That doesn’t make it the sleekest-looking framing hammer the world has ever seen. But as we have experienced before, don’t judge a book by its cover.

Kenny’s life around power tools started early. His grandfather was an airplane mechanic in WW2 and took up woodworking as a hobby after retiring from the power industry. Building everything from bookshelves to lazy Susans, he became extremely accomplished while his young grandson observed, fascinated at the way raw wood could turn into something both beautiful and functional. In fact, Kenny still uses several pieces that his grandfather made more than 30 years ago.

100 Years of a Genuine American Icon

In an ideal world, we’d be able to forge an entire hammer around whatever core we wanted. However, that’s not the case. Estwing has a few possibilities here: design a removable face to insert the shot to the core, go in through the top, or go in through the claw. The Estwing AL-Pro Framing Hammer uses a rear insert method, given away by the fastener location.

It’s the perfect trade off between a timber handle which is lighter but fragile and a titanium which is very pricey. And, of course, every premium framing hammer should have a magnetic nail starter. You’ll get one on this model that works well in this class.

Hitting the Nail on the Head

As far as missing features go, some Pros prefer a side nail puller but the AL-Pro doesn’t have one. That’s far from being a deal-breaker. A Shot in the Dark? We hear a lot about titanium with Stiletto framing hammers and the power to weight ratio they offer. It certainly pretty incredible. But as nice as those hammers are, even with their poly fiberglass handles, one of our favorites is still the Powerstrike Framing Hammer. Like the Powerstrike, Estwing opts for aluminum. This is much the same rationale as the bicycle industry – aluminum offers high strength and lighter weight than steel, though steel has better vibration dampening properties in general. Thanks to the forging process and the alloy Estwing goes with, it’s claiming to be even lighter than titanium. That’s not a claim we can validate since titanium hammers go with a different material for the handle. Estwing’s aluminum, however, makes up both the handle and head. If this is the first expensive hammer you have considered, do not try to justify it, a paslode is far superior, this hammer is for those who appreciate the finer joys of building. It’s the equivalent of a businessman having a premium pen to sign off with.