Hammer

:For the sport, see Hammer throw. For other uses see Hammer (disambiguation).

Related Topics:
Hammer throw - Hammer (disambiguation)

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A hammer is a tool meant to deliver blows to a target, causing it to move or deform. The most common uses are for driving nails, fitting parts, and breaking up objects. Hammers are often designed for a specific purpose, and so their design varies quite a lot. Usual features are a handle and a head, with the balance firmly in the head. The head is composed of a flat striking surface on one end, and a peen on the other. The peen can be shaped like a claw or wedge to pull nails, or like a ball as in the ball-peen hammer.

Related Topics:
Tool - Nail

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The hammer is used in many professions, and is one of the most basic tools along with the knife.

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Like the knife (and almost all tools), the hammer can also be used as a weapon. The concept of putting a handle on a weight to make it more convenient to use may well have led to the very first tools and/or weapons ever invented. In the Middle Ages, the war hammer was developed when edged weapons could no longer easily penetrate some forms of armour.

Related Topics:
Weapon - Middle Ages - War hammer

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The hammer takes its place in modern weapons in the form of the firearm hammer or firing-pin hammer, a component of a firearm which strikes the percussion-sensitive part of a cartridge causing the firearm to discharge.

Related Topics:
Firearm - Cartridge

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The use of a hammer to fix broken machinery is jokingly referred to as percussive maintenance.

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Well-known forms include:

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• Carpenter's hammer (used for nailing), including...
• framing hammer
• claw hammer
• Upholsterery hammer
• Construction hammer, including sledgehammer
• Ball-peen hammer or Mechanic's hammer,
• Cross-peen hammer
• Mallet, including rubber hammer and dead blow hammer.
• Maul
• Sledgehammer
• Steam hammer
• Stonemason's hammer
• Lump hammer or club hammer
• Firearm hammer
• Gavel used by judges and presiding authorities in general

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image:hammer2.jpg|Claw hammer

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Image:Hammer tapissier.jpg|Upholstery hammer

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Image:Ball-peen hammer 380mm.JPG|Ball-peen hammer

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Image:Sledgehammer.jpg|Sledgehammer

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Image:Mallet.jpg|Rubber mallet

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Image:Wooden mallet.JPG|Wooden mallet

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In professional framing carpentry, the hammer has almost been completely replaced by the nail gun.

Related Topics:
Framing - Carpentry - Nail gun

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Hammer blows feature in Mahler's sixth symphony, representing blows of fate. A hammer is also used in the third of Alban Berg's Three Pieces for Orchestra, in tribute to Mahler.

Related Topics:
Mahler - Sixth symphony - Alban Berg

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A common adage states that "When all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."

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Hammers have become the largest used tool, with over 40 million sold in the United States every year.

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Hammer: See also ►