export to us here in the states.
It is again a European pattern.
I'm pretty sure the guy is in one of the eastern European slavik countries.
The literal definition of "They don't make em like they used to".
i wonder if they alloyed lead into their iron for more weight, hence its softer. arguably this is a type of design thinking to produce something more practical than just a block of steel. because for example, if you don't need something strong enough to stand up to 100 tons, but just need a regular, weight focused sledge, with attention paid to price point, the chinese sledge should be your first pick. to clarify my example. imagine buying a F1 formula car for driving around town to get groceries. could you really afford do that?
@@ericaugust1501well, the fact that the metal started bending at only 30 tones shows that it will wear down and bend much before the solid steel/iron hammer
@@F15EX_Eagle_II won't your arms fall off well before you could deliver anything even close to 30 tons?
That's because THEY didn't make it.
@@ericaugust1501.....whose arms? If the sledge is bought by a demolition company, its going to be used by multiple people. In which case the solid sledge is going to give you more production over a longer period of time.
Back then, the foundry's competed to make the hardest, strongest steel possible across the board. Now they compete to find the 'minimum viable product'
Mjölnir
That’s the cheap-cheap lowest bidder mentality society has gotten into.
Not even close. It a hardened chisel or drill is hit with a hardened hammer, and something is likely to shatter. Both the heads of chisels/ bits and the hammer need to be some what soft. Now strong is good, it will reduce mushrooming. US sledgehammers are made in medium and soft even today. Medium is most common, but soft is available. And if you want softer, brass is available in many designs.
I don’t think legacy hammers are any better that current US production ( say Vaughn, Eastwing, Nupla). There was certainly junk made back then if for no other reason than poorer control of their metallurgy from melting scrap.
This is survivorship bias. A million garbage hammers were made alongside some very good ones, and only the very good ones become functional antiques while the others hit the landfill.
Also I think the cheap hammer is gonna work just fine as long as you need to generate less than 40 tons of force
EXACTLY! And it seems to be the same for almost all products! Hehehe
As a Chinese (with 20+ years experience in China too), I totally appreciate the quality difference, but I would draw people's attention on this as well: I only use top quality hand tools like Snap-On or Stahlwille myself, but they are sometimes more than 50 times more expensive (sometimes even 100 times mroe) than something you can get from a budget hardware on the roadside, which will do basic jobs exactly the same. For most people, if you only need to touch your screwdriver 4 times a year to tighten some door hinges, quality doesnt mean much to you at all, but price does. You need and you want to spend your money somewhere you think more worthy, like your laptops, your phones, your clothes, etc. the good thing China's mass production these days is that it brought us this: you do have that choice, if you want to go cheap, there is an option for you. when you spend $5 on a sledgehammer like that, you will never use it, or never have an opportunity to use it in a 100 ton environment, right? you just want knock over a few old concrete blocks under your fence. In under 5 ton applications, there is no difference at all. So I see it as a win for the low quality, but the cheap product. $5-5t, or $100-100t, that is your choice, and you now have a choice, right?
他们根本不知道一分钱一分货，外贸出口的很多东西的标准是他们自己要求增加或降低，他们大多数买便宜货到欧美价格翻上几倍然后说质量不好……总想一块钱卖到十块钱的质量，不同品牌质量上会有所不同，但你会发现都是中国制造，不是工艺问题根本就是他们不愿意多花钱😂😂😂😂
Is it kind of pathetic that you all look at that old sledgehammer with such nostalgia knowing that your own country doesn't manufacture it's own stuff anymore, and even if it did it would cost 10 times more, but then you'd all be complaining about that on your way to Harbor Freight happily filling your carts with tools you all know are made in China. But I guess if you need a sledgehammer that can withstand 100 tons of pressure (none of us do), have at it and disparage that Chinese sledge all you want. But for most of you the 10 buck Pittsburgh sledge would suffice, yes?
@@TonyChance-xq5vg they probably dont know not only Harbour freight, or pittsburgh were made in China Milwaukee, Ridgid (or AEG) or Blue-Point are all made in China. What quality we make the tools with really depends on how pathetic these companies are, and how much they would spend on setting their quality standards. so it really has not much to do with "where it is made", it is about how "pathetic" those companies are, Chinese companies, or American companies, they are all the same, and exactly same rules apply.
the funny thing is that here people are laughing at made in China quality and yet 100% of the port cranes in USA now are made in China. i dont even feel like going into C/P or cognitive bias 🤣
@@liyisu i wouldnt call it pathetic unless there trying to sell it as a heavy duty tool. if someone spends 5 dollars making a hammer and they sell it for 7 dollars there not exactly trying to scam you there just selling a cheap tool for cheap uses.
That old hammer was built to a standard , where the Chinese hammer was built to a price .
Nice to see the old one back to its former glory .
They both held 100 tons…..
I would like to see a new American hammer and see if the quality is the same as it was.
@@GardenGuy1942 I think the other half of the standard is ...and maintains its shape
@@ramrod9556new American hammer - made in China, assembled in USA. $200
@@GardenGuy1942 Watch again. You call that holding shape for the Chinese hammer? Try fitting a new handle to it...can I be there when you do try.. I need some comic relief!
I really want to see more of this for two reasons:
Old American Sledgehammer vs New American Sledgehammer: To know the quality of Steel difference from back then, and what it's like now days.
New Chinese Sledgehammer vs New American Sledgehammer: To see the quality of Steel difference between modern day China and USA Steel.
I would love to see these videos and know what the differences are
Antique Chinese sledgehammer vs modern Chinese sledgehammer would also be interesting.
А что если найти старую советскую кувалду и сравнить со старой американской 🤔
There are no more American Sledgehamers nowadays... and the second thing is that the hamer today schould be flexible and not hard to not brake apart.
@@HAL-9OOO so Rust against not-yet-rust
@@FiRe-mb5zc Maybe? I don't know much about the history of Chinese tools.
I just think it would be interesting to see stuff about other cultures.
100 tons and the rust scale didnt even fall off! Glad you made a keeper out of it, Id be proud to have that in my hammer drawer.
that's a hammer Hank Hill would be proud of!
110tons
That's why the whole thing is very suspicious.
@@User0resU-1 You new to the world?
@@squidvis
New to the world of sledgehammers taking 100 tons of pressure. Wouldn't be the first faked hydraulic press or "restoration" video.
I appreciate the fit and finish of the old hammer. It looks a piece of fine craftsmanship and not just for utility. It has an artistic finish.
Young man you sure DONE that old American Hammer Justice by restoring it! IT looks like it will be Good for another 100 years
Maybe 200.
@@tomshatt5440 who know...with all the rapid technologies advancement hammers may become obsolete by then
@@bllllood General rule of law, simple tools never become obsolete, only complicated ones. Computers become obsolete, ships, engines. Hammers are fundamentally the same since literal prehistory.
The only thing that changed with hammers over all man's industrial and technological revolutions was new methods of driving the hammer, but the hammer itself is the same.
10,000 years
@@MarikHavair computers will never become obsolete.....they may be replace by more advance computers but they have become a must have in life..the amount of things they simplify is just too much to ever become obsolete...hammers on the other hand may be replace by mini-hydrolic press//3d printers...or maybe something in the futur which could potentially release a pressure wave that if aimed at something it does like a hammer..basicly same function but more efficient than an hammer....well...difficult to say what await in the futur...and something like a pressure wave could probably be adjust to move large objects as well......maybe we see it b4 dying..or not..who know
Chinese hammer is not made out of steel. Its 100% chinesium.
This one made me laugh real hard 😂😂😂
Thanks for clarifying; I always figured Chinese tools were made of cheese.😊
You beat me to it.
LOL
So true, imagine. Their tanks and air craft carriers are made of that stuff too.
Thank God for the disclaimer. I was just about to fire up my hydraulic press in my living room after seeing the thumbnail, but then the disclaimer saved me.
😂
lol
LMAO
Man, I always say "If there's a sign, there's a story". You never know😂
If you have a hydraulic press then you are probably a grown man and know what you are doing. A child is improbable to have access to one. I on the other hand have lethal machinery that can saw your hand off so much worse or burn your hand faster than you can say 'supercalifragilisticexpealidocious'.
I do have robots that like to steal your phones when you don't pay attention to make prank calls.
Bro. Cleaning up and restoring the hammer was awesome but using the press in the end to put the new handle it sold me. Awesome work
I can hear Crocodile Dundee now, "That's not a sledge hammer...This...is a sledge hammer!"
Would be pronounced "Slidge amma" in Austrailian
Club hammer
@@peterrisden1148
That's more likely Kiwi.
Aussies would call it either a 'sledgy' or a 'FBH'.
😂😂 I even read that in his voice.
@@peterrisden1148 No, I am an Aussie and it sounded nothing like that.
I would restore that hammer too. That thing was a BEAST.
It looks like something Thor would carry.
welding jacked up the heat treat
@zarthemad8386 you would need to get that entire head to at least 500 degrees to effect the temper.
@@coryminnick1256 just a guess here, but the old hammer is probably a lower carbon steel making it less brittle. I seem to recall that a mint uses low carbon steel because it’s less brittle.
All it really needed was a new handle.
Old things are always the best, strong and sturdy. 👍
Makes me proud that at least we used to make great things. Thanks for restoring that old beauty
I bet, it was made by European immigrants.
used to make is a good answer.
That's what you think, he's just doing propaganda. This is not an American and Chinese hammer, this is what he added himself. The original recording only shows the difference in quality between then and now!
@@zvonetomjst Getting grumpy in your old age.
Don’t kid yourself, America still makes some of the best things on the planet. Cheers from Australia 🇦🇺
7:17 that Hydraulic press really just went "you have proven yourself, now, I shall lend you my aid"
That hammer was worthy
Mjolnir 🗣️ 🔥
Now do old USA sledgehammer vs new USA sledgehammer.
And a new US hammer vs a old Chinese hammer
Yup very interested to see the difference.
They don't make anything in USA anymore.... Trump 2024 and they might start again
@@bestprice1776 HAHAHAH but how many dreamers are there in these written opinions, Trump DID NOT BRING BACK ANY COMPANY OF ANY KIND TO YANKEELAND IN HIS FIRST PERIOD and you think that "now yes" he will do it hahahah, deluded
There might be a US made hammer, but 95% chance it uses Chinese steel.
Still garbage, just finished nicer. All steel today is trash. Sad, but the great makers got driven bankrupt by cheap foreign imports.
Appreciate that you cleaned it up after. Gotta make sure it’s not the rust that made to so strong
New Chinese hammer: "Stop, please make it stop!" American vintage hammer: "Heh, that tickled."
If only modern America was as good, really fell off
@@SinfullyHerathe founding stock of America should be the only people with political rights. Everyone else should be low wage peasants.
Looked like the old American hammer actually left a very shallow divot in the bottom plate of the press?
Well, most modern American hammers are made the same way Chinese hammers are made. I see this is a case of forged steel versus cast steel. There are many videos showing old European made tools outperform modern American ones.
There are good tools being made today, but it's fun to pick a cheap one for a YT video.
@@supremegreaser2399 A lot of Chinese steel refineries have closed down recently. The metal is very cheaply made and bends super easy. A lot of homes they reinforced with the metal are also falling apart.
That Hammer had seen some heavy usage for the ends to have mushroomed out. Definitely an heirloom tool worth saving.
It would have been better served leaving it as-is and just replacing the handle. That wasn't rust, that was its history.
@@rcrawford42 Yeah no, this isn't a one of a kind painting meant to be observed in it's original form, it is a tool that deserves to be treated well and actually used instead of wasting away on some shelf in a hoarder house.
@@CorrectsYou I agree with you.
I’m of the belief that unless the object in question is one of a kind, then it should be used.
Hammers like that, while old, are still just hammers and as such should be used as such.
a softer metal passes more of the force to the target.
A harder metal bounces back, wasting energy.
They dont need to be good at resisting crush, that dosnt show quality.
@@hindugoat2302 Use of softer materials for hammering is based on application, not transfer of force which has diminishing returns.
This demonstration would indicate to me durability or the lack of due to the newer one being poorly and quickly made. The older hammer is deformed as you can clearly see so it isn't harder than it needs to be, but it was made to last not just be cheap enough to be bought again and again. The newer one has so many pits I can't help but wonder if it's porous.
So cute... It seems to me that the sledgehammer even cried with happiness .. Thank you for restoring this good tool!!!
It was not crying ! It was laughing at the sucker who bought the Chinese sledge ! 😂😂
🙄
I purchased a small sledgehammer about 15 years ago at a thrift store. Made in Brazil. Wonderful product.
It took 100 tons of pressure like it was nothing. This thing has earned its right to be restored
Thank you so much for restoring that hammer. Beautiful.
It didn't need restored. It only needed a new handle to go smash things for the next 125 years.
Shame that it was allowed to get in that condition. I have had my sledge hammer for over 40 years. It does not look like that. Tools do not have to that condition, if you care for them, and store them properly. None of my tools are rusty.
@@katieandkevinsears7724 well you can't put lipstick on a pig without stretching her out a little.
It is sad to say that the grinder used was probably made in China
Really hard to find USA made stuff anymore.... @@RiverRat1953
Im 76 yrs old I have my grandfather's 10 lb sledgehammer. Don't know what all else he used it for but he had only a wood furnace in his house and used the sledgehammer with a splitting wedge to split his firewood. Then my dad had it for years before it passed to me. I too had only wood heat so used the sledgehammer and grandfather's same splitting wedge. Several years ago I did have to replace the handle. Even though I kept the the head of the splitting wedge free of flared edges sadly it broke in half a few years ago. Can't imagine how many thousands of big hits it took.
I also still use his two hand planes. One metal with a wooden handle one all wood, except of course the blade and blade clamp. I make big log benches and use the 100+ year old hand planes to shape and smoothen the surfaces. Both still have the original blades.
I have inherited old tools and love their durability. My old tire iron that my great grandfather had made and welded decades ago was far superior than anything that was made more recently that often broke or bent when used. I was quite upset when my vehicle was stolen and never recovered and lost that superior piece of steel.
Weld it
plane
I have two Soviet sledgehammers, I don't know how old they are, but they are definitely over 70. One is about the same size as the hammer in the video, the other is much bigger. But unfortunately, I don't think about restoring them.
I have a 10-pound Plvme sledgehammer that belonged to my granddad. It has been used and abused since about 1920 and still has its original shape, handle and even some original paint. I refaced it some year ago to retore it's striking profile and it is still the best sledgehammer I own. I've made it my business to only buy and use American made tools. As granddad told me when I was about 10, "you can buy a good tool once or you can buy a cheap tool over and over. They are always worth the extra money". This old hammer is definitely worth restoring. 100 tons under a press and it didn't deform, that's American quality.
I use to buy cheap stuff not anymore. I've learned my lesson. Buy American support your neighbors in employment. Keep jobs in America. I've paid up to 7 times more in price.
My favorite place to buy American made tools is at antique stores.
PLOMB ( changed their name to PROTO in the 40's ) made great tools.
Their hammers are not particularly common though because they had legal troubles and were forced to stop making them 2 different times.
There was PLOMB who mostly made mechanics tools, and PLUMB who made axes and hammers going back to the 1870's.
They sued because the name was so similar and the court ruled that PLOMB could keep their name as long as they stayed in their lane and stopped making hammers.
That was around 1921 I believe, at some point they started making hammers again getting into more legal trouble and eventually decided to just change their name to PROTO.
I agree!
Better to spend a dime once, rather than a nickel four times.
It seems the old American hammer was made of cheap cast iron, with high hardness but might also high brittleness. The modern Chinese hammer is made of high quality steel which is lower in hardness, but less in brittleness.
The high hardness usually has the trade off of a high brittleness, in iron-steel materials.
The modern hand hammer has the hardness high enough for general usage with less chance to crack. It deformed at around 30 tons pressure, much higher than a person can provide, and well behaved by deformation without crack when the load was over 100 tons. This performance might be designed by modern standard for safety concerns.
A professional review
Wow, and it got the treatment it deserved. The restoration was so awesome!
So freaking satisfying to see them restore the old hammer! I was literally thinking how cool I'd be to do that, and then they did!
@@DMBLaan yeah
I wish he didn’t weld on it though… hardened tool steel doesn’t like that.
Who are they? I saw him working alone on it. Did I miss something?
I recently replaced a A/C condenser Fan Motor, it was new A/C unit since 1989 when the house is built. It is still running great except it has a loosen set screw; therefore, I replaced it with a new. The old one is Made in USA by G.E. Yes, the Fan motor still running after 35 years. The quality of America Made products are amazing.
I worked at the GE plant in Springfield, Missouri in 1974. We turned out thousands of these motors per week. No more, now there are no American made motors.
When you can find genuine US made products, buy them. I always do. Too much low-ball foreign made crap in our stores.
@@caseyj.1332 Very sad but thank you for making such a quality product. By the way, the inside unit - the Blower Motor still blowing hot/cold air after 35 + year. 👍
@@pimpompoom93726 Totally agreed. Another great example is look at all the "old" IBM mainframe machines, how can back to those days, IBM can design and built something that is so amazing which can integrate and run for generations and generations.
I'm 68 years old. My wife has an old American made Sunbeam toaster. I opened it up once to clean it and inside it was dated Feb. 1956. It's older than me, and we still use it. 😊
Thank you so much for making that high quality hammer as flashy as new again, I feel so happy for that hammer.
That a sledge hammer to be proud of, even gets approval after a cat scan,
Nice
I want to comment on the transformation. Nice rescue! Makes me think differently now when I see old tools sitting in the corner of an old barn or garage. That is truly an example of a "buy it once" tool.
probably why they stopped making them like that. because they realized that people stopped buying them
@@Lambda_Ovine It's totally unnecessary too. We as humans can exert maybe 1 ton of force maximum. considering the fatigue limit, 20 tons in strength is enough. And the cheap Chinese sledgehammer went above 30 tons.
Great job restoring this piece of American industrial might. Cat approved!
I think you removed too much material. All that patina and history is now gone 😢
@@djham2916🦌
Great restoration job! 💪⚒👍
American industry dead and Cat is good for eat now.
Yet Americans can't produce anything anymore, haha
SOLD...next sledgehammer I need... will go find an old one with a broken handle out in a field or something... then refurbish it myself! 😊
That refinished head is a piece of art. Beautiful.
thats what she said
probably can't do that to the one made of potmetal from china while the american one will last for 100 years or more
@@doughboysnerdly2745 I’d think she’d prefer UNfinished. Me too, tho 2b clear in my case vintage, ‘rusty gold’ tools only 😀
looked like he put the handle on the wrong side lol
Plot twist: the hydraulic press was made in china.
That is worst in the worst for Chinese team
😂
Just like the Dragon type, China's weakness is China
so????? the argument here is??? they eat themselfve?? ajajajaja
😂😂😂😂
I don't think the Chinese hammer was forged. Just cast metal.
..drop and forget..
With a lot of inclusions in the cast. Probably not a solid piece of pot metal
so it's not even matching like with like.
@abrogard142 no. I'd much rather see a high-quality modern hammer than watch something we know will fail, fail
@@absolutez3r019 If you need a quality made hammer, go to an professional tool dealer were the craftsmen purchase their tools. It cost a little more than a super duper bargain hammer at Aldi´s for $2,99.
I own an old sledgehammer it belongs to my grandfather, its made in abt 1910. Even the shaft were still original , made of oak.
Awesome. That’s exactly why I prefer older tools. I’ve gotten many at yard or estate sales for basically nothing and showed them some love.
I never thought I myself, “I want to see a video of a new vs old sledgehammer test. And after that test I want to see that old hammer brought back to its glory”. And I really never thought I’d see myself saying I want one even though I have no use for it. Good video. TH-cam knows what I need to see even when I don’t know.
Thor wants his hammer back.
The Chinese one looked like Thor's short hammer after it was pressed! LOL
Adamericanium.
Thorsen hammer is norwegian
Mjolnir wouldn't stand a chance againts that one.
That's not Tors hammer he used a sledgehammer from Hultafors-Bruk/mill.
Considering the flaring on the older sledgehammer, the guys using years ago must have been pretty tough. Even the 100 ton press didn’t affect it.
My thoughts exactly! Someone knew that hammer at a personal level
The guy was working on the Chain Gang breaking rocks.
A million hits will do that
They start out soft. The more you use them the harder they become. When you hear the term hardened steel it means it has been hammered to make it more durable. You are compressing the molecules that form the metal making it denser.
@@MrLoserpatrol
WRONG.
'Hardening' steel is a process of heating it (to around 800-900C), holding it at that temp then quickly quenching (cooling) it in oil or water.
8:21 boss comes to check on your progress, seems pleased!
Buy America. I have so many tools from 1890-1970 that have outlasted every new tool I've purchased.
And today, dare I say, most American companies get their shit produced in China and sell it as American to turn a buck. And it breaks way faster, which means that you'd have to buy it again, giving them more money.
Even today it doesn't matter if it's made in the USA the steel used is supplied from overseas.
@wolfeman79 buying American means steel would be part of buy all American products.
There should be a show like “Forged in Fire” but they make handcrafted tools (other than knives) instead and still test them to see which ones are functional and reliable.
Where's my fkn comment? i swear i replied first. Pretty much the same thing as wolferam
Wow. Keep it taken care of and I’ll bet that’d last literally thousands of years.
First half went about as expected. The second half truly warmed my soul. Thank you for giving that poor old thing the love it deserved.
To be fair a used hammer will get harder by usage a brand new will be softer repetitive striking will pack the molecules, its the same with rock drills,they are way stronger after several 1000 meters than new.
Wasnt expecting the bonus footage of the old sledgehammer being restored. That was nice.
Wife "He's probably in there watching Instagram models."
Me:.....
Beautiful restoration.
Kinda the same... this made me hotter than those models.
A wise man has one wife but many tools in his garage
😂
@@IkarosVonVoidweird
Me: Yes, I am.
Thank you for the care you put in on this wonderful restoration of a piece of our industrial history.I see your little pal approved as well!
Dude I thought you were gonna end it with that but then you restored the antique to it's prime, how awesome of you to do that
You'd be surprised how well sturdy vintage tools and machines are usually rough cosmetically but usually will still operate
I can respect that! Love seeing something old restored to new life instead of just being tossed out.
Does the USA still make hammers? If so, test an American hammer from 2024 vs a Chinese from a 100 years ago.
Actually we do. Supposedly Warwood Tools makes some premium worktools.
Also do a test of a Chinese 2024 hammer vs an 100-year old Chinese hammer.
….The cheapest US made sledge hammer
fair enough
In Cina 100 anni fa vivevano con una ciotola di riso al giorno. I martelli se li sarebbero mangiati
When I was a kid I found an old axe head around a 200 year old house with a metal detector. Put in on a normal axe handle. Worked fantastic. Didn't bother to even clean it up.
0:38 thanks for hitting them together, i needet that 😂👍
You did that hammer justice son. Tell your cat I said spspspsps
Cat saw that hammer and immediately had to come over and give mad spspspspsps
Hooray! Let's hear it for the old boys! Shout out to our steel cities Bethlehem, Pittsburg, Birmingham, Cleveland,Toledo, Buffalo, Detroit, Gary, USA
My dad used to work for Bethlehem Steel way back in the day.
Chicago had plenty of foundries along the lake and the river back in the day as well.
We have an H now lol
Cool video - well done on refinishing old American forged steel hammer. Beautiful ❤
It is almost a sacred task to take a properly forged steel tool and give it a new life instead of tossing it onto the scrap heap. More people should be hunting out and preserving these amazing artifacts from a time that people made good things and were proud of them.
Or you know... Just make good tools again instead of exporting the manufacturing to the cheapest country.
Too bad he welded on that beautiful old hardened steel…
Was watching this with my son and I said “look, 100 tons and it didnt flinch” He said “Thats because it was made out of freedom.” 😂 ❤ 🇺🇸
A guaranteed successful career in the deep state.
Indoctrinated much
Weird i was just watching this with my dad *the president* an he said the same thing! before he pooped himself
Tells me everything about you. @Skipper.17
@@JamesJames-li2wv That's okay, the last couple wear diapers.
3:18 so THATS where Mjolnir was hiding!
Hil thor🎉😂
Ha!😂
I was going to say the same.
@@lylawaters6345 👍🍳🥒
Dude, I didn't expect this to be a Hydraulic press and Restoration video at the same time. This is pure ASMR
The Chinese one is all primed up now, got all the air out of it .😂 now it should work fine lol.
Perfect example of the saying "They don't make them like they used to"!!
Its more like "they took our jobs"
Enshittening on full display
1:05 bro rocked breaking his hand with that
Yeah I was expecting him to wear a glove or something
Very nice GEM there! Great job! 100 ton tested!
2:57 plastic deformation
That's paint...
It's definitely paint on the outside of the hammer, dude.
Plastic deformation is when a material's shape or size permanently changes due to an applied force, such as bending, compression, torsion, or tensile stress. The deformation remains even after the force is removed.
@@corydunaway I see the paint, I'm not talking about it.
@corydunaway Shut up when Engineers are talking!
As a novice blacksmith, my favorite hammers are the old ones I’ve snagged from antique stores. I wouldn’t grind and polish one unless it’s really deformed, but I’ve had to put new handles on a couple… old American tools were built to last. Hopefully again someday. Lots of Chinese stuff IS useful and affordable, and I’m thankful for the availability, but the quality of the antique American stuff was amazing.
Partially because they're not being used for anything that matters, like building a railway system across the country. This is like comparing a decorative weapon to one used to kill people. Either it works, or it doesn't. And the "doesn't" category is not an option since that means your project, your factory that made it, or YOU cease to exist.
@@CodeguruX I mean love, let's be real here, Chinese tools have built high speed rail, roads, and robotics all over the world
@@Vespyr_ um ok brahhhhhh
The reason we study materials science is to figure out what is enough so that we can make it enough without over-specifying to be safe. So this argument is kind of dumb. A hand tool never needs to withstand 100 tons of force. We as humans can't exert anything over 1 ton. From the metal fatigue standpoint, you only need the strength to be 20x of the maximum cyclic load. In this case, 20 tons is sufficient for its purpose
@@frankyan9189what argument did I make?
Sorry for the downer comment, but: That was an excessive level of restoration. Sure, clean it up a bit, remove the curled over edges, and of course a new handle. But you've gone and removed all the character it's developed in its 100 years. The beauty. The patina.
And by welding the pits, you've most likely weakened it significantly. It'll be a high carbon steel, which doesn't take kindly to welding except with very special processes and is now likely to initiate cracking.
I've got an old one like that in my garage, BTW.
Blah blah
@@michaelburbank2276 Yeah, it sucks when someone knows what they're talking about doesn't it? ;-)
Very doubtful that head is 'high carbon steel'. This is not a ball peen hammer, toughness is far more important than hardness for a sledge. It's probably .4-.5 carbon max and the welding spot was only mass quenched, not quenched with water or anything like that. No martensite formed, not brittle. But if you're concerned, you can always run a torch over it after welding to stress relieve it, or preheat it prior to welding to prolong the cooldown interval.
@@pimpompoom93726 >>>> "Very doubtful that head is 'high carbon steel'."
Yeah I don't know man. I'm pretty sure most, if not all, sledge hammers are forgings made from 4000 series steel which implies a high carbon steel. But, it did come from China, so without actually testing it, who _knows_ what they actually used. ;-)
@@MikeInExile 'AISI 4000 Series Steel; Ferrous Metal; Low Alloy Steel; Medium Carbon Steel' from ASM. They note .28-.33 on the carbon which is even lower than I suspected, but they do have high Chrome and relatively high Moly and Manganese. It seems they are looking for toughness, not hardness with that carbon level and alloying levels? I worked in Heat Treat many decades ago, we used to consider anything .7 and above as 'high carbon'.
I love how you revitalized that ....sweeeet!!!
The ol' hammer will last another 100 years.
Maybe even 200.
A more equivalent comparison would be comparing the 100 year old American made hammer to a present day American made hammer. I’m guessing it looks very similar to the Chinese one in this video. Steel is recycled so much these days that pretty much any products of the same category are not gonna be as strong as it was when made 100 years ago. Also, do the same thing with the Chinese product. If you can get your hands on a 100 year old sledge hammer.
Can pretty much guarantee the Chinese was casted and the American was forged.
i dont think its a matter of alloying and more of matter of heat treatment of the steel. Modern hammer maker dont have any economic incentive to go extra mile with heat treatment cause it added cost. For manufacturer a hammer that can withstand 40 ton is good enough for human use
Sadly there is no more 100% American made hammer these days
That old sledgehammer looks good enough to display at an art museum now!
1:57 if the hydraulic press could talk, it would just say “I GIVE UP TRYING WITH THIS ONE”
Great job. And to wrap it up, I'd consider spiking in a few steel wedges on the top side of the handle to properly set the handle securely into the sledge head. Yes, I know you used the hydraulic press to jam the handle in, but wedges are how you expand the tip of the handle so that should the wood dry and shrink a bit, that the handle is still securely mounted in the sledge head. But regardless, great job on restoring that sledgehammer. Looks wonderful!
What you describe is for ax, hatchet, or small hammers handles because they are inserted in the opposite direction. Hoe, pick, and sledge handles do not require wedging.
@@thehoneybadger8089 Some do eventually. I use aluminium wedges on the sides instead of splitting/weakening the handle.
@@thehoneybadger8089 all my vintage sledgehammers have factory wedges in them, I just did a new handle on one a couple of days ago for my nephew to use on the farm he is working on
Hello from the UK....l was wondering the same thing and yours is the first comment to say it. And l find that the handle of today do not last long either. l have a small lump hammer l bought a new handle,fitted it, used it a couple of time and it broke and split down the middle.
@@thehoneybadger8089 I was wondering that as I watched.... I've never redone the handle on a sledge but I figured it was the same process as an axe handle and this guy in the video didn't do it "proper".
What an absolutely beautiful job restoring that hammer!
To be fair, he showed at the beginning that the chinese one was still perfectly capable of breaking rocks and stuff. I'd like to know the weights of both hammers, since there's a pretty good chance that the modern one is made purposefully less dense so that it's lighter and less tiring to swing. That would make it more actually useful as long as you don't swing it with more than, yknow, 30 tons of force or so
you can also observe the chinese one is not flat on the sides which would be more efficient to break even surfaces or objects but not to stand this kind of pressure since it would focus all the pressure in a single point instead of distributing the weight throught the whole body.
I'm curious as to how the Chinese Hammer would perform after performing several million hits and being work hardened like the used Hammer, we can clearly see it deformed over time in the beginning
@@jro2020I've never heard of "work hardening" just imagine the chinesium hammer being deformed 10 times worse
@@bert3241 so you admit that you're unqualified to answer the question but you want to put your two cents in anyway. Interesting.
@@bert3241Google work hardening in metallurgy.
Labor of love! Nice job on the restoration.
I also would have had to clean that up after seeing it take 100 tons. It would probably be my favourite hammer.
It’s just metal, it should be recycled. You must love global warming.
@@GardenGuy1942 Please explain how cleaning it up and using it is not recycling it. You must love straw men.
@@GardenGuy1942 It was recycled. Restored for another 100 years. The Chinese one should be melted down though.
@@GardenGuy194260 IQ.
@@GardenGuy1942 You realize in order to recycle metal you have to heat it and expend carbon - and a lot of it - into the atmosphere right? Sanding it down and adding a new handle is the lowest emission way to recycle that hammer possible. If anyone here loves Global warming it'd be you.
That’s a damn fine hammer. It’s good for another 100 years.
Lol but China 🇨🇳 know how to make DC politicians working as lapdogs for them . Nowadays even Biden’s brain still made in China 😂😂😂
it'll be the only thing left to dig up by aliens after we have all gone. and they'd know we were a fine race.
Thanks for doing the press test. It saved me a lot of time and trouble.
That old hammer has been beat on so many times it's cold forged now!
The american hammer is not only better but has been work hardened over the years 😊
That was exactly my thought.
@@simon-oy6um it's not an American made hammer, it's a European pattern with a slip fit eye.
The new one hasn’t been tempered from decades and generations of use.
It probably still wouldn’t compare, but an advantage is an advantage.
Metallurgy. A science/engineering thing. Literally, American metal (more specifically, our ore and processing) is better.
@@raychilcote5558
But this hamer isn't American.
It looks great, but that hammer just needed a new handle and to be put back to work. The age was what made it look so awesome.
Absolutely. It's history was erased. 😢
@@Lordlovaduck Not to mention putting a weld on it actually takes some of the hardness out of it.
Exactly! It's a sledgehammer not a piece of jewelry.
Agreed, the patina is what gave it character.
I disagree. Hammer is new now .
Married a woman from Peru. Her sisters husband, “my new brother in law” asked me, why would we sell our steel company, U.S. makes the best steel in the world? I didn’t have an hr to explain
German and Japanese steel is better.
hahaha, german steel, english steel, spanish steel just in Europe, japanese steel too, c mon, dude, dont be naive, your "new brother in law" just want to be kind with you XD
Sweet!
@@anonanon7235 they will make you what you ask for but it will cost you.
Swedish steel historically has been made from Norway iron which is the purest iron ore on the planet. Many countries mentioned in above comments all make excellent steel including the USA. Canada and Poland are also worthy steel producers but Sweden takes the prize.
That restoration was amazing. Respect ✌
Plot twist .. the Chinese Hammer is the 2024 American hammer
They probably don’t even make a 2024 American hammer
That’s what I was thinking. How would a modern American Made hammer do vs Chinese made ?
Lol fair
@@Yestopeace365 Worse, probably. They'd have to cut corners more due to higher labor costs.
@@Yestopeace365 Well since america doesn't forge steel anymore, it would probably be no different from the chinese one.
However, a much more interested question for everyone who watches this video is: do the two hammers actually perform ANY differently?
Its a big solid piece of steel used to bludgeon other solid objects.
Its not a forging hammer its a sledge hammer. Theres also the consideration of how much energy is transferred to the arm.
Rigidity isn't always desired in all cases. Sometimes plastique deformation is preferable. If you've ever seen the video of that chinese guy showing off his bulletproof bike helmets, thats a good example of undesirable energy transfer. You don't WANT a bulletproof bike helmet. You want the helmet to absorb (through plastique deformation) and divert the energy away, not transfer it to your skull.
Similar for a bullet, you don't want a solid piece of steel, that will pass right through and not deliver all of the energy to the target. You want a softer metal to splay out, and not fully pass through, to deliver ALL of the energy to the target.
For a sledge hammer, you want to direct energy to the thing being struck, with as little as possible being repulsed (like bouncing) or redirected back to the wielder.
So you might not WANT a spring temper forged steel hammer when striking other very strong objects. Thats more than likely to bounce when striking something of similar strength. When a hammer bounces like that, instead of energy being delivered, that energy is actually repulsed and redirected back into the shaft.
Its not an intuitive thing to consider. But if you were to swing a sledge hammer 500 times a day, the energy transfer back into the shaft is a serious concern, and so is the safety concern of a bouncing hammer head.
Another way to think about it is a vehicle's crumple zone. Crumple zones exist to protect humans when the car strikes an immovable object.
If you as a human use a sledge hammer to try to destroy the forged armor an M1 Abram's tank, you are DRASTICALLY hopeless in that endeavor.
If your sledge hammer is spring temper forged steel, it will simply bounce. Most of the energy will be repulsed and redirected into you.
For that chinese hammer (a perfectly good hammer) the softer steel will plastiquely deform somewhat like a crumple zone. Also, more of the hammerhead will end up striking the tank's armor, delivering more energy (like the lead bullet does)
Thank you for listening to my TED Talk for why you don't actually want a spring temper forged steel sledge hammer.
American steel used to mean something. It's a real shame we just don't produce like we used to.
It didn't mean jack. He's comparing a forged vs cast hammer. A modern forged hammer would be just as strong if not stronger.
Typical clickbait video
That’s because most production got outsourced to countries like China where they do it cheaper. Result is the products get worse while companies line their pockets.
@@gamesguy it’s not clickbait because that IS an American made hammer from the 1900s vs a modern one made in China. Obviously the difference is entirely in material quality, but that’s kinda the point. The reason people get turned off when they see “made in China” isn’t because that country’s products are simply inferior, it’s because that means the material and assembly standards are lower so you it probably won’t be very good.
@@Nesto_ it is entirely clickbait because like most people, you have zero clue about manufacturing or hammers.
Steel has grades, he intentionally picked an old forged hammer to compare to a cheap modern cast hammer. A modern higher quality forged hammer from China would be just as strong if not stronger than that old hammer.
Chinese factories make some of the highest quality goods in the world. IF you're willing to pay for it. The problem is American companies often tell the Chinese manufacturer they want the lowest possible price - which naturally results in the lowest quality product.
You simply have no clue about the topic beyond the usual HURR CHINA BAD memes.
@@gamesguy You're making a lot of assumptions and you're pretty far off the mark, I suspect you know less about this topic than you think you do. You may have even not read my comment.
No, Chinese factories do not make some of the highest quality goods in the world; they manufacture a majority of components, both good and bad, some of which are used in or entirely comprise high quality goods which are assembled elsewhere. There is a pretty big difference because if a product is assembled in China for international shipping it is typically made to a laxer standard with less regulation and international customers have no legal recourse if the product is faulty.
Meanwhile if for example you buy a Volkswagen, even though a majority of its components are likely manufactured in China the car itself is assembled by a German company and so it adheres to EU standards. As a citizen of the western world there are legal actions you can take if such a product is faulty or misleadingly advertised. None of this applies to Chinese made products.
Yes I know about steel grades, hence why I mentioned material quality. However when it comes to Chinese assembled products there is no guarantee of quality regardless of price or what it says on the website because, once again, the company is liable to nothing as long as it adheres to Chinese laws. If you buy a fairly expensive hammer that says it's made of high-grade tool steel, you might find out down the line that it was a sham product that got taken off the site and now there is nothing you can do about the fact you just got scammed. It's an entirely different thing when it comes to products assembled in the west because (due to legal responsibilities) companies have to make sure that their components fit the standards of the countries they operate in, so as a part of their assembly line they have to already have vetted and tested those parts or YOU CAN SUE THEM FOR NEGLEGANCE.
Now lets get into why all of this is the way it is. All of these parts are manufactured in China because labor is extremely cheap there, so they could sell them for cheaper meaning western manufacturers couldn't compete. Why is labor so much cheaper in China? Effective slavery, worker and child exploitation, as well as those lax regulations I mentioned earlier. Even high quality parts made there are often the result of somebody getting screwed, but in the current state of the economy it's not like there's a way to avoid funding this shit as an individual.
Your cat approved the beautiful restoration, that hammer is so though that it deserves another life.
Two factors at play - material and shape.
1) Probably different materials. Suspect much higher carbon content on the old one. Therefore would expect it to survive better under compression, but to be much worse under tension.
2) Curved face means more force over a smaller area when it is being compressed.
Conclusion: requires further control testing for the type of metal and the shape.
I am keeping the memories of the work done with mine, but the refinishing looks awesome!
The old hammer was like "...what this? This is nothing! Should've seen the guys using me to build a bridge...that curled my edges some...but this? Before breakfast!!!"
Nope. Not true! Hammers are not sentient so, therefore, the hammer said nothing at all.
@@xavierphillips2581 So are some people but here we are...
@@xavierphillips2581 #HammerLivesMatter
Fine Chinese workmanship at it’s finest! Is it any wonder the Three Gorges Dam is slowly failing? I am from the upper Ohio Valley below Pittsburgh and when those mills were in operation it was glorious to drive from Steubenville, OH to Wheeling, West Virginia at night. Better than a fireworks display and making real steel!
Last few polls I have seen…. over 80% of Americans won’t pay more than 10% for American made vs. imported
What most people don’t get?
Is it is mostly US multinationals making the lion share of those profits inflating the trade deficit between China to the USA
Where Chinese companies mostly trade with their Belt and Road country partners these days
These US multinationals are the ones sending you that junk
These US multinationals are still using the same highly polluting labour intensive factories formula.
As they were using more and more illegal labour, smuggled in from South East Asia in their wholly owned factories in China
Or more and more automation in their wholly owned factories in China these days
These are the same companies who got those trump Corporate tax cuts you for sure cheered about
Same companies based in China who derived 392 billion in sales of their goods and services into those Chinese domestic markets in 2018 when trump started his trade war
Same companies averaging 20% to 40% of their earnings from China whose high flying stocks are in your 401k/Pensions
Same companies who the American farmer and consumer were sacrificed. So the USA could try and get “more” or “better” access for the US multinationals, into those Chinese Domestic markets during the trade war
Same companies whose HQ is in a North American city you can easily go stand outside and protest at….
Why didn’t China pull the nuclear trade option and boot these US companies you might ask?
For one, it would crash the US Economy
And the Chinese don’t believe in a zero-sum game type of thinking
As I can show you during the trade war.
China didn’t pull out their big trade weapons, in fact they were lowering tariffs to most countries not raising them
👇
Trump’s ‘trade war’ with China won’t be so easy to win
Having learned these value chain lessons, Beijing has worked hard to bring more of the high-value-adding parts of value chains into China, and to build hi-tech industries in which it can establish a globally competitive position.
China has successfully done this in areas like high-speed trains (CRRC), digital telecoms networks (Huawei), drones (DJI) and hi-tech batteries (BYD).
Trump’s team is not wrong to be worried about China’s competitive emergence here, and to target these new-tech sectors in the latest trade war sortie.
But here’s the problem: China exports almost none of these new-tech products to the US, making US tariff threats meaningless. Rather, they go to developing economy markets - many embraced by the Belt and Road initiative - where China has succeeded in building a hi-tech, high-value brand reputation.
As Trump’s team will quickly learn, the challenge of finding China’s pain points is bigger than expected: for a decade China’s priority has been to base growth on the domestic consumer economy and reduce reliance on the low-value-adding export processing industries (many of which are US- or Hong Kong-owned and concentrated in the Pearl River Delta)
SCMP
My Chinese chopsticks broke eating rice.
@@spitfirenutspitfirenut4835
That’s because you have been cheeeep basturds in the past
Now in 2024 you say you want to pay 30% or 40% more for the sheet you buy
Yeah right
👇
Americans want U.S. goods, but not willing to pay more: Reuters/Ipsos poll
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday found 70 percent of Americans think it is “very important” or “somewhat important” to buy U.S.-made products.
Despite that sentiment, 37 percent said they would refuse to pay more for U.S.-made goods versus imports. Twenty six percent said they would only pay up to 5 percent more to buy American, and 21 percent capped the premium at 10 percent.
Reuters
@@DylanF.B Yeah, I know, Heil Chairman Xi, emperor of China.
There’re are no prove that the dam is failing lol. Not in the slightest even in the most brutal conditions of its location. Now, let’s talk about the fine American made marvels: Boeing! Crashing one plane at a time 😂, DR Horton and many other fine American home builders: build like American sloppy joes, falls apart like a Lego set 😂, Ford, GM, Dodge! Consistently rank at the bottom of the list as most unreliable automobiles 😂, American roads and bridges? Falling apart like a Lego set 😂😂
Mi viejo hacía cortafierro de los amortiguadores de camioneta. En los 90 llegó los cortafierro de china : se quebraban con dos golpes y el de mi viejo hoy después de 30 años siguen vigentes
Bet that was a Yard Sale American Sledge.
You got rid of the lovely patina. I am proud to use my antique tools.
Totally agree, I would have only changed the handle.
@@noelstephenryan4837 I certainly would not have welded up dimples in that hammer, but I would have at least ground off that nasty lip around the strike face
I would have just acid treated the rust and used it as is. But it looks nice all shined up too.
yeah some wd40 and sanding would've been enough this just wiped it's identity
As someone who has worked almost 20 years in the quality control department at a steelworks testing steel samples for quality on a daily basis, I could straight away visually see with my trained eye in the first few seconds of the video, the fissures (cracking) in the head of the Chinese made hammer. They have used very low quality steel to make the hammer, which makes it very brittle.
Brittle? Did you watch the video?
@@admiraljosh yes, and the only cracking I saw, was the paint.
If it was brittle, it would have shattered.
The Chinese hammer was soft as butter lol
It was the black paint that cracked
Visually see with your eyes? How else do you see and what else would you use?
The hydraulic press actually improved the Chinese product