ARC-ZONE .COM 500g Chipping Hammer w/CoolHand Spring Steel Handle

A good chipping hammer for welding. This is a pretty straightforward item, you want it to be the right weight and comfort of grip along with toughness to allow you to wail on welds that use flux to chip it off. This one does everything as advertised -- I smacked it on a bunch of flux MIG welds and some stick arc welds and it did great, without any sign that I have even used it yet. I think this will be with me for as long as I am welding.

So I needed a slag hammer so I order this one. It's a basic hammer, there's nothing really special about it excepts that it's inexpensive. It works exactly like it's supposed to. So if you need an inexpensive slag hammer this one is as good as any.My star ratings are generally:5 stars = exceeds expectations, highly recommended4 stars = meets expectations3 stars = does not meet my expectations but you could like it2 stars = I do not recommend1 star = wow, completely useless

First off, I will admit that I'm very new to stick welding, and my technique is far from perfect. I also realize that I'm probably making several mistakes, and some of them may be making the slag on my welds harder to remove. That said, I had a hard time removing slag with this hammer, and I don't think it was all just my technique.As I understand it, after running a bead, you should be able to remove most of the slag by running the pointed end along the bead in a scraping manner, or at most lightly tap at it. When I look at other pictures of chipping hammers, they come to a pretty sharp point (sometimes very sharp) that can break up the crusted on slag. However, the tip of this hammer is very rounded (see photo), and when I tried to run it up and down the bead it just seemed to slide right over. Even light tapping didn't do much. However, often times after failing with the chipping hammer, I found that I could remove it with just my wire brush alone, which seems rather strange.I also felt like it was hard to keep a firm grip on the hammer. When I held onto the coiled end, the hammer felt like it was flopping around a bit, so I'd have to grab it much higher up.So, again, I'm very new to this all, and doubtless some of this is my inexperience. Still, I feel like this tool is less effective than it should be, and I can't really recommend it.

• Style, brand and version:-Brand: Arc-Zone-Style: 500g Dual-Head Chipping Hammer•Overall Impression:-This is an excellent value for the style, quality and make of the hammer.-The hammer is very well made, heavy duty and in a nice finish that should hold up very well.-It has a spring surrounded handle with a heavy spring on it.-It has a pointed and flat chisel style end, it’s dual sided.• What’s Included:-1 hammer with a spring surrounded handle (dual sided, 1 pointed side, 1 flat chisel side)• Size:-Weight: 500 g (grams) or 1.10 lb (pounds)• Pros-what I liked and what worked well:-Great value for the style, quality and finish.-Heavy duty, well made.-500 grams or 1.10 pound weight, hefty not light weight.-Dual sided (a pointed and chiseled side).-Spring surrounded handle with a heavy duty spring.-Nice finish that should hold up well.-Has a good grip, feel and weight in the hand. Easy to grip and easy to hold and use.-Has a hanging loop (metal) on the handle.-Good long length, not a short hammer.• Cons-what I didn’t like and what didn’t work well:-No issues.• Tips & Thoughts:-No work gloves are included, you may want to use your own during use.-No eye protection is included, you may want to add your own during use for safety.

I lost my slag hammer somewhere in a move to a different state, so I have been making do without it when I stick weld (aka grind everything). I saw this one and gave it a try. I was worried it would be soft metal and I would basically beat the crap out it the first use, but it did well taking off the slag debris. The handle works as expected to keep the impact out of your hand and the tips took the abuse I expected them to.Overall, a very serviceable slag hammer.