More from JLC

Pry Bars
Some bars are bred for wrecking, scraping, demolishing, stripping, razing, and smashing (my favorite part of construction), which some now call 'deconstruction.' Others are born with a gentler side, excelling at salvaging, de-nailing, pulling, lifting, and dismantling. While you may lump all these tasks into an all-encompassing 'Demolition' line item on a budget, in reality there are many very specific tasks to tackle when tearing into a building. And when you start talking about the tools best suited for the mission, the list looks endless: wrecking bars, pry bars, crowbars, pinch bars, ripping bars, flat bars, demolition bars. Some are aggressive, while others are gentle; some are crude, others are precise. Grabbing the right tool can mean the difference between frustration and success, extraction or destruction.
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First Test: The New Nail Bangers
Tools of the Trade rounded up nine waffle-faced framing hammers from around the globe and put them out on a Colorado jobsite with 15 framers, lead by regular contributor Michael Davis, to see how they'd stack up. Here's what we learned, in order of increasing appreciation.
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