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Air Hammers

welndmn

welndmn

Well Done Man
Joined
May 21, 2020
Member Number
1008
Messages
776
Loc
Concord, CA
What do you use for an air hammer?
I have the upcoming need to remove a ton of Ford rivits from suspension and figure I'd treat myself to an new air hammer.
Right now I have some Husky brand air hammer that really is pretty gutless.
I see them all over Amazon from $30 to $400, I think my price point would be $100.
From looking at the specs on the websites too, how do I know if they are good? I don't see an impact force listed, just travel and beats per minute.
 
I have a regular not fancy Ingersoll Rand air hammer. Ill have to look at it tonight after work for the model number. I just used it for the exact job you are referencing. I had to remove 12 rivets from the front of my F250.

I added the quick release snout and bought a different set of chisels for it. The chisels that came with it were a bit soft for my liking and started to wear quicker than I liked. I picked up this set from ATD and after doing those 12 rivets, they show exactly 0 wear.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...h_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=91812054244-20
 
When I removed some rivets off the front suspension of my 1994 Explorer frame, I tried a air hammer at first. Then I got out the old cutting torch and cut the heads off, then knocked out the rivets with a punch and big fucking hammer. Took about 15 minutes to remove both shock/coil mount brackets. I put bolts in the holes that needed to retain the engine cross member.
 
As much as I hate expensive tools the snach on hammer is hard to beat. Never was a air hammer guy till I bought that one. Fucker his hard, hard enough imo to shear a rivit head clean off.
 
I use a snap on Ph3050 for a long time now. I bet it's at least 15 years old and makes guys brand new air hammers look like junk. Ford frame rivets, riveted in ball joints, hell I remove pressed in ball joints with it.
 
I went out to the garage and grabbed the part number off mine. Ingersoll Rand 121, Hits your budget right on the nose. I have the kit, which for $10 over the bare tool is up to you. I store mine in the case and on a shelf so I like having it. If your going to keep it in a toolbox pass on the kit, buy the tool only and a set of chisels separate.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004XOT7/ref=twister_B07WHM3DY9?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&tag=91812054244-20

https://www.ingersollrand.com/en-la/power-tools/products/air-hammers/121-super-duty.html
 
BDK said:
When I removed some rivets off the front suspension of my 1994 Explorer frame, I tried a air hammer at first. Then I got out the old cutting torch and cut the heads off, then knocked out the rivets with a punch and big fucking hammer. Took about 15 minutes to remove both shock/coil mount brackets. I put bolts in the holes that needed to retain the engine cross member.
Click to expand...

Then your air hammer sucked. Not that a torch isn't handy as hell, but a good air hammer is very impressive.

They're one of those tools where a good one is a huge amount different than a cheapo. I never knew this untill I worked next to an older guy who did front end and brake work exclusively. He had a boy howdy air gun and you could straight cut fairly quickly through 3/16 brackets.
 
basically any long barrel .401 shank hammer is comparable
Mine's a CP that was 40 bucks at a garage sale

what you want for removing rivets without grinding, torching or drilling the heads of is either a chipping hammer or a full-on rivet buster
If buying a chipping hammer, look for the hex shank ones, they're much nicer when running flat chisels
you can usually find them for under 100 bucks on ebay

I happened upon my IR9000 rivet buster for 10 bucks, and after owning one, without a second thought they're worth the $500 they go for used. The hammer alone in that thing just about weighs what a whole muffler gun weighs.
One big downside is that they will kill you if you don't wear a face shield and full welding leathers though.
After having to dig chunks of steel out of my hand I learned that lesson real well.
 
[486 said:
;n98719]what you want for removing rivets without grinding, torching or drilling the heads of is either a chipping hammer or a full-on rivet buster
If buying a chipping hammer, look for the hex shank ones, they're much nicer when running flat chisels
you can usually find them for under 100 bucks on ebay

I happened upon my IR9000 rivet buster for 10 bucks, and after owning one, without a second thought they're worth the $500 they go for used. The hammer alone in that thing just about weighs what a whole muffler gun weighs.
One big downside is that they will kill you if you don't wear a face shield and full welding leathers though.
After having to dig chunks of steel out of my hand I learned that lesson real well.
Click to expand...

For home/shop compressor use, a rivet buster will probably suck down too much air to run long, but if you can supply it, they're great. A chipping hammer will run in the 20-35CFM neighborhood, which is going to be pushing your luck on a 3/8" air hose, and won't be sustainable on a 5HP compressor, you're probably around a 10HP to run that continuously, or a big tank and a 25-50% duty cycle (not that you'll want to run it continuously). Rivet buster needs 1/2" or bigger hose and will take in the 45ishCFM neighborhood to run, you probably won't want to run that continuously for more than a minute or so even if you have the compressor to keep up. I have a collection going of that range of tools (they're in among what I support for work) and they're fun briefly, but it only takes a minute or so before "fun" turns into "work".
 
ScottRS said:
Rivet buster needs 1/2" or bigger hose and will take in the 45ishCFM neighborhood to run, you probably won't want to run that continuously for more than a minute or so even if you have the compressor to keep up.
Click to expand...
I notice the newer IRs have an aluminum handle on them
Mine's all iron, and doesn't even have an o-ring in the valve, just a lapped seat
I'm pretty sure for the first few years of its life it might have been run on a boiler rather than a compressor.

ETA: I'm not even man enough to keep it steady for much more than a few whacks at a time before it is off doing its own thing to things I'd rather it not
it does however get CV axles out of nissans with the aluminum carrier bearing on the right side better than anything else I've seen
 
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[486 said:
;n99597]
I notice the newer IRs have an aluminum handle on them
Mine's all iron, and doesn't even have an o-ring in the valve, just a lapped seat
I'm pretty sure for the first few years of its life it might have been run on a boiler rather than a compressor.
Click to expand...

Most of what's out there is the same basic valve arrangement, just a sleeve in a case and the sleeve slides back and forth on whatever miniscule amount of air tool oil somebody put in years ago. No rubber seals downstream of the trigger. A CFM or two leakage in a tool that uses 45ish CFM won't be noticed. The piston is the same, no seals/rings/whatever, just sliding on a little bit of oil (hopefully). Keep it oiled, if you over-oil it, it just blows out the exhaust and makes a mess, and it'll probably live forever in occasional use. And watch the inlet pressure, if it's like most I've had apart, it's a 90-100psi tool, 150+ will beat it up and break pistons.
 
ScottRS said:
And watch the inlet pressure, if it's like most I've had apart, it's a 90-100psi tool, 150+ will beat it up and break pistons.
Click to expand...

The little $10-15 Harbor freight guns are great for when you want 200psi in a tight space.
 
ScottRS said:
No rubber seals downstream of the trigger.
Click to expand...

Nope, I'm talking even the trigger valve, just a lapped tapered seat

I kinda doubt the piston would break I mean it's just a chunk of steel, 1.125" (why are fractions hard to type) by 4"
 
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