Hammer Hints

Although “Tooling Up: A Rookie’s Guide on What to Buy” didn’t originate locally, things can’t be significantly different from coast to coast regarding tools. In the paragraph on the hammer the author cautions the reader to buy a cast rather than forged tool.

Checking the local hardware stores, all the Stanley hammers and their other quality lines are forged. A look at the Sears catalogue shows nothing but forged tools in the Craftsman line. Only in the 99 cent junk bin can I find cast hammers.

Since when did a power drill get a “nose piece?” That thing that grips the bit is a chuck, often a “Jacobs Chuck” after the inventor. And, for the tyro, the article addresses, a one-quarter inch “nose piece” is just fine.

S.F. HARKINS

Palos Verdes Estates

Editor’s note: The letter writers are correct: Forged-steel claw hammers are safer than cast types. Varkonyi reports that the information on hammers was transposed in the article.