A heavy hunk of metal attached to a handle to pound things into submission doesn’t seem like it’s all that far removed from a convenient rock picked up off the ground and used to pound things into submission. But there are actually a lot more types of hammers than you think, and a lot more uses for them than you might imagine—and using the wrong one can make a job harder than it needs to be. Here are the different types of hammers you might need around the house, and when you should be using each one.
Claw hammer
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This is kind of the default hammer just about everyone has in their toolbox, even if they’ve never actually used it. It typically has a round face, a curved claw, and a handle made of wood, steel, or fiberglass with a shock-absorbing cover over the handle. If you close your eyes and picture a hammer, this is what you’re picturing.
What to use it for: Think of this as a “general purpose” hammer. It’ll drive and pull nails pretty effectively, and it’ll step up any time you need to hit something with force. If you aren’t sure about sizing, opt for a mid-size hammer of about 16 ounces. That will be sufficient for basic projects. Sometimes people make a distinction between a regular claw hammer and an “electrician’s hammer,” but the main difference is that the latter usually has a non-conductive handle to avoid deadly accidents.
Ball peen hammer
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If you inherited a hammer that has a flat face and a ball-shaped bit in the back instead of a claw, it’s a ball peen. Like a claw hammer, it comes in a variety of sizes and weights but the distinctive shape of the head is instantly recognizable.
What to use it for: Mainly used in metal working—the word “peen” refers to shaping metal via hammering. If you need to bend metal or work with a cold chisel, a ball peen hammer is the appropriate tool.
Club and sledgehammers
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The smaller and larger version of the same hammer, the club or sledgehammer has a symmetrical head with a broad face on each end. They tend to be heavy (sledgehammers can weigh more than ten pounds), and they’re not intended for careful, detail-oriented work.
What to use it for: Sledge and club hammers are commonly used in demolition, smashing things to pieces, but they can also be employed for driving stakes. The club version can be wielded one-handed, but your choice between the two will depend largely on the scale of destruction you intend or the size of the stakes you’re driving.
Dead blow hammer
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A dead blow hammer resembles a club hammer, but the head is typically semi-hollow and filled with sand or pellets. This allows the force of the strike to be absorbed immediately after you hit whatever it is you’re hammering, so it doesn’t bounce back or inflict damage on surfaces.
What to use it for: Hammering things into place without damage—for example, joining wooden sections or forcing machined parts into place without leaving dents or other scars.
Drywall hammer
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Drywall installation can seem easy to the inexperienced DIYer, but the education is often harsh. One big mistake people make is assuming you can use any old claw hammer you have lying around to hang drywall. While technically true, you won’t get best results nailing up drywall unless you use the right hammer. Drywall hammers have wide faces with a cross-hatch etching on them, and hatchets on the back side of the head for scoring and cutting drywall on the fly.
What to use it for: Drywall, baby. The hatched face makes a dimple in the drywall when you drive the nail, ideal for filling in with joint compound later. The hatchet can quickly cut drywall to size or carve out holes for outlets—but you need a bit of practice before getting best results.
Roofing hammer
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Sometimes called a shingle hammer, this has a flat, square face on one end of the head and a sharp hatchet bit on the other side. They’re usually pretty hefty, and they’re used to alternately drive roofing nails and cut wood shingles to size.
What to use it for: You guessed it: shingle roofing.
Framing hammer
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A framing hammer is a specialized hammer that resembles a regular claw hammer. Instead of a curved claw, though, it has a straight claw on the rear of the head, and the face is usually dimpled. They’re heavy and usually have long handles, and are designed to drive nails with accurate, powerful force. The claws are designed to pry pieces apart and are often used to pick up pieces of framing lumber.
What to use it for: Framing, and that’s it. If you’re building a wall, your job will be easier with a framing hammer. Sometimes people will call a hammer with a straight claw like this a “ripping” hammer because it can be used to easily tear stuff apart, but any hammer with a straight claw can be a ripping hammer.
Tack hammer
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If you’ve ever tried using a claw hammer on some carpet tacks or other tiny fasteners, you know how difficult it can be. A tack hammer is designed specifically for these applications. They’re small, relatively light, and have narrow, pointy heads that are designed to strike tiny tacks instead of nails. The claws are also narrow and suited only for tacks.
What to use it for: If you’re upholstering something, or tacking down carpet or carpet padding, this is the hammer for you.
Hatchet hammer
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Similar to a drywall hammer, the hatchet hammer has a standard round face on one side and a hatchet blade on the other. As a result, it might just be the most dangerous hammer you can own.
What to use it for: Hatchet hammers are useful any time your project combines cutting and nailing, as you can easily jump between chopping materials down to size and nailing them into place. They’re a good multi-function tool to have on hand, as one can capably replace both a hammer and a small hatchet in your toolbox.
Rock hammer
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Sometimes called a pick or a geological hammer, this is the tool Andy Dufresne used to escape prison in The Shawshank Redemption, so there’s one use: Prison escapes that take decades to accomplish. It’s a small, relatively lightweight hammer with a square, flat face on one end and a chisel on the other.
What to use it for: The other use for a rock hammer is splitting small rocks into even smaller rocks. As such, it’s a pretty niche hammer, but it can come in handy if you need to chop mortar out from between bricks or have some quick and dirty chisel work that requires more force than accuracy.
Scutch or Mason’s hammer
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Mason’s hammers will have a small square face on one end and either a chisel-like claw or a scutch comb on the other. They are specialized masonry tools designed to snap bricks to size as you work.
What to use it for: Masonry work. The chisel claw or scutch comb allows a mason to quickly chisel a brick or other stone piece without having to use two hands to hold a chisel and a striking tool, speeding up their work.
Cross peen/straight peen hammer
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These two hammers are very similar. They’re usually heavy, and have a flat striking face on one end and a wedge-shaped face on the other; a straight peen hammer has this wedge oriented vertically while a cross peen hammer’s wedge is oriented horizontally.
What to use it for: They are used mostly in metalworking and blacksmithing to spread and work metal, but some folks like to use cross peen hammers for nailing projects because you can use the wedge-shaped peen to tap the nail into place accurately and then switch to the flat face to drive it home.
There are even more types of hammers, but they’re all increasingly specialized—unless you’re a linesman, chances are you don’t need a linesman’s hammer, and unless your home DIY projects include de-scaling your boiler, you probably don’t need a scaling hammer. Even so, if you’re going to do the jobs around the house right, you need a surprising number of specific hammers.
