Chipping Hammer, Obsolete??

[kolot]

My son is in the trade school and for whatever reason the subject of chipping hammers came up, I guess he said he had to get it out of his box or something and the teacher then said if you show up on a job with a chipping hammer instead of a scaling gun they will laugh at you. I'm getting older and I know the guns are nice until you work for the cheap dirt shop guys I worked for who had a little or no compressor that wasn't piped throughout the shop. Or you get out in the middle of nowhere and the compressor quits. I guess she, I said she, was actually serious about not needing or bothering with a hammer at all anymore. Am I that old or that far behind times that a kid in school needs a needle gun in his first 3 months of school. How do you guys feel about throwing away your hammers?

[MarkBall2]

Nope, use mine every time I weld. Course I use flux-core & learned with an antique stick machine on the farm. Just have to let the weld cool & tap-tap-tap, the slag comes right off.

Now I haven't used that many different kinds of rods, so YMMV.

[JC'sWelding]

Mine is a hammer/brush. I use it all the time. But with the 7014, it peels off by it's self, then I just brush it. All the welds get hit with a power brush anyway before paint. He needs his hammer.

[Boostinjdm]

we used rakes made from old saw blades for 7018 with the idea that you didn't need a hammer to clean a good weld. at work I always had the scaler handy in the shop, but when I had to go outside and weld from a manlift or something, the hammer went with.

[Craig in Denver]

The guy in class just uses the sharp edge of a triangular file.

[duaneb55]

. . .and a mechanic doesn't need his tools anymore - just a laptop.:rolleyes:

[ddog]

I use mine all the time....I do have a scale gun but not always the most best choice...and people must still use them cuz mine always gets stolen at job sites......maybe cuz I don't use cheap ones I only use "ATLAS" tomahawks.?????

[Sandy]

I've seen where some guys have flailed away at the welded area like a madman after a cockroach. Chips and dings 3 inches from the bead, gouges and dents in the bead cuzz they whacked away at it while it was still glowing. Maybe some guys shouldn't have one. :)

[Boostinjdm]

I've seen where some guys have flailed away at the welded area like a madman after a cockroach. Chips and dings 3 inches from the bead, gouges and dents in the bead cuzz they whacked away at it while it was still glowing. Maybe some guys shouldn't have one. :)


That's a good point

[tanglediver]

I have a rock pick as well. They make way bigger dings! :laugh:

[Kangi]

Gotta have the chipping hammer, and a hand brush. Lo tech and old school but I think they are necessary in the welder's tool box.

[BNF]

I couldn't imagine not having a chipping hammer in my bucket. Now granted it sure is nice when things are cooking, the slags peeling off on its own and all is needed is a brush to go on to the next bead, BUT that's not always the case with me. :laugh:

[kolot]

Maybe you guys didn't pick up on my sarcasm, I want to know what kind of welder the teacher was without a need for a pick, seems to me a great talent being wasted if she never needed a pick and frowns on anyone who uses one. Guess I remain, and always will be , a caveman.

[ddog]

well I must ba a caveman too!.....unga bunga binga banga....I even got geico......lol

[DesertRider33]

Huh???
I use the chipping hammer every day...

[iwannaweld]

Maybe you guys didn't pick up on my sarcasm, I want to know what kind of welder the teacher was without a need for a pick, seems to me a great talent being wasted if she never needed a pick and frowns on anyone who uses one. Guess I remain, and always will be , a caveman.

LOL Beats me, I love my chipping hammer! I've used scaling guns occasionally, in the shop or with a large trailer with welder/generaters and a good compressor - mostly cleaning thick muck off before welding, once or twice cleaning stubborn slag off a non-critical weld (wear bar) on not-exactly-clean metal. One of the other students one time got handed a full face mask respirator and a scaling gun to clean the paint off a new bucket that needed wear plate welded on before being put in service. I've been told they're good for peening before also, don't know for sure.

In my husband's Navy days he kicked a welder off his deck for using a scaling gun to take the slag off a still-glowing weld and called his Captain, who took one look and agreed the weld needed cutting out and re-doing because of the underlaying damage caused by the scaling gun. Not going to take a chance on a failed weld on a 230 foot boat!!

I wonder if she was taking the old "work smarter, not harder" saying and going overboard trying to equalize the playing field so to speak because she's not strong enough to clean her own welds without an air tool?

Almost sounds like the type of woman that is why I can't get hired on out here in the middle of nowhere.

Ruth

PS. Hey kolot, my husband's been called a sarcastic caveman before, doesn't bother me in the slightest!!!

[gizzardgutz]

While I have used a scaling gun, pneumatic chipping hammer or whatever you want to call it, in comparison to my little hand held chipping hammer, I've used the pneumatic hammer probably less than 1% to the real chipping hammer. I'd even go so far as to say the lady has never welded out in the field, just nice clean fab shops. Probably had a helper clean the slag off the floor after HE cleaned the weld and before SHE would weld any further. :laugh:

[NOMADMAD]

personally i like it when the slag comes off on its own when you have it at just the right temp but its not always perfect and you need to get your hammer out and take care of it the good old fashion way. at my last command you would have trouble with ndt and they would call a lot of excessive dings from a scaler undercut and you would have to go back and fix everything with a burr. just better to not use them i think and stick to the chiping hammers and makeshift saw combs. just my opinion.
dave

[B.Appel]

I use a chipping hammer and a dollar store brush. Cleans up really well and if I mess up and the slag gets stuck i hit it with the cup brush.

Our instructors supplied us with hammers and brushes.

[specter]

"the teacher then said if you show up on a job with a chipping hammer instead of a scaling gun they will laugh at you."

Well I have been a welder since 1956. I have heard alot of stuff but this is a new one.

I don't have a pneumatic scaler or pneumatic chipping hammer! Come to think of it I have never seen either of those at my LWS here in FL or up in NY. All I have seen is chipping hammers with brushes, brushes, wheel brushes, and cup brushes for power tools. Even the 2009 Airgas Metal Working Products Resource Guide does sell list pneumatic scaler or pneumatic chipping hammers.

Perhaps that instructor has slag on the brain and chipping hammer to break it off.

[minner]

Maybe you guys didn't pick up on my sarcasm, I want to know what kind of welder the teacher was without a need for a pick, seems to me a great talent being wasted if she never needed a pick and frowns on anyone who uses one. Guess I remain, and always will be , a caveman.

Those who can, do............and those who can't, teach......holds true about 90% of the time.

[Felonyass Monk]

Poppycock I say:nono:,like rock and roll the chipping hammer is here to stay:waving:
Felon

[Supe]

How would his teacher know that your son would get laughed off a job site with a chipping hammer? She's obviously never actually worked on one himself...

[john.mooretech]

being a teacher and a fabricator i can't say that i've ever heard this before. we use chipping hammers, files and brushes at our school, but that's what's also still being used in our locale. might be different depending on what region your in but like the others have stated, i'd like to see the jobs that would laugh you off for using a chipping hammer!

it's crap like that that make the rest of us instructors that can still do, but love to teach, get a bad rap!
john

[Xtreme Fabrication]

(shakes head) WTF is this teacher smoking. That has to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard. I used a chipping hammer daily. I guess I must be a poor boy welder cause I don't have a scaler.

[lugweld]

She probably buys a new handbag and shoes every week too...(Sorry ladies..) What's her welding helmet collection look like?:dizzy:


Following trends becomes fashionable in every occupation...Yet, as with every trend, some things never go out of style. The chipping hammer and wire brush are here to stay. Its sort of like having a black suit...There's always going to be a wedding or a funeral.

There are a lot of teachers that can do...Particularly in the vocational field. Many are retired or stepping out of the vocations because of family reasons, health reasons or simply for benefits. But never rule out the ones that really take pride in their profession and want to see it passed on to capable hands. Are there any duds? Sure, but they don't last. Tech teachers are performance oriented...So are tech schools...If they don't see their students capably taught and in jobs soon after graduation, the instructors hit the road.

The local tech school here sends a guarantee with every degree and diploma awarded. If the student isn't fully capable of handling the job that they were trained in, by the determination of their employer or prospective employer, the tech school retrains them for free until they are. Doesn't sound like instructors that can't do... to me.

[schwinn68]

I don't use a chipping hammer nor have I seen one on a jobsite before. I did use them back in highschool welding where we didn't know any better. All we use on the job are files or sawblades and either hand or power brushes. IMO the file works better than a chipping hammer and leaves a nice defined edge on the weld instead of a bunch of dots all over the place.

[Sparky#1]

I'm taking a stick welding class now and a wire brush and chipping hammer were required and a grinder with wire wheel is optional.:)

[z0diac]

I always use my chipping hammer. Not just for slag but for beating corners and other parts of metal into submission at times :) But it's always in my portable toolbox along with my grinding discs, earplugs, glasses, etc, etc..

I DO like to use a wire brush on a grinder after chipping though, for some applications. But I always use my chipping hammer.

[mb_welder]

In the vessel shop, we always used air chisels. They work like a hot damn and leave chipping hammers in the dust, but we never got hassled about having or using a chipping hammer. To clean the caps of the welds up, we'd use a pipefitter and wire wheel.

[tresi]

Never buy more tools than you have to in school. Why have big $$$ tied up in a needle scaler only to end up landing a job MIG welding 14 ga sheet metal. Even with stick welding there is going to be many jobs that using a needle scaler just won't be allowed. Chipping hammers have been around 90 or so years and will be around another 90 or more years.

[MikeD74T]

She probably buys a new handbag and shoes every week too...(Sorry ladies..) What's her welding helmet collection look like?:dizzy:


Following trends becomes fashionable in every occupation...Yet, as with every trend, some things never go out of style. The chipping hammer and wire brush are here to stay. Its sort of like having a black suit...There's always going to be a wedding or a funeral.

There are a lot of teachers that can do...Particularly in the vocational field. Many are retired or stepping out of the vocations because of family reasons, health reasons or simply for benefits. But never rule out the ones that really take pride in their profession and want to see it passed on to capable hands. Are there any duds? Sure, but they don't last. Tech teachers are performance oriented...So are tech schools...If they don't see their students capably taught and in jobs soon after graduation, the instructors hit the road.

The local tech school here sends a guarantee with every degree and diploma awarded. If the student isn't fully capable of handling the job that they were trained in, by the determination of their employer or prospective employer, the tech school retrains them for free until they are. Doesn't sound like instructors that can't do... to me.

I have faith in the majority of tech school teachers but the line about retraining sounds like every cheap gimmick advertized on tv -money back if not completely satisfied. They're not training them for free, they were already paid. Some instructors can't do and never did !! While they might not last they shortchanged every student assigned to their class, and the student doesn't always get the second chance to learn it right. MikeD74T

[David R]

"You would have to pry my cold dead fingers away from my slag hammer" :)

[Ken Dennis]

This is just like the question that was asked after the introduction of nail guns for use in construction!

Since the first day, way back in mans history, when someone had tied a rock to a stick and called it a hammer, to todays most complicated designs in hamerability, has any hand held hammer ever become obsolete, other than the ever changing materials in use to make them?
No!
Take a trip into mans future, go 1000 years from now, and I would bet that you will still find hand held hammers in use, or some variation of it anyway!

But then again, in a thousand years from now, someone would probably have invented materials that would weld themselves together, and construct themselves by command.
Just think of it, smart metal.
Sort of like a weldors nightmare version of a replicator.

I think I have been watching too many Sci Fi movies lately! :alien: :dizzy: :D

[lugweld]

Some teachers may not be able to teach, true, but that is the exception to the rule. I see the issue as some students don't, won't, can't learn the same as others and sometimes additional/ longer training is necessary to reach a certain skill level than a defined program can provide.

I don't see it as a gimmick about the guarantee. It helps people with job placement. The confidence that perspective employers have in a schools ability to properly educate someone is a critical factor in getting hired. It adds to the credibility of the school over time and gives a easier route to employment. Tech schools track grads and local trends to be able to offer the best available programs of study. Periodically, they will delete programs where demand is low or future of employment is in doubt and replace it with training in jobs that are in high demand or have higher pay rates. Occasionally someone falls through the cracks educationally, or may be on the tail end of a program that is about to be done away with. The guarantee covers both if job placement or performance comes into question.

[ol' Stick Guy]

We use scalers and pneumatic chippers all the time on heavy weldments but nothing can touch a beautiful chipping hammer on pipe or rail Estwing makes a gorgeous one, almost as nice as a blacksmith forged hammer.
As for hitting metal with a file... WTF.. is this the way welders are being trained, if my A-Man caught me using a wrench for a hammer or a file as a chippper I would have been doing the coffee run for months.

[mn welder]

ive seen attachments that use a brush on a sawz all looks pretty neat

[El_Lloydeo]

We use scalers and pneumatic chippers all the time on heavy weldments but nothing can touch a beautiful chipping hammer on pipe or rail Estwing makes a gorgeous one, almost as nice as a blacksmith forged hammer.
As for hitting metal with a file... WTF.. is this the way welders are being trained, if my A-Man caught me using a wrench for a hammer or a file as a chippper I would have been doing the coffee run for months.

estwing chipping hammers.....are there any other brands worth buying? i have a couple of them, one looks like it is some sort of rock pick. kinda like the hammer from shawshank redemption. but my other one is a chipping hammer. man if you prep them nice and sharp they tear slag up! like my grandpa used to say "thats nice, everybody should have 9-10 of them" except he was kidding. the only brand of chipping hammer i will ever buy.

[JTMcC]

There's a big broad welding world out there.
In the fields I work in, if a hand pulled out a chipping hammer he'd get some funny looks and be politely told to put that thing away.
Grinders with wire wheels predominate on all pipe work we do, on the rare occasion we weld junk iron with corners that can't be reached with a power brush it's needle gun time.
Time is money, repairs are big money. If I had guys burning 40-50 lb of rod per day on hard money work in a 100% xray or UT environment and trying to clean them with a chipping hammer I'd have visions of bags of hundred dollar bills going up in smoke. Only it wouldn't be a vision it'd be real money out of my pocket.
Chipping hammers haven't been in common use in our type of work for a couple of decades.
Your field may differ.

JTMcC.

[smokin_dodge]

i carry 4 things in my toolbox at all times.
1. Mig Pliers
2. Chipping Hammer
3. Welding Hood
4. Right angle grinder

i have found that im often fully prepared when i go to a job with just those 4 tools (i borrow my buddies bobcat miller on a trailer oxy/ac mig/ and stick, very nice welder. but then again im mostly putting pipe fence together.

and yeah, that teacher is smokin somethin....

[Ironmower]

being a teacher and a fabricator i can't say that i've ever heard this before. we use chipping hammers, files and brushes at our school, but that's what's also still being used in our locale. might be different depending on what region your in but like the others have stated, i'd like to see the jobs that would laugh you off for using a chipping hammer!

it's crap like that that make the rest of us instructors that can still do, but love to teach, get a bad rap!
johnGood to here!!! There is still hope, My teacher in high school said, YOU CAN'T WELD!............ He thought different after one of his "daily" naps, And his doors was welded shut!!!!!

[wirehunt]

Needle guns should be band!!! Noisy ****s of thing's, I used one ONCE and only once.

Saw blades and wire wheels are all I ever use.

Tell that boy's teacher she's full of it.

[ddog]

Picture is work 1,000 words lol

[iwannaweld]

I remember that poster ddog! That and the one that said something about "watch your arc" i.e. don't blind your classmates were on the door to the college welding shop.
:cool2:

[ironman715]

I see chipping hammers all the time. It seems only the hard *** companies that want 1,001 beads instead of the 1,000 beads a day that get pissy if you don't use their needle gun. I have been known to use and air chisel from time to time but I can't stand the stupid needle guns. Honestly I can go just as fast with my chipping hammer, wire brush and a grinder with a disc and wheel at ready hand as any clown with a needle gun. We had a guy down the at CT Science center in Hartford get booted because he was baking the welds and exceeding the inner pass temps because he was blasting off the slag with the needle gun and going right back at it with the .068 NR232 wire. So yeah this chic is drinking the cool aid over there at that tech school.

'Mike

[ol' Stick Guy]

There's a big broad welding world out there.
In the fields I work in, if a hand pulled out a chipping hammer he'd get some funny looks and be politely told to put that thing away.
Grinders with wire wheels predominate on all pipe work we do, on the rare occasion we weld junk iron with corners that can't be reached with a power brush it's needle gun time.
Time is money, repairs are big money. If I had guys burning 40-50 lb of rod per day on hard money work in a 100% xray or UT environment and trying to clean them with a chipping hammer I'd have visions of bags of hundred dollar bills going up in smoke. Only it wouldn't be a vision it'd be real money out of my pocket.
Chipping hammers haven't been in common use in our type of work for a couple of decades.
Your field may differ.

JTMcC.

If your guys were burning 50 lbs or more of electrodes/consumables with proper pre-heat and using air guns continuously wouldn't you be concerned with work hardening and peening in inclusions.

[clive]

Another compressed air line that you can drop hot sparks on and spring leaks all over the thing..

[JTMcC]

If your guys were burning 50 lbs or more of electrodes/consumables with proper pre-heat and using air guns continuously wouldn't you be concerned with work hardening and peening in inclusions.

No.

JTMcC

[David R]

I just bought an IR needle scaler or power chipper or what ever you want to call it. I run a lot of 7018 and a little tap is all it takes to get the slag to fall off. I most always have a grinder with a wire wheel handy when I am working. Too early to say if it will help or not. I do not run 6010. I am running more NR232 but it seems to be the same as 7018. If I do my part, the slag just falls off.

My chipping handle is always shiny, so I must use it a lot.

David :)

[Jolly Roger]

Maybe you guys didn't pick up on my sarcasm, I want to know what kind of welder the teacher was without a need for a pick, seems to me a great talent being wasted if she never needed a pick and frowns on anyone who uses one. Guess I remain, and always will be , a caveman.

She has probably never worked a day in her life as a welder would be my guess. I met the worlds best welder once. She told me so. Didn't have a clue what code 9 G6 meant, lol. She was a mig welder in a door and burglar bar factory. Couldn't understand why I got paid twice as much an hour to weld pipe, lol.

I guess I am just old but I have 4 chipping hammers in the same drawer with the needle scaler, air chipping hammer, air chisel and manual wire brush. Sometimes the powered stuff just can't get the job done.

[5quarter]

yup old skewl hammer

tink tink brush..... lay another stringer