I was using the wrong hammer on my granite sample for months

I was trying to get a fresh surface on a piece of Barre granite in my garage, using a regular claw hammer and getting nowhere but frustrated. The tip-off was when a chip flew off and hit my safety glasses, and I saw the hammer head had actually dented. What's the right type of hammer for hard igneous rocks like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

lisak2624d ago

Okay, the part about the hammer head denting really hits home. I used to grab whatever hammer was closest for rock stuff too. Seeing that happen would totally change my mind. For granite that hard, you need a mason's hammer or a geology pick. They have a much harder head, usually with a square face on one side for breaking. A regular claw hammer's steel is too soft and it's the wrong shape. It'll just bounce off or get wrecked, like you found out.

milestaylor24d ago

Watched my buddy try to split a slab of flagstone with his dad's old framing hammer last summer. He gave it one good swing and the face of the hammer just folded over like a cheap spoon. Totally mushroomed. @lisak26 is right about the steel being too soft. He ended up borrowing a proper mason's hammer from a neighbor, and the difference was night and day. That thing actually bit into the rock instead of bouncing. It taught both of us a hard lesson about using the right tool.

black.val15d ago

Yeah, that "folded over like a cheap spoon" feeling is too real lol. I once tried to use a rubber mallet for everything, which went about as well as you'd expect.