Hammer

A hammer is a tool that delivers a blow (a sudden impact) to an object. Most hammers are hand tools used to drive nails, fit parts, forge metal, and break apart objects. Hammers vary in shape, size, and structure, depending on their purposes.

Hammers are basic tools in many trades. The usual features are a head (most often made of steel) and a handle (also called a helve or haft). Most hammers are hand tools, but there are also many powered versions, called power hammers (such as steam hammers and trip hammers) for heavier uses, such as forging.

Some hammers have other names, such as sledgehammer, mallet and gavel. The term "hammer" also applies to some other devices that deliver blows, such as the hammer of a firearm or the hammer of a piano.

History

The use of simple hammers dates to about 2,600,000 BCE when various shaped stones were used to strike wood, bone, or other stones to break them apart and shape them. Stones attached to sticks with strips of leather or animal sinew were being used as hammers with handles by about 30,000 BCE during the middle of the Paleolithic Stone Age.