Nylon Hammer Cushions

While Micarta and aluminum discs are commonly used for Hammer Cushions, cast nylon is also another high performance plastic material that is commonly used along with aluminum discs to help drive piles.

Cast Nylons are often chosen for their high tensile and high compressive strength, as well as their impact and wear resistance. Cast nylons come in a variety of grades such as unfilled or “natural”, oil or lubricant filled, as well as a few different copolymers that have other proprietary solid lubricants added to help extend wear life, impact resistance, and moisture absorption to name a few.

If you have needs for Nylon or Phenolic Cushion pads/Hammer Cushions, give us a call or send us a quote

What are Hammer Cushions?

Hammer cushions are used in the Pile Driving industry to help protect various types of piles while they are being driven into the ground. They also are referred to as Pile Cushions, Cushion Pads, or Hammer Pads to name a few.

Ultimately, their main purpose is to protect the driven pile from damage and help transmit as much force from the hammer to the pile in the process. Most hammer cushions are used in various drive cap assemblies depending on the type of pile being driven.

Since pictures usually help tell a story, you can see here an example of how hammer cushions are typically installed in a drive cap assembly. Hammer cushions are available in several different diameters depending again on the size of piles being driven. A few common diameters are 22.5”, 25”, and 30”.

Most hammer cushions are usually made like a sandwich, with there being 2 aluminum discs, 1 on the top and 1 on the bottom and 1 composite disc in between. The composite material that is most often used is a material called Micarta which is a canvas phenolic material used in numerous applications.