Hammers

Hammers

Hammer type follows the job, and weight follows how long you will swing it. A claw hammer is the general purpose one, with a split claw for pulling nails, at 16oz for household work and 20oz for heavier joinery and framing. A framing hammer uses a straight rip claw for prying boards apart rather than drawing nails cleanly. A club or lump hammer is a short, heavy, double-faced head at 2.5lb or 3lb, used with a bolster or cold chisel for breaking brick and chasing walls. A sledge hammer takes the same idea to 3lb and 7lb for demolition and driving stakes. A ball pein hammer is the metalworking one, with a rounded pein for shaping and riveting. Mallets in rubber or beech drive chisels and seat joints without marking the surface. Handles matter more than most people expect: hickory absorbs shock and can be replaced, fibreglass resists damp and overstrike, and one-piece all-steel is the most durable and the most jarring.

Dargan carries the widest spread, with claw hammers in wooden handle and all steel, a 16oz claw and 20oz ripping hammer pair, lump hammers in 1kg and 1.5kg on wooden and fibre handles, a 32oz ball pein, a 7lb fibreglass sledge, rubber and beech mallets and a leather swivel hammer holder. Faithfull supplies 20oz fibreglass claw hammers and spare handles, 32oz ball pein in steel and fibreglass shaft, club lump hammers at 2.5lb in fibreglass and hickory, and a 28oz black rubber mallet. Estwing covers the one-piece forged range with vinyl grip curved claw hammers at 16oz and 20oz and a 22oz straight claw framing hammer. Stanley brings Blue Strike and curved claw hammers at 16oz and 20oz and a hi-vis fibreglass 20oz, Roughneck the Gorilla V-Series claw, club and 3lb mini sledge, with Tala, Bluespot and Bihui completing the range.