ESTWING GAD

Hi All
One of our Members is after an Estwing Gad.They are about 18 inches long and from memory tungsten tipped.With a heavy hammer they are ideal for breaking thru rock and calcrete.Have found one in USA but not here .Any clues on a supplier.
Cheers Dig

Is the Estwing gad pry bar the same thing? google has it discontinued and plenty of calls and a petition to bring it back.i see one post saying a club was using look alikes and they were breaking.

Unfortunately, Estwing don't make the Gad anymore. I wonder why since it was/is so popular?
Maybe one of the geology supply companies has one in the back of their warehouse somewhere.

Robert

Unless you can find one tucked away somewhere you might be out of luck, the only other thing that I can find which they say is better ?? is the 'wizard' bar.

http://www.geo-tools.com/bars.htm

Dig24crt wrote:Hi All
One of our Members is after an Estwing Gad.They are about 18 inches long and from memory tungsten tipped.With a heavy hammer they are ideal for breaking thru rock and calcrete.Have found one in USA but not here .Any clues on a supplier.
Cheers Dig

There's THREE different versions that were available from Estwing. ALL THREE went under the same name when they were imported into Australia from Estwing. The Black version also went under the title "Estwing Wrecking Bar" but was also referred to as the Gad Pry Bar. I own all three versions but I don't recall any being referred to as having a reinforced (or tungsten) tip. The Miner's Den Sydney & Melbourne stores have carried them when available. Thought there are none in stock at the moment, there may be a very large shipment of imported prospecting equipment due in the next few weeks. The MIDDLE one in the pictures above is said to have been discontinued.

Call the Melbourne Miner's Den on (03) 9873-1244 and ask if they're expecting any in their incoming shipment.

Cheers.


M/

try bunnings mate i know in kal they are there

try making one out of old truck spring the curved section cut to size required handle 75x 45 x3.5 mm cut to lenght weld gussets to buttom of handle and spring at curved section and even weld a spike to the end of it make sure the welds are good ex kiwi

Estwing is making them again. Here in the states, I just bought one from Black Cat Mining.

I notice someone in Australia is selling them on eBay.

Www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_nkw=estwing+gad+bar

G'day HenryC460 and welcome to the forum.. Your link did not work due to you being new poster I will get it working for you... Thanks for that info...

Cheers.

Mike.

Gday.I used one in west for many years to punch through the hard cap rock , But found them to jar alot now i use a estwing geo pick with rubber handle and large hammer to be the best other than a jack hammer. Once it took three off us, 4 hours to dig down 26 inches but all good as it was a 16oz nugget CHEERS

So if you use the geo pick, are you using it as a chisel point and then hammering with the crack hammer? 

what size crack hammer by the way 2lb 3 lb etc.  I'm planning a trip and want to minimise size and weight.  Would the geo pick with hammer be better for calcrete than a gadbar, or chisel and hammer?

I presume Estwing is the way to go.

Hi dogman if you want only hand tools i would go for a crowbar if you can spare carrying the weight. If you can't spare the weight, find something else you can leave behind and pack in the crowbar. Crowbars are just so handy for deep hard digs and especially for cutting through roots half way down a hole. Crowbars work for digging holes in any soil, clay, calcrete or rocky ground and this makes them more useful then a cold chisel.

In terms of lightweight tools good lump hammer, couple good cold chisels (point and flat) and a heavy glove will get you through calcrete to some depth, but not the depth you can get with a crowbar.
Tributer

Gold&Relics wrote:Gday.I used one in west for many years to punch through the hard cap rock , But found them to jar alot now i use a estwing geo pick with rubber handle and large hammer to be the best other than  a jack hammer. Once it took three off us, 4 hours to dig down 26 inches but all good as it was a 16oz nugget CHEERS

I would not strike the striking/ hammer end with another hammer as this will end in disaster as the hammer end is harder than the pick end and is not designed to be stuck with another hammer and will eventually shatter...........and if you have seen what I saw happen when a hammer shatters when struck with another hammer in this manner you wouldn't do it ether.
YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE NEAR A HAMMER WHEN IT SHATTERS

Chisels and striking tools like the gad are are just a little bit softer than the hammer to prevent this from happening when struck by the harder hammer.

If I use a chisel I use the heavy estwing lump hammer and a min 350mm estwing point chisel with a after market rubber hand guard.
But I have found it much more efficient to use a purpose built 6lb rock pick sledge hammer cobo I made up by buying a good quality 900mm handled sledge hammer and machining a 40mm hole part way in one face of the hammer and machining a 10mm allenkey grubb screw to hold in my rock pick that I make 250mm long out of a 40mm truck sway bar (high quality spring steel).
I make up a few of the pick ends then when they are blunt I just loosen the grub screw and replace with a new sharp one.
With my setup I can safely and quickly smash through caprock in a matter of min's not hours like before.
A hole like mentioned earlier 4hours 26in Ill open that up in around 40 min with my setup.

We made up a bead breaker unit (slide hammer) with a chisel piont on it. Works bloody great on calcrete. Make sure you have top welded on well. Put electrical shrink over outside and does not seem to jar. Certainly make it easier than chisel and hammer with somebody holding chisel with multigrips in case of miss hit.
cheers travelergold

Thanks for the replies.  Good information here -- I think I will check the garden shed for a crow-bar to start with. 

Aurumpo -- that information about hitting hammer heads was very interesting.  I would not have thought of that, so thanks for the tip!  I won't be trying that one.

On the other hand your modified sledge sounds truly brutal.  ...and truly efficient.  Any chance of a photo some time...I'm sure we'd all be interested.  cheers.

No worries doggy But its up at my property   must of forgot it the other day when I was working up there the other day.
I'm heading back up soon so I'll grab it and photograph it for ya.

And mate I think a lot of people don't realize what can happen if you miss use a hammer in that manor mate when they shatter sharp splinters of hammer fly out at speed, much like shrapnel.
Forget safety gloves and glasses when this happens, it is that sharp it just goes straight through em.

My mate was hammering the back of an axe to break a big bit of timber when CRACK the hammer (a cheepy)
broke and sent multiple sharp pointy pieces flying one lodged in the knee right into the bone and another in the side of the arm............OUCH the arm one had to be cut out by a doctor and the knee one I ripped out with multy grips for him.

Just bought a Estwing geo. pick from Plastering Supplies in Melbourne . www.plasteringsupplies.com.au It has a long handle 419 m.m . ,total weight 1 kg. Cost $84.90 free postage. They could have other Estwing products.