I have a Stanley dead blow hammer that's about 7 years old. Went to use it yesterday, and noticed it was kind of chalky looking. I thought, no big deal. I was using it to hammer a lid on a plastic Home Depot type bucket. Here's the result.......... after the first wack Nothing but the hammer got screwed up
I have a snap-on hammer that it happened to also years ago. I still have it in the tool box and one of these days I will get around to getting it warrantied. I think mine may of been prolonged sun/uv exposure. I would frequently forget and leave it on boats/jetski's in the service yard when I was a mechanic.
I worked in a jet engine shop once where that happened to a guy and it wound up costing a complete engine dis-assembly to make sure there were no pieces left down in there. That afternoon the boss made everyone in the shop take all dead blow hammers out of the building and take them home.
I had a pair of matco hammers do the same thing... one was full of shot and went in the trash... the other was similar to the OP's and I pulled the rest of the plastic off and now use it as a regular hammer. Most plastics get brittle as they age, not really any way to prevent failures of this type. UV and/or heat exposure accelerate the damage.
i should clear it up and not give snap on a bad rap. i have 1 snap on dead blow that did that, the other 3 are fine.
My Snap-On did the same thing but after somewhere around 10 years use. Will they still warranty them? One reason I quit buying Snap-On, I was having a terrible time getting them to warranty anything.
no, i don't think i did but you got me thinking. that one is close to my painting supplies and paint booth and the other three are on the other end in the main shop area. Fumes maybe? or i could very well have thinner or other paint crap on my hands when i use it over in that section, so maybe it does get wiped down with thinner.
I almost went to Google Maps to find out where Nunya is (OP's "locations") but then I said it out loud in it's entirety. Very good...I'm still chuckling
My 25 yr.old snap on ball peen did that about a month ago. It broke into 5 pieces, it was my 8oz. My 16oz is just fine. Lee
I had this happen to my older Snap-on dead blow hammer (the old orange hard plastic ones) My dealer gave me warranty and it has been updated to a new style (they are red and a different matterial) that wont do this.
All my black handled Snap On screwdrivers seemed to be emitting an 'oily' substance, right out of the hard black plastic handles! Then I noticed one of them had 3 cracks. When I inspected it, wiping the oil from it, the cracks opened up and the handle came apart in chunks. Local Snap On dealer is a dork, wouldn't warranty them as "some previous Snap On man sold them, not me." It was with great restraint I didn't get physical. Calmed down, sent an Email to Snap On in Kenosha. A gent there said "Send all of the damaged tools to me, and I will warranty them; but you'll have to pay postage." I agreed, and boxed them up; I followed his instructions to the letter, flagging the box and each individual tool with a card with my name, addy, phone# and email#. A month went by, heard nothing. Finally, I called. I was put in touch with him, and he said he'd been on vacation. My tools were to be sent presently. I thanked him, and 4 days later they arrived...Brand new style, (red & gray handles, more 'ergonomic' than my old favorites) One screwdriver was not replaced, they don't mfr it any longer. (It was an early Chevy/GMC valve-adjustment screwdriver: large #3 shank and handle, 7" overall length, blade type.) That was O.K., they paid shipping back to me, and the gent included a note that said if I had any more, just contact him and they would be warrantied. Good thing, as I have 4 more! They start with 'oil' leaking out, then cracks appear. Then chunks! My Snap-On dead blow also broke, but I didn't take the trouble to send it. (heavy)
Just noticed the other day, mine has the same chalky look. Will throw it out. Thanks for the warning.
I had one of the cheap ones do that and sling bb's all over but I thought it was just because it was a cheap one off one of those tool sale things that show up in town a couple of times a year.
I've had 2 of those green dead blow hammers for over 20 years and one of them finally did shatter about 4 years ago. Since they were in different parts of the shop the one with the most use was the one that went south. I'm wondering if they experience some sort of "WORK HARDENING" over time. Both hammers have shown signs of that chalky surface. Frank
This^^^^^ My Snap-Ons did the same thing. They replaced them but one of them is beginning to go south again. Got to figure I got my moneys worth out of them by now as they are 30 yrs from original purchase. Not going to bug my guy about them this time.
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