May 2024 Volume 6

INDUSTRY NEWS

Innovative Designs Much thought and collective experience go into the execution of innovative designs. The ergonomic characteristics of striking tools are important to those who use them -- especially those who wield them professionally. In Estwing’s case, ergonomic success is quanti fied by maximizing the ratio of the energy applied to the striking face of the tool versus what the tool user feels through the grip. In other words, maximizing the energy applied to the struck surface and minimizing (within practical limits) the energy returned through the tool to the worker’s joints and limbs. Obviously, material selection for striking and other tools is of primary consideration, but Estwing’s unitary design, whereby the head of the

tool and the handle are forged from one piece of steel, is part of the finished product’s durability and performance. Most of the compa ny’s striking tools are formed of a proprietarily modified 1055 carbon steel, which is a medium carbon steel characterized by good machin ability, high strength, and good impact properties. According to Jack Ryan, the company’s Vice President of Engineering, “The one-piece steel forgings we use in our tools are our claim to fame.” In the late 1920s Estwing introduced leather grips on some of its products. Leather grips are still popular, but leather has its limita tions when exposed to weather and outdoor applications. For this reason, the company eventually introduced its familiar blue vinyl grips. Leather is also more expensive, so vinyl grips are more in

A Century of Estwing In 1885, Ernest Otto Estwing was born in Sweden. At the early age of 16 he emigrated to the United States, settling in Rockford, Illinois, where he enrolled in school to learn English and master the machinist’s trade. As an industrious and enterprising young man, he moved his family to the East Coast for a time, where he repaired typewriters for Remington and was an industrial engi neer with the Bridgeport Manufacturing Company. In 1918 Estwing moved his family back to Rockford. As a self-taught engineer, Ernest was always coming up with new inventions, including dabbling in what were to become legendary hand tool designs. Inspired by observing the limitations of wood-handled hammers and hatchets, Ernest established the Estwing Manufacturing Company in 1923. His goal was to build the finest hand tools the world had ever known. Since then, the Estwing family and its employees have taken pride in designing and manufacturing durable, comfortable and attractive striking tools and other complementary products. Early in the 1920s, when Ernest was working out of his basement, he patented a one-piece, solid steel hammer, becoming the first company to manufacture and sell a hammer of that design. After an ad resulted in an encouraging number of orders, Estwing opened a full factory. In the late 1920s and beyond, growth slowed because of the Great Depression, but around this time the compa ny’s iconic leather handle was introduced. When World War II hit, the War Produc tion Board allowed Estwing Manufacturing, because of their ‘unbreakable’ handles, to

Drone’s-eye view captures Estwing’s associates digitally representing the company’s 100th Anniversary.

produce goods in support of the war effort, even though steel was being rationed. At the war’s end, the company considered a factory expansion, for which they broke ground in the 1950s. The $100,000 expansion added 13,200 sq. ft. of manufacturing space -- and the addition of 20 employees. At this time, the company introduced its popular blue vinyl grips. The Estwing brand got a boost when astro naut Neil Armstrong wielded an Estwing geology pick during a training mission for the lunar landing in 1969. This expo sure helped open new markets around the world in countries such as Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In the 1970s, the company nurtured growth by adding new hammer styles and weights to its product line. Also, the company prod ucts were selected for sale by Ace Hardware and True Value, the two largest hardware co-ops in the U.S.

Sadly, company founder Earnest Estwing passed away in 1982, but not before he saw his company grow and expand. At the time of his passing, the basement operation he began had product lines sold in leading hardware stores, home centers and retailers around the world. Also, during the 1980s, the company introduces its new Shock Reduction Grip®, enhancing the comfort and durability of its vinyl grip. In modern times, Estwing increased its productivity and efficiency through auto mating its forging operation and, more recently, its heat-treating operations. In 2005, the Smithsonian’s Industry & Manu facturing section of the National Museum of American History added an Estwing hammer to its collection. During the last two decades, the company automated nearly every operation by adding 70+ robots and other automation to improve its efficiency and quality.

FIA MAGAZINE | MAY 2024 66