Back in March we announced a new product from Pierson Workholding – the Speed Hammer. The Speed Hammer is a combination speed handle and hammer/mallet. Most of us are familiar with their proven Pallet Retention System, but we greeted their new arrival with some skepticism. As we reported, the Speed Hammer is primarily constructed from 6061 Aluminum with UHMW faces (also known as unbreakable plastic). Was this tool a brilliant design or a design dud? We received the product and immediately put it to the test.
With any new product that the industry has never seen, widespread acceptance takes years to gain. For example, it took Haas Automation over a decade of producing vertical machining centers until they gained the unanimous stamp of approval by the manufacturing industry. They were often badmouthed by others swearing by older, slower and less advanced machines. Haas has since had the last laugh by becoming the largest domestic machine tool manufacturer.
But let’s get back to the review…
One of our first concerns that the industry might balk at was the choice of using aluminum as a vise handle. Would it endure the wear and tear of torquing down a vise? This was quickly dispelled because all speed handles are made out of aluminum and none of us think twice about that. Plus the handle is short enough where you couldn’t put enough stress on the handle to break or bend it. The beefy design allowed us to put extra “two-handed” torque on the vise when needed… something the thin spokes of a traditional speed handle couldn’t tolerate.
Pierson also reminded us that the Speed Hammer isn’t designed to replace a cast iron vise handle for all applications… just 90% of them. That’s because 90% of most parts manufactured today are small enough to fit in a 6″ vise – sometimes two parts per vise. This is where the Speed Hammer shines. The Speed Hammer is best on aluminum, plastic, brass and other small parts. It is the perfect weight and balance for tapping down this genre of parts. The entire handle has a shotpeen textured grip for a secure hold even when wet with coolant. We had no problems with the UHMW faces in any way. After a few good whacks on some sharp corners we did manage to get the faces to dent. But honestly we can’t think of any soft material that wouldn’t have a few dings after our punishing blows.
Another concern was the fact that the Speed Handle is not a dead-blow mallet. Dead-blow hammers contain lead, sand or other weighted materials to dampen the rebound from a strike and transfer the striking energy completely to the object being struck. Yes the Speed Hammer will bounce on hard strikes, but again that is not what it is designed for. Smaller parts do not require strikes that would crush the skull of idiotic drivers on L.A. freeways. Instead, to properly seat small parts only requires a few taps with finesse. If your idea of tapping down parts brings up images of Bubba the Neanderthal clubbing his dinner to death, just stick to your regular tools.
Overall performance was superb. The broached hex properly sized and is “easy-on, easy-off” with all makes of 6 and 8 inch vises. The faces are durable and soft enough to not blemish parts. It’s design is comfortable and balanced in the hand. The Speed Hammer is a product that we are not sending back to Pierson. This one stays in the shop. Using a vise just wouldn’t be the same without it… believe us, we’ve tried. Whenever we switched to machines without a Speed Hammer we caught ourselves nearly starting to tap down parts with the old cast iron handle that came with the vise!
The Speed Hammer should be in every machinist’s tool tray. As mentioned at the beginning, this product has overwhelmingly proven it’s worth to us. But as we’ve seen with other brilliant products, we predict that the industry may not embrace it as fast as it should. Shame on all those sheep-like followers in the industry! How many years will people waste monkeying around with clunky vise handles and heavy mallets? Do yourself a favor… be an industry leader and buy a couple TODAY! Plus, as of this review it is currently on sale for $39.95 directly through the Pierson Workholding website.
