The jackhammer is a powerful tool that uses compressed air to operate a hammer mechanism, used for drilling, breaking or chipping tough materials. It revolutionized the construction and mining industries, becoming smaller and more reliable over time. The tool’s reciprocating arrangement driven by compressed air provides percussive force to strike the workpiece. A wide variety of tool bits can be used, but personal protective equipment must be worn at all times due to the generation of fine dust and flying debris, extreme vibrational forces, and potential health risks.
An air hammer is a member of a family of power tools that use compressed air to operate a cyclic hammer mechanism. In turn, the repetitive striking force of this mechanism is transferred to a drill bit or chisel. The jackhammer is used to drill, break or chip tough materials such as concrete, asphalt or tile. Jackhammers are typically large tools used in heavy construction, mining, and geological exploration; smaller types are sometimes found in the handyman’s toolbox.
Percussion tools such as chisels and rock drills have been in use for centuries and were powered by sweat, muscle and sledgehammers before the introduction of pneumatics. More commonly called a jackhammer, the jackhammer revolutionized the construction and mining industries with its one-man operation and high speeds. As related technologies have advanced, the jackhammer has become more reliable, quieter, and smaller, thus effectively extending the tool’s potential uses to include light industrial, home, and hobby applications. Today the jackhammer is commonly used for jobs ranging from drilling holes in hard rock quarrying to chipping tile around the home.
The pneumatic hammer mechanism is a fairly simple reciprocating arrangement driven by compressed air. Percussive force is provided by a piston driven back and forth by compressed air. The piston features a striking head which impacts a similar head on the chisel or drill bit socket with each forward stroke. This impact drives the tool grip and the tool tip forward to strike the workpiece. A powerful spring then returns the tool seat to its original position and ready for the next stroke.
This rapid, repeated beating action of the tool tip is capable of crushing or puncturing solid concrete and makes short work of softer materials. Depending on the particular application, a wide variety of tool bits such as pointed, spade, scraper and stake bits can be used. Jackhammer mechanisms are simple, reliable, and require little maintenance. Most are equipped with internal lubrication systems operated by the percussion cycle. As long as lubrication is provided, there’s little to go wrong with these rugged tools.
Jackhammer operators, however, aren’t nearly as rugged; personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, respirators and eye and ear protection must be used at all times. These tools generate significant amounts of fine dust and flying debris when working on hard materials such as concrete. They’re also not the quietest pieces of equipment, and they also transfer extreme vibrational forces through their grips. The use of PPE is essential to protect against potential hearing loss, eye damage, carpal tunnel syndrome and circulatory failure in the hands.
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