Tuning Up a $4 Harbor Freight Hammer

In my weekly maker newsletter, I have frequently talked about buying lots of pencils, rulers, scissors, and other relatively inexpensive go-to tools and keeping them stashed around the shop (and home). But this commonly-used tool saturation is not practical for more expensive tools. Or is it?

Pocket83 bought some $3.99 Harbor Freight rip hammers to keep throughout his shop. Before he put them into service, he spent some time “tuning” them up. He rounded off the hard edges of handle and heads, sanded and re-finished the handles, reinforced the eye hole (where the hammer and handle are attached), and added rubber grips using recycled inner tubes.