Exactly How Powerful is a $14 Harbor Freight Air Hammer? 

If you're not used to using an air hammer, you might be thinking the quick change retainer we used on the harbor freight somehow boosted its scores? A retainer does just that, it stops the bit from coming out when you slip off something or carry the tool around. It's 3-4 ball bearings that catch the bit. When the air hammer is pressed up against and working on something it does nothing as just the bit and piston are interacting then. Now that we have this tube collar, we could actually run these without any retainer. It's simply a matter of convenience and provides no performance difference. Our SKU was 61244. So yours may die after a few months of use either way, no way for us to know yet, but at least with a 61244 you have a good chance of it making the power we show here out the box.

It's hard to believe they can make something metal with moving parts that works for that price.

Let us all send a prayer for the dyno before Big Nasty gets tested 🙏

Looking forward to seeing the Astro Pneumatic aka “big nasty” per SMA. 💪

This is actually quality content. Hard to find these days.

I look forward to all these air hammer tests!

Can't wait to see the HF Chief.

I can't offer anything other than my subscription (been subscribed since I saw you got talked about by Eric O. of SMA), but I extremely appreciate what you guys are doing and I know it is not easy (nor cheap). Keep up the great work and hope this channel reaches many more people.

Careful shopping and videos such as this allows you to have a decent enough tool collection and save a lot of money overall. I had all my tools stolen while I was away with the military, but working as a civilian mechanic meant I had to replace them as soon as I got home. Without the budget I had spent over the last 10 years accumulating tools from the big 3 tool trucks I went to Harbor Freight. It's been 10 years and I still have some of those in my box that I haven't needed to replace.

I have the HF air hammer with a quick release chuck added to it. I’ve used it to jack hammer asphalt, among other things. Still works great.

The added cost to not have to deal with that spring is worth it alone! Also with the IR, you can turn it into a needle scaler by changing out the collar.

I actually own that HF air hammer and have used it a dozen or so times and it hasn't failed me. I has worked great. I got it on sale for 9.99. You just can't beat that

Thanks for the vid! I've got an IR 122MAXX. I do not get into heavy jobs that often and I find this unit easier to finesse than the big ones. One thing I can say for sure is if you push on it hard it gets a lot more powerful. It's also more dangerous to push hard because if you slip off you can get hurt or damage some other component very quickly.

The moment you mentioned harbour freight a prada cologne commercial came on. Priceless.

I think for the 3 times I'll ever use an air hammer in my life the HF unit will do just fine, haha.

Can't wait to see the big dogs on this test and see what's what, Keep up the great work boys!

I have the Harbor Freight air hammer and it's great value. Does the job and low cost. Great for occasional home use.

German spec "gut´n´tight". Greets from a German :)

I've got a harbor freight air hammer I paid $10 for that I've been using for 14 yrs and it still works great. Not the most powerful but it was $10 well spent.

Just remember: after the second step of the tool van, it’s consensual.

Yeah, I have that air hammer and it's actually pretty decent for what it cost me at the time. It acts a bit funky sometimes, almost like the mechanism is being allowed to stroke past where it's supposed to and leak instead of applying the hammer. I'm not sure why/what would cause that, but I definitely need to try oiling it the next time I pull it out

You guys do such a wonderful job.

A quick change collar is available at Harbor Freight for around $5 and works great on these cheap little air hammers. I'd also like to see the Chief long barrel (Harbor Freight's "Big Nasty").

I got one of those HF air hammers a few years back to use at the house. I couldn't for the life of me get it to work. Would have returned it but I live 2 hours from the closest HF. Got a Matco air hammer at work and it is a beast!

I’ve got an IR and love it. I had a coworker that had an older HF air hammer and it worked for what we did, but I wouldn’t trust it at my job now. It put up good numbers for the price, but I’d have to question the durability in the long run. It may be fine, but I KNOW IR will last me (already had it almost 5 years).

Man I loved this! I am a heavy repair diesel technician. Can't wait to see you run the new hf Chief!!

You rock! Picked up a sub from me. Can’t wait to see this play out

I've been on your channel since the beginning. You guys just keep getting better and better. You will be at 100k subs before you know it. All it will take is one of the other big guys to throw a mention of you out there into the etherwebs. Excellent work dudes!

I love this channel. I love the vids. I’m really glad I found this channel.

Nice, this is the content I was waiting for!

I’d love to see some more of these. Harbor freight has a Chief Pro Long Barrel air hammer I’d love to see tested, mostly because I own one.

Neat, you used the cup idea

I'm excited to see more air hammer testing. Also from harbor freight I would like to see you guys test the two chief brand Air hammers. I have Both of them if you would want to borrow them for some testing. Only used probably a dozen times so far

I really want to see the Cornwell air hammer get after it. We use those at work and they are beasts

Can't wait to see more!

I have the I R model and I love it. Absolution love it. I have had the harbor freight ones before, that's why I went to IR.

My co-worker has the Harbor Freight Chief long barrel and that thing is crazy powerful. I've seen it outperform snap-on and matco. It's insane...

Own the IR you tested here, used it professionally as a technician for about 10 years? Recently transferred back to a technical repair position and frankly I dont want to bring my *nice* tools in. So I bought a bunch of HF tools and air tools. So far, they are working fine. Nice part if they break of fail? Im back in business for under $30 for most of it. Cheap is a quality all its own.

"German spec of gutentite" omg that killed me!

This channel is awesome!

I have that HF Air hammer. I was wondering if I was missing out and thought about upgrading, but probably not anymore.

You're doing God's work here gentlemen.

That HF hammer is more than adequate for weekend warriors. The main thing I need it for is to shake loose rust. The short stroke is useful in certain situations. I.e. the pressed in splined exhaust bolts on Honda's. The rubber exhaust hangers actually absorbs the heavier and slower hits of CP717 perfectly, making it useless.

It’s been 2 years since this video had come out and I’ve been considering an air hammer to split corroded bolt heads (that not even a fluted socket could save) in an engine bay, and pretty much every review I saw of this tool on the HF site was now 5 stars, one even mentioning this exact video and how the HF tested at 90% of the IR’s capacity

Hey, if it can knock off an early 2000's Silverado front wheel hub, it can't be THAT bad :D Seriously, though. I bought one of these for another project and while it's nowhere near top of the line, it's worked just fine for me. I'm not using it for hours on end every day. When Harbor Freight DID have the coupons, I got the price down enough that I bought the additional quick change collar and it came out to about the same price as just the hammer by itself, so I'm not complaining.

Makes sense to me. Good job.

I have the HF, paid $9.99 ... it's still in the box 🤣 Love the new series!

I’m an inside track club member and I bought this till today and spent the additional four dollars for a two year free replacement warranty so I reckon it’s gonna be all right I’m going to use it primarily for cutting bolts/nuts

Thanks for the video

You guys should definitely try out the sunex sx243. I’ve been using one for 2 years and it’s been a great budget friendly long Barrell hammer.

I have that hf gun, mine rocks

i have one of these i use it all the time for breaking rust

I'm glad you're trying these tools at the higher pressure, I don't know anybody who uses a regulator on their air tools . How about trying everything with a high flow fitting and a 1/2 inch hose. I have a sunnex long barrel air hammer that the bigger hose makes a big difference .

I have the HF one and have for years. It really is a stupidly good value for a tool that sees use once or twice a year. Got it on coupon for $10. Obviously if I needed it regularly, I would agree quickly that its value drops real fast.

Could you test SDS hammer drills in hammer only mode with this method?

3:26 I would have tested with the spring, as that's what it comes with

I had a IR air hammer once, it only lasted 3 months until it seized...been running a Matco since then hits just as hard as when I first bought it.

I have that air hammer and I have for like 5 years. biggest thing is the black sleeve loosens and itll leak air and drop the power you don't always notice but if you snug it back up it works like a charm that's probably where the bad press comes from. I didn't know how badly i needed an air hammer til I got one and I was shocked at how much I use it and how well it works. Sure there's bigger and better out there but 15 dollars for 5 years of reliable use sits right with me. I do hate the spring retainer but its small potatoes once its worn in a bit its not that bad. ( Mechanic 8 years)

Id love to see big nasty vs cp 717 vs the aircat variant

I have an older Matco air hammer that is absolutely wicked. It’s trigger is on/off so you better hold on!

I carry the HF air hammer in my concrete pump because it's cheap and disposable. They sell a quick connect for the bits in store, a coworker swears the quick connect robs power from the hammer. He prefers the spring.

Could you test the Milwaukee M12 Palm Nailer on this thing? Lol. I know it’s not an air hammer, but it can basically function as one.

I have the Mac Tools AH9110 and it hits like a truck, they aren't available anymore but love to see it

I've got an old IR 6 in. bore riveting hammer with a 4 in. stroke, it had a reputation for knocking guys of the scaffold, lol. Uses a massive amount of air, empties the 80 gal. tank in a minute or so.

All the CP tools I've bought from HF are full of metal shavings. If you clean them out with brushes they are just about the same as the IRs in the garage i worked for.

Cranking up the pressure may help this stuff but quality air tools have a built in blow out disc in the air flow and will render them inoperative untill sent in for repair, the higher the priced the tool the more important it is to regulate it to the correct cfm ( 90 PSI )!

Requesting power comparisons of SDS hammer drills and if they can be used for applications where an air hammer can would be used on a car.

I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SAY THIS ABOUT THIS CHANNEL BUT,,,,,,,,,WE NEED MORE MORE MORE PLEASE I AM SO SORRY FOR SAYING IT !!!!!!!!!!!

My IR will do most of what I need an air hammer for...but my Snap On CH3050(1st gen) has the rest handled.... they've optimized it ...the newest SO is a really nice all-round hammer.....

I would be quite interested to see how aircraft style rivet guns would compete. I have always heard they make great air hammers.

I had to rewind a bit because I was getting a good laugh out of the struggle with the spring retainer and had no idea what you were saying. We've all been there, those things are awful.

This is a great test. You need to test the Astro Tools long barrel air hammers. They have a new one that is a extra power long barrel one too.

Mine bounces like crazy. I used an ir at work and there is no comparison. The ir is soo much better and easy to control

You should test to see if there is a difference in using a quick change retainer and if different brands work better.

i have this tool and like it for a medium stroke hammer.

Having used both of those models, I'd say the big difference is the wear and tear. The Central is a tough unit for the price, but they start to have issues after awhile. Granted, you can buy a few for the price of one IR, but my IR never let's me down and is much more comfortable to use. But the central is a good tool if you're not usually them all the time professionally.

Hey! The ring around the rosie was what I commented on the previous video 😃

Looked like the trigger was let go early on the HF tool..

Thanks a lot man

This thing works great for the price all things considered

Not gonna lie, I paid about $15 for a CH air hammer from Walmart. I was there getting air fittings, and my old IR had been stolen years before and honestly I always found a way to work around having one up until that point. Anyways, the CH sat on the shelf for months in the box, finally one day I was helping my Brother-in-law do Balljoints on his truck.. After hammering on them for about 20 minutes, I remember I had bought the CH air hammer.. Honestly, I kind of giggled as I hooked everything up.. thinking this $15 POS is gonna make me look stupid. And to be 100% honest, it was the polar opposite. It was definitely pushing the capabilities of the hammer (these balljoints were S T U C K), but it did it. Saved my back and arms a lot of pain. I won't consider this on the same level as any of the bigger money tools (all I've used aside from this is a very nice snap on unit, and my IR), but for a here-and-there DIYer, or even a tech on a budget, that little thing definitely will get most jobs done.

Make sure you get the Campbell Hausfeld GSD line as well as their basic line... Also, where did you get that chuck instead of the spring retainer?!

i have a cp that is 20 years old, for the cash its hard to beat.

Perfect timing I'm in the market for an air hammer don't know if I'll go ingersoll snap on or matco

The quick connect adapter puts additional weight on the end where it is least desired. I'd be curious to see if it makes a difference in hammer performance in these mid length models. A test with and without?

That IR was one of the best air hammers I’ve had. I was just negligent of adding oil to it after every use and ended up locking up:( idiot.

Unbelievable. How does it not feel like this when you have these two different toolsnin your hands while working…

I want to see a battery powered hammer 🔨

One thing I've read in regards to central pneumatic air hammers is that when used with quick connect adapters it moves the bit away from the hammer diminishing how hard it hits. To be fair i saw it mostly on the smaller air hammer but I'm wondering if it's a theory you'd be interested in testing on various hammers to see if there's any significant power loss with a quick disconnect vs the crappy spring we all hate

PH3050B next please. I'll even send you mine if you need one

I have a Matco MT2816 long barrel I'd lend to TTC. I'd love to see it on the dyno.

Thank you for the video! I would like to see if the new Makita 40v XGT 3/4 impact wrench can take down Milwaukee 3/4 impact wrench. Thank You!

That was my first air hammer. It was pretty decent but the trigger snapped off the 3rd or 4th time I used it

I would love the see the sanborn on here

I got rivet bits so that the cup goes over the bolt/nut and won't slip off. That with a 7X rivet gun will destroy anything automotive. However, it is cost prohibitive.

Yes!

For most of what I do, I'd rather the shorter tool. But the finer control of the IR is more important than both power and length. Often I find myself pulling the trigger with my non-dominant hand, thumbs, or pinky fingers.

Does the amount of force your hand pushes on the air hammer effect the results? Light push or full body weight lean? Could you test if there really is a huge difference in effort and performance?

Should do some carlyse tools from NAPA, I love my impact

Should do the Capri air hammer