A hammer in au pair- an indispensable thing, especially if you are used to doing a lot with your own hands. With the help of this simple tool, you can perform not only the usual operations for us, for example, to hammer in a nail, but also many other works, because today there is a very many different hammers in for various applications. Let's figure out what types of hammers are, what is their purpose, and try to decide how to choose a hammer.
1. Hammer design and main materials
The first hammer appeared a very long time ago. We can say that this is the first of the tools that people used for their needs. We all saw a hammer, held it in our hands many times and know that the simplest hammer consists of two main elements: handle and head.
Head has an asymmetrical shape, one part of it has a sharp point, which is called a wedge, and the other part is flat or slightly convex, it is called a striker. This is the main impact part of the hammer which is the main work. It has sufficient strength and area to withstand repeated impacts on hard surfaces. wedge-shapedpart a hammer is used to split something or when chasing. Its shape allows you to develop a greater impact force due to the smaller area of the contact surface.
In the center of the head there is a special hole for attaching the handle, which is called ride. Usually it is made in the form of a round or oval hole, which smoothly passes into a cone. After attaching the head to the handle, the part of it that protrudes from the hole is wedged so that it completely occupies the internal cavity of the saddle. Such a mount prevents the head from falling off.
In order to ensure high strength and durability of the head, it is made made of high strength metal by forging, casting or milling, followed by heat treatment. Special hardening modes allow you to achieve high surface strength with a sticky core. The hardened surface layer reaches 3-5 mm. This structure provides high hardness, but at the same time protects head from fragility. For protection heads from corrosion it is galvanized or special types of paints are used.
universalmaterial for the manufacture of handles the hammer has always been wood. It is very durable, does not slip in your hand and has a long service life, and if you still break the handle during use, it is very easy to replace or even make it yourself. Very important so that the fibers of the wood from which the handle is made are perpendicular to the head. In this case, if it breaks, you will not be injured. Breed tree should be a certain kind. For these purposes, beech, birch, ash, oak, hornbeam, maple or mountain ash are well suited. Unsuitable species are pine, aspen, alder and spruce.
There are handles made of metal or plastic, and more modern hammers are produced with fiberglass handles. This is a new material that has shown itself very well in use. It does not slip in the hand and helps to reduce the force of recoil upon impact. The metal handles are hollow inside, have the shape of a circle in cross section, and are covered with rubber for the convenience of work. Plastic handles are also covered with a layer of rubber. Plastic, metal or fiberglass handles have two Benefits in front of a tree: they do not dry out over time and are not subject to swelling when in contact with water. Choose depending on what material is more convenient and pleasant for you to work with. The main thing is that the handle is much lighter than the head and has the appropriate length. 
2. Locksmith hammer and its purpose
Design locksmith's hammer is described in detail in the first paragraph. This is the simplest and common type working tool. He intended for hammering, breaking, bending or straightening parts. The pointed edge in the form of a wedge allows you to drive a nail with a small head and work in a hard-to-reach place where the wide part of the head does not fit.
The striker of a locksmith's hammer can have not only a square, but also a round shape in cross section. The square type has one flaw- if at the moment of impact you warped the hammer and the inclined angle fell on the surface of the material being processed, a dent will certainly remain on it. Such defects are especially upsetting when assembling new furniture.
Since the locksmith's hammer is designed to apply multiple series of blows, it must be completedfrom very durable material. Perfect fit chrome vanadiumsteel, which has increased hardness, which will help to avoid deformation or destruction of the striker. The weight locksmith's hammer ranges from depending on its number. Total exists five numbers, weight No. 1 - 200 g, No. 5 - 800 g. The weight of the hammer is chosen depending on the type of work and the physical strength of the worker. Lengthhandles, on average, is 300-400 mm.
3. Carpenter's hammer
Design carpenter's hammer has a distinctive feature. A special slot is made at one of its ends, which can have a different breeding angle and slightly curved edges. This bifurcation serves to extract nails from the required surface. Hammers with a large angle of dilution of the groove are called Californian, and with a smaller angle - European. But not all carpenter's hammers are designed as a nail puller at one end. There are tools with regular wedge at the end and a perfectly even striker.
Handle may be completed made of wood, metal or rubber-coated plastic, which serve to prevent slipping in the hand. Such hammers are considered rather not percussion, but precision instruments. Weight its head lies in the range of 100-800 gr in increments of 50 g.
A carpenter's hammer can look extremely simple - the impact part tool steel and a wooden handle, or have a more ergonomic shape and some additional features. For example, its handle can be made made of high strength material fiberglass or carbon, and the shock part - from titanium or other high strength steel with special anti-corrosion coating and undergone special heat treatment. As an additional feature, a nail holder can be present, which will allow you to work with one hand. And its design can be foldable or collapsible, making it very compact and easy to store.
4. Sledgehammer
This is the biggest, powerful and heavy type of hammer.The weight such a tool can reach 4-10 kg, but there are more serious tools that have a weight of the working part and up to 16 kg. Them apply for work that requires high impact force but little precision, such as removing partition walls, old tiles, crushing concrete or stone, driving posts into the ground, driving wedges and other heavy work.
Head this tool is completed made of high strength steel by forging followed by heat treatment in the form of hardening to the required hardness and can be in the form of a parallelepiped or an ordinary hammer. By the way, hardened layer depth after hardening reaches 30 mm. The handle has a larger diameter and length compared to previous models, which means two-handed operation.
Length the handle is directly proportional to the weight of the working part of the sledgehammer: the higher it is, the longer the handle and can reach 120 cm, but usually is in the range of 80-90 cm. The cheapest sledgehammers have a wooden handle, but can also be all-metal.
Hole into which the handle is inserted, has a conical shape and the handle itself is inserted from above and does not need to be wedged. This assembly method is completely prevents slipping massive head. When working with a sledgehammer, you must be extremely careful, because it is considered a traumatic tool. Varieties sledgehammers some, but the most used is a blunt-nosed sledgehammer weighing 2-16 kg, longitudinal or sharp-nosed transverse, which weigh from 3 to 8 kg. Preferred handle option- rubberized, it is more expensive than wood, but the tool will be securely held in hands and dampen vibration during impacts.
5. Mallet
This type of hammers can also be attributed to straightening hammers. They are meant for alignment iron products that have undergone deformation, drainage systems, roofing and other works that are associated with the use sheet metal.
Such a tool has one very interesting feature. The impact part of the straightening hammer is made with an internal cavity, which is filled with sand or fine shot. This structure made it possible to completely dampen the inertia of the hammer during impact. When working, it does not bounce off the surface and practically “sticks” to it. Such hammers got the name inertial. They are made of rubber or polyurethane, and some models are made of metal with interchangeable heads made of a softer material.
mallets are intended for locksmith and carpentry work, namely for straightening, leveling or fitting large elements made of soft metals or wood. shock part tool completed made of rubber or hardwood such as birch or elm. Rubber can be either black or white. Whitemallets It is preferable, since dark stripes can remain on light surfaces from hitting with black rubber.
As handle material wood, plastic or metal is used, usually the handle has the shape of a circle in cross section. Depending on destination mallets can have a different shape of the shock part. Carpentry tools are cylindrical or barrel-shaped, while locksmith's mallets have one side wedge-shaped. The advantage of these types of hammers is that they do not leave dents or marks on the work surface.
When choosing mallets must be guided by the type of work performed. If these are more precise actions, then a small weight tool from 220 to 450 g is enough for you, if you need a large impact force, then pay attention to a tool weighing from 900 to 1000 g. Price policy This type of hammer is very different, but you should not choose the most expensive mallet. You will hardly be able to detect differences from the medium pricing tool, which means that you will overpay for the “name”.
6. Pick or pick
This hand tool is used for working with hard materials, namely, with stone or rocky soil, for the dismantling of old masonry and many other hard work. Design picks are very simple. It consists of their shock part and handle. The shock part can be bilateral or unilateral. The second option will look like a long spike, at the end of which there will be a rounding or a regular hammer. A double-sided pick has either two symmetrical long spikes, or a spike and a narrow blade. In any embodiment, the spikes will be slightly bent, and arc. This design is more efficient and allows you to reduce the recoil force during impact.
By type, hammers are divided depending on the tasks that they can be used to perform.
Such a tool as a hammer is familiar to every person who at least once faced with the task of hammering something. This is perhaps the only type of instrument that has retained its original form since ancient times.
The hammer consists of three main parts: the handle, the striker and the butt plate. Depending on the type of hammer, the shape of the striker or butt plate changes, the handle changes only in size.
Helpful information:
The most common types of hammers are:
locksmith's hammer
It is the most popular of the variety of hammers. Such a hammer has a flat head of a square, less often round shape and a butt plate that gradually tapers towards the end. It is convenient to hammer in nails and carry out other percussive work with a striker. The butt plate is designed to break various materials and objects. The weight of a locksmith's hammer can be from 100 grams to 2 kilograms.
Kiyanka
A hammer that is light in weight with a relatively large size. A small weight is achieved due to the fact that the striker and the butt plate (they have the same shape for the mallet) are made of dense rubber, less often of wood. The mallet is designed for carpentry or roofing work. With its help, parts are knocked out, wedges are driven in, sheets of iron are adjusted. Due to the material from which the working part of the mallet is made, it does not damage the surface of the processed objects and therefore can be used for delicate work (furniture, tiles, installation of various structures).
Sledgehammer
It is a massive hammer weighing from 800 grams to 12 kilograms on a solid handle. Sledgehammers weighing from 2 kilograms are equipped with a long handle that provides great impact energy. Sledgehammers are used in works where "brute" force is needed (when destroying walls, hammering crutches and staples, for crushing large stones).
Pickhammer
Mason's hammer (also called a pickaxe hammer or just a pickaxe). Such a hammer is used when working with brick, tile or decorative stone. Due to the design of the working part (the butt plate of the pick is made flat and pointed), it is convenient to break off pieces of the processed material of the desired size with such a pick.
roofing hammer
In this hammer, the butt plate has a peaked shape in the form of a fang, or in the form of a small hatchet. It is convenient to carry out work with one hand with such a hammer, which is important for people who work high above the ground. With its help, it is easy to make holes in the roofing material (for fastenings), to trim the rafters and the crate.
A hammer is a hand-held percussion instrument, without which it is difficult to imagine any man's collection of tools. In the views of most people, a hammer is a primitive tool, the choice of which has no particularities. However, the types of hammers are represented by a wide range, they differ in the material of manufacture and purpose. To choose the right quality hammer, you need to take into account the specifics of the tool.
The principle of the hammer
The hammer is a unique tool, the efficiency of which reaches 90-97% (the ratio of the applied efforts and the final productivity). No other hand or electric tool can achieve such figures. At the same time, the hammer is simple in design and principle of operation. The hammer consists of two parts: the head and the handle. The principle of operation of the hammer is to strike an object through the transfer of energy imparted to the tool by a person. At the same time, the kinetic force that the hammer head acquires is several times greater than the energy spent by a person. As a result, the use of a hammer with a loose head is prohibited due to an increased risk of injury to a person and people around. The head of the hammer consists of a front part, a striker, which is used to strike, and a back, wedge-shaped part. The striker is most often flat, made of durable metal that can withstand an unlimited number of hits on a solid object. On the back, depending on the purpose of the hammer, there is a nail puller, a pike or a second striker. The hammer handle is made of wood, metal or modern polymers, the rubberized handle prevents the hammer from slipping out of your hand.
Types of hammers
In order for the tool to serve for a long time without breakdowns and complaints, it is important to choose the right hammer for its intended purpose and the upcoming work. There are several types of hammers.
- Locksmith's hammer. The most popular model due to its versatility. Handles both nailing and concrete splitting. The striker is even, the butt plate is wedge-shaped solid.
- Carpenter's hammer. It differs from the locksmith's view of a crevice in the butt plate of the hammer, with which it is convenient to get nails from old boards.
- Bushhammer. The striker of such a hammer is slightly elongated. Serves for giving the necessary form to a brick and other strong connections.
- Plasterer's hammer. On both sides of the head of the plasterer's hammer there are flat butt pads, this tool does not need a striker. Used to remove a layer of plaster from a wall or create notches.
- Tiler's hammer. The heavy weight of a standard hammer is dangerous for fragile ceramic tiles. A special hammer weighs no more than 75 grams, its work is distinguished not by force, but by the accuracy of impact.
- Roof hammer. Locksmith's hammer with a special recoil pad. It is made in the form of a spike, reminiscent of a pick, used to punch holes in the roofing material.
- Hammer-sledgehammer. The heaviest type of hammer, used in places where accuracy is not needed, but the impact force is important. Breaking stones, concrete, bricks, driving stakes into the soil, nails and staples into wood.
- Hammer mallet. The opposite of a sledgehammer. Differs in a wooden or rubber head, used to work with material that requires a delicate attitude.
Before buying a tool, study the intricacies of choosing a hammer, listen to the advice of construction professionals.
- Do not chase for universality, select a hammer for a specific type of task. An improperly used hammer will damage the material and cause premature tool failure.
- Determine the material of the hammer head. The light gray color and the rough surface are indicative of the cast steel head. Opt for smooth dark gray material, forged steel will last longer. A distinctive feature is the presence of a seam on the side surface.
- The ease of use and durability of the tool depends on the material of the hammer handle. The wooden handle of the hammer is pleasant to the touch, successfully copes with recoil from impact, but is not durable. The metal handle of the hammer will not break under any circumstances, but the recoil of such a tool causes discomfort to the worker.
- Pay attention to the fastening of the head, reliable without backlash will ensure safety.
- Take the hammer in your hand, check the comfort of holding.
Correctly selected and used for its intended purpose, the hammer will last for a year, you will forget about the need to replace the tool for a long time.
A hammer is a dangerous tool in the inexperienced hands of a beginner, capable of repelling the desire to build forever, if you don’t remove your fingers in time. The hammer is most often used in construction work, hence the name - construction hammer. But since construction is a broad concept, including all kinds of operations and work, we will try to figure out whether this tool is really so universal.
It is known that the hammer is the most common construction tool, including cutting, forging, bending and other actions. Hammers are different in design, appearance and even weight. They are made from a single piece of steel containing carbon. There is a hole in the middle where the handle is fixed. The working part itself (a toe in the form of a wedge and strikers of various shapes, most often round or square) is fixed at the end of the handle. The size of the hammer is determined by its mass in grams, and the mass, in turn, depends on the nature of the work being done.
To carry out instrumental work, use hammers from 50 to 300 grams. For locksmith work, hammers of 400 and 500 grams are used. A tool weighing 600 and 800 grams is used for repair work. Tools weighing 4-16 kg - sledgehammers - are used for hard work.
As a rule, the choice of the mass of the hammer depends on the size of the layer with which they work and on the strength of the worker himself. The impact is also affected by the very location of the hammer on the handle and what the handle is made of. Usually, in the manufacture of handles, hardwoods are preferred. For this purpose, it is customary to use such trees as: birch, beech, oak, mountain ash, maple, yew. The tree for the handle must be smooth, without bumps, so that it is convenient to work with it.
locksmith's hammer
A universal soldier, they use it everywhere, it is most convenient for them to bend and flatten strips of steel. The weight of its steel case ranges from 250 grams to 1.1 kg. The design is the most ordinary: a steel percussion instrument is fixed on the handle. Sometimes it is specially bound near the body to protect the tree. The modern version of the handle for such hammers is a rubber-insulated pipe made of metal or heavy-duty plastic.
Due to its practicality, it is the most used hammer
Carpenter's milk (carpenter's hammer) 
Used mainly in carpentry. A curved body with a special cut in the form of a slot is necessary for convenient removal of already hammered nails. Nail puller and hammer - two in one.
roofing hammer 
From the name it is clear that this tool is used for repair and construction of roofs. The peculiarity of its appearance is the part opposite the striker with a slightly beveled surface. Thus, a wedge is formed on the opposite side, allowing you to perform docking work on a metal roofing sheet with higher productivity.
Sax 
A distinctive feature of this percussion instrument is that one mustache is, as it were, elongated in the form of a spike or punch. With such a hammer it is very convenient to make holes in the slate sheet itself.
Bushhammer 
At the end opposite the striker, there is a narrow spatula. For an experienced bricklayer, there is nothing easier than to prick a brick with thin plates with such a tool. With the help of a pick hammer, the brick is adjusted to the required parameters, although some builders still use a trowel for this purpose.
Sledgehammer or trench hammer 
This tool has a large body weight of up to 2.5 kg, which allows the hammerer to hammer reinforcement or iron support, stakes to the eyeballs. Needed where brute force is required.
This type of tool is very popular in the construction of buildings and structures from scratch. To clog soft material with it, rubber caps are fitted so as not to deform the object.
Parquet hammer
Used for laying wooden parquet, for greater cohesion of boards and planks to each other. The peculiarity of this tool is that its work is carried out on the front side of the parquet and the blows inflicted by it should be as invisible as possible. Therefore, a damping material is glued to the head of such a hammer, which will help to avoid deformation of the edge of the parquet planks. There are varieties that have special legs that can slide on parquet floors, thereby fixing the tool at the required height.
plaster hammer 
This type of tool is presented extremely diversely: these are small hatchets with a striker, and hybrids of a hammer for a carpenter and a pickaxe hammer. The main task of this tool is to facilitate the installation and removal of dry plaster layers.
tile hammer
The main feature of this tool is its low weight (up to 100 grams) and the sharp side opposite the striker. The flat part of this tool is needed to break off pieces of ceramic tiles right along the notch.
Mallet and rubber mallet 
This tool is used to prevent damage to the surface of the part, products and tools that come into contact with the striker. It is used when it is necessary to work with fragile material. They hit the chisel and chisel with a mallet, hammering various products into grooves and all kinds of cuts. Professional mallets are made from larch. It is desirable that the mallet and chisel be made of the same material. The rubber hammer is mainly used in laying paving slabs and in automotive body repair.
There are also hammers to hammer something in zero gravity. They are specially made in such a way that, when struck, the hammer body does not bounce or “ricochet”. To do this, they are filled with metal shot.
The hammer is a tool familiar to mankind since the Stone Age. Then it was necessary as an instrument of defense against enemies and attacks on prey, but today it is used for creative purposes.
It is necessary to hold the hammer by the end of the handle firmly, but without squeezing too much, otherwise the hand will quickly get tired. After, the hand rises up, the handle takes a horizontal position and quickly falls. Thus, the striker should hit exactly on the head of the nail, and not on the fingers. And remember, the nail is hammered in two stages: first, you need to lightly bait it, and only then hit it. The main thing is to remove your fingers in time.
It is simple, it was invented to increase the force of a person's impact by an order of magnitude and to apply this force to one point.
