How to choose a hammer Any tradesperson worth employing will tell you that. “A bad worker blames his or her tools!” But of course if you work with poor tools you’re not going to get the great results that you hope for… In a kitchen the basics are a sharp knife, three sizes of saucepans, a chopping board and a couple of mixing bowls…forget all those fancy gadgets, good chefs can create wonders using these basic pieces of equipment…but as all chefs will tell you, buy the best quality you can afford. You know what it’s like trying to slice tomatoes with a blunt knife, trying to fry an omelette in a cheap frying pan…the results are squashed, boshed or burnt… Well the same is true in DIY…using poor tools and materials is a sure fire way to get poor results. Now when you have spent all your precious weekend trying to put up shelves and paint walls, you want to have a good result to show for it. Well as every Boy Scout will tell you, “to fail to prepare…is to prepare to fail” Here is the second of my essential toolbox contents list. How to choose a hammer. Hammers Knocking nails on the head, gently tapping in a panel pin, pulling out old nails. And of course all those bish, bash, bosh situations when you need to give it some 'Welly'. But not all hammers do the same jobs. There is your claw hammer, panel pin hammer, mallet, or sledge hammer. Which one to buy & for what job? Getting a nail 'in' or 'out' is not so much down to strength more technique...so make sure that you have the right hammer for the job. What to look for? :
- Like any tool, look for a quality product. Hammers are, by their very nature, going to be hitting things and therefore need to be strong, Ideally they should be made from one continuous piece of metal, to ensure both strength and a 'clean' strike i.e. the hammer doesnt vibrate undully in your hand.
- Wood, metal or plastic handles? I prefer to use a hammer where the head and shaft is 'one'. New wood hammers will be fine but older wood handled hammers can have loose heads that dont allow an even strike or worse, can fly off mid strike!
- Choose a hammer that fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. If the shaft is too thin or too thick it will not be comfortable to grip and you will either end up with blisters or it will slip constantly.
- Comfortable handles – an absolute must if you are using it for any length of time. Firm grip handles will also prevent the screwdriver slipping in your hand.
- A hammer should be well balanced. If you pick it up and it feels too 'top heavy' then you wont find it easy to use.
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How to choose a hammer Which Hammer For What Job? Claw Hammer  This is your standard hammer with a rounded head and a fork shape head. The round head drives nails in while the claw head extracts nails.
This is a multi purpose hammer that will give you enough force to handle most every day DIY hammering jobs. The head is rather large as well as being quite heavy and so this sort of hammer is best suited to larger nails for general construction and banging in floor board nails. This hammer is not the best choice for more delicate jobs such as tapping in small panel pins and more delicate fixings. For this you will need... Pin Hammer  This is a much thinner, lighter and smaller headed hammer. This hammer is gently balanced and means you can tap gently and more accurately at small pannel pins and other fixings that do not need a lot of force.
I tend to use the pin hammer to put up pictures, tap in the backs of flat pack units, constructing simple frames and upholstery work. Sledge Hammer  Well the name says it all really. Sledge hammers are for demolition work. They don't really count in the essential toolbox, unless you knock down walls on a regular basis.
Sledge hammers come in many sizes and can be very heavy. Like all hammers make sure that the sledge hammer is well balanced and easy to swing comfortabley. Be very careful when using a sledge hammer. These little brutes gain a huge amount of momentum and can be difficult to stop mid swing. Make sure that you give yourself enough room to throw a swing and make sure that you know what is behind you! Mallets These arent really hammers, but often get confused with them because of their shape and general use. There are two sorts of Mallet. Wood mallet and Lump mallet.  Wood mallets are used by carpenters for gentle tapping of other tools, such as chisels, in the shaping process. Never use a wood mallet as a general hammer as you will ruine its construction.
 Lump mallets are really small sledge hammers used by builders to apply force to coal (metal) chissels for chasing (creating channels) and general brick work. Lump mallets are far too ...well lumpy to be used in place of a claw hammer. You will likely do a very poor job if you try banging in nails with a lump mallet.
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