Hammer

This article is about the tool. For the part of a piano, see Hammer (piano).

A hammer is a tool for putting nails into objects such as wood. It has a long handle, and a tip with a flat end for hitting nails. The most common type of hammer (sometimes called a claw hammer) has a curved end (on the other side of the hitting end) for pulling nails out.

A claw hammer

A sledgehammer is a hammer that has a longer shaft, and a more massive head. The user can swing it with two hands and apply more force.

History

Hammers were used around 3.3 million years ago. The first hammers were made without handles. Stones attached to sticks with strips of leather or animal sinew were being used. Hammers with handles were made in 30,000 BCE during the middle of the Paleolithic Stone Age. The hammer was used for building, food and protection.

Classification of hammers

Hammers can be classified into two. They are:

Hand-powered hammers

Swinging a sledgehammer

Hand-powered hammers are hammers that are used with the hand. Examples include:

• Ball-peen hammer
• Boiler scaling hammer
• Brass hammer
• Bricklayer's hammer
• Carpenter's hammer
• Cow hammer
• Cross-peen hammer
• Dead blow hammer
• Demolition hammer
• Drilling hammer
• Electrician's hammer
• Engineer's hammer
• Gavel
• Geologist's hammer
• Knife-edged hammer
• Lathe hammer
• Lump hammer
• Magnetic double-head hammer
• Magnetic tack hammer
• Mallet
• Railway track keying hammer
• Rock climbing hammer
• Rounding hammer
• Shingler's hammer
• Sledgehammer
• Soft-faced hammer
• Splitting maul
• Strike Tack hammer
• Stonemason's hammer
• Tinner
• Upholstery hammer
• Warrington hammer
• Welder's chipping hammer

Mechanically-powered hammer

Mechanically powered hammers are hammers that are used with a machine. Examples include:

• Hammer drill
• High Frequency Impact Treatment hammer
• Jackhammer
• Steam hammer
• Trip hammer

Hammers as weapons

Big hammers were sometimes used as weapons. A tiny hammer is also used inside most small arms.