The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Hammer and Dolly tool review

Hammer and Dolly Road test.

The hammer and dolly are the first tools you think about when buying tools for auto body work. There have been little choice when it comes to buying them. Either you bought the unadulterated junk kits of hammers and dollies for ten or twenty bucks or you spent twenty-five or more for each hammer or dolly. There wasn’t an in between that I know of until now. A co-worker of mine came in one day with a super set of dollies, a spoon and a door skin hammer from Harbor Freight that are really nice at only $25.00! (part number 46781) And they have another set with a “Fender dolly” and rubber heal dolly #03496 (as I describe in the “Basics” of door skins) for I would imagine fifteen bucks or so (couldn’t find the price when I found them at the store). I am also told there is a set of similar quality by the same manufacturer that includes a pick hammer (your basic body hammer and the first one you should buy) and the same “fender dolly” available in the twin dolly kit with the rubber one. The maker is US General in China of course like most tools at Harbor Freight.

[img]http://members.aol.com/basicofbasics/hammeranddollys.jpg[/img]

If you have read my posts or my “Basics of Basics” to buying tools you will know I loath the cheapie tools. They are usually not worth the package they come in. This set of hammer and dollies is an exception in a big way. It is really a nice set of tools. You will see them in the photo on the left. On the right are my tools of similar design, but not cost. My tools cost me about $165.00, quite a difference. And honestly the door skin hammer is possibly better than mine. It has a fiberglass handle (my wood one has broken before) and one thing that I like is that the actual hammer head surface is flat unlike mine which is curved (see photo). You most often use the door skin hammer along the bottom of the door and it is usually flat long that area, the curve in the face of my hammer isn’t the best for that flat area. At the bottom of the photo you will see the “fender dolly” and rubber dolly of mine that are similar to the ones found at Harbor Freight.

[img]http://members.aol.com/basicofbasics/hammerheads.jpg[/img]


The spoon and the dollies are very nice with large well dressed surfaces. The only thing I don’t like is they cast the word “Forged” in one of the faces! I have no idea why they did that, this face is commonly used for hammer work. With that darn “Forged” there you can’t do very fine work.

I have to stress, the big difference between these hammers and dollies and the cheapies I loath is the normal size first off, and the fact that they ARE forged and not “cast” iron. The cheap 8 pc sets like the 46779 for $22.00 are first off, tiny little hammers and dollies looking more like children’s toys than tools for adults but most of them are very brittle cast iron. The 46779 happens to be forged but most of these cheapies are cast. DO NOT buy this cheapie set #46779! Do not get them mixed up with the others I mention in this tool review, they are JUNK.

I tested the hammer and dollies out and found them to be very nice tools for the money. If you were to pick up these two sets and find the one with the pick hammer you would have a heck of a nice set of hammers and dollies for around 75 bucks, such a DEAL.

Thanks for the frank and comprehensive review. I know MANY of us appreciate your hard work.
- K

Hey, no problem. Hopefully it can be of use to someone.

Brian

I no longer have to wear a bag over my head when I use my cheapie hammer and dolly set. The one I use is from Harbor Freight and includes the three hammers and the three FORGED dollies. I also have their door hammer set. The only problem with this set that I have found to date is ....The Operator!

Thanks Gene! I feel vindicated..or is that victimized? :confused:

The last time this topic came up, the Harbor Freight tools got "hammered". Now, I can join Houston54 and take the bag off my head, too. Oddly, I have the same problem with my set. :rolleyes:

I have to tell you guys, if you are using the hammer and dolly set with those little miniture hammer heads and dollies you still need to wear the bag, forged or not, they are toys.

Brian

My hammers are just like me. They have big heads!

Brain, Maybe you could come to my house and test my hammer and dollies out on my fenders. A couple of days worth of testing should do it!

Brian, I just started doing the bodywork on the suburban fenders. I am using a Martin set and a friction disk from Sunchaser tools with success. Ken with Sunchaser says that I should prep my dollies and hammers by shaping them with a grinder/sander. What is your opinion on this? He provides a tape that shows the process and states that that the tools from the factory are not properly curved and need to be resurfaced smooth. Have you used a shrinking disk? Do you have any pointers? Thanks

I've looked for these on the Harbor Freight web site, and can't find anything.

I like Ken as a person, and he is a honest business man, but he is no videographer! I have the video, it is actually a two tape set. I has the "dressing" of the dollies and hammers and the friction disc instruction. The info is all good, the problem is it is MIND NUMBING, SUICIDE INDUCING, BORING. He could say everything he has on ONE video easy. They are really bad.

I am not sure of his actual comments on dressing tools but I would imagine he is saying "some" of these tools need to be dressed. I know that I have some high quality hammers and dollies that needed nothing, and I have used them since the day I bought them as they came.

I do have his friction disc and doing late model collision repair as I do I have only pulled it out (along with the very heavy 15 amp grinder I bought from him) once in a blue moon.

I can say, they are spectacular tools. They do everything he says they do.

Listen, if you want to see some good instruction on the use of the tool check out Hotrodders.com body and paint forum. Look for threads by a guy named "Randy Fergison" or "John Kelly". These guys are masters at panel fabrication or repair.

Brian

They are not on the web site, I found them only in the stores. I have also heard that this $25.00 set is on sale for $13.00!


Brian

Brian, thanks for the info. The nearest Harbor Frieght store isn't very near, but I'll try to stop in the next time I'm in St. Louis. I could use some good, inexpensive body tools. Even the really old stuff goes high on eBay.

That is one of the reasons I believe so heavily in buying quality, name brand tools and NOT Harbor Frieght. Quality tools will ALWAYS hold their value or even INCREASE in value. I have bought 50 year old hammers and dollys on ebay for $25-50 that originally were probably $5 or $10!!!

What is a $20.00 set of dollys worth in 50 years, nothing that's what.

Brian

Brian,
I found the door skin set today. They look to be good quality. I didn't pick up the "fender dolly and rubber heel dolly" set, but they looked good, too, especially for (I think) $7.

Now if they'd put this set (and the set with the pick hammer) in the online catalog...

I don't know how American workers are going to compete with that.

On a similar note, I bought a really nice weight bench from WalMart for $107. How they were able to design, buy the materials, build, and send that sucker from China and pay a retailer to sell it AND make a profit, I will never know. :confused:

If China ever decides to start making cars, the US economy will be in deep S _ _ T. As we all know, GM is already on the ropes absorbing blows from Toyota and Honda. I sure do like my Honda car though. :p

China will take these profits and turn them into military hardware. YIKES!

Harbor Freight ya say? I NEED SOME TOOLS...

They do build cars, pick ups, and heavy trucks. Take a look at alibaba.com

They just aren't here yet.

actually the Chinese may have made part of the vehicle yer driving - heard from a guy who runs an auto parts chain here that when he was in China settin up supply deals, he was in a plant that did nothing but body panel stamping, like hoods, trunk lids and doors - in one area they had a huge supply of cardboard packaging, and every US maker's logo was represented!!

Bill

darn, All the Harley sales positions are taken. I may have to move to China to get a job.

I loaded up a bunch of this stuff after reading this. I have thought about welding the indented area "forging" with some 7018 then sanding it smooth to eliminated potential "branding' when using the dollies.
One question haunts me: What is the "cancer causing substance" that is released when using these tools? There is a very funny aroma, even worse than you would have bringing home foreign tools. Anyone know what it is?

Thanks MARTINSR! I went down to HFT yesterday and checked out both #46781 and #03496. Bought them on the spot. They are good heavy duty tools, and look/feel superior to the usual HFT stuff. I'm sure they'll fit the bill perfectly for my purposes.
Thanks again for the tip!

Know this is an old thread but the idea behind the dressing of the hammer and dollies is to polish or remove any defects on the surface.
Think of a hammer and dolly as a printing press. If you have a defect on the dolly you WILL imprint that defect onto the panel.

If your hammer and dollies have small little nicks or pits in them its wise to polish them out. I use a grinder with 180 grit paper to remove the nick. Then move up 400 grit.

I have a shrinking disc and LOVE it. I like Martinsr do late model collision repair. I use my disc pretty much all the time. If I cant metal finish it I can get by with a skim coat of poly glaze. I have decreased my repair time with the shrinking disc.

Mine is not the mentioned sunchaser disc. I bought mine from John Kelly. www.ghiaspecialties.coms

Does anyone know the Harbor Freight part number for the good set with the pick hammer?

A HF store just opened up here this week, and I found the door skin set, and the 2-piece fender set, but did not see any set with a pick hammer. As is typical these days, the "help" was no help. They thought a pick hammer was for gold prospecting!!

Thanks

Thanks for the tip. I bought my #46781 this week; but couldn't find the others.

mark.
'51 3100

Martinsr, I went back to get the fender dolly/rubber heel dolly set yesterday, and I saw that they have two combo sets in the plastic cases. One is about $14, dinky little cast hammers and dollies. The #46779 set for $22 seems to have some of the same dollies as the set with the door panel hammer, and the hammers are MUCH larger and heavier than the $14 set. They seem to be an exact match for the door panel hammer. Next weekend, I'll compare the #46779 set to the door panel set, and see how things stack up.

And here is the long-awaited comparison between the #46779 set and the door skin hammer set.

The two dollies in the door skin set are the same as two of the dollies in the #46779 set. The spoons are a bit different, but seem to be of equal quality construction. The hammers are of equivalent size and heft to the door skin hammer.

Pictures are available here: Webshots gallery of hammer and dolly comparison

If people would just treat their trucks better none of this would be necessary. My 62 was owned by a plumber. When he retired he built a makeshift canvas camper by drilling holes in the bed which he used as an overnight fishing camper. Dents and holes were all over this truck. :o

I've been informed that my picture link didn't work. Try this: http://community.webshots.com/user/spe130 and go to the "Body Hammers and Dollies folder at the bottom of the page."

The large set in those pictures is the Harbor Freight US General #46779 set, it seems to be quite nice - the smaller set is one of the cast sets, it's a bunch of junk. I wish I hadn't wasted my money on it a few years back, although I did manage to remove a few minor dents using it.