Framing hammer

How it works

The framing hammer is swung from the end of a long handle so that a heavy head meets the nail head squarely. Fine Homebuilding gives the usual head weight as 18 to 32 ounces, enough to drive 8d, 16d and larger nails, against 7 to 16 ounces for a finish hammer. Estwing says the longer handle of its steel framing hammer is for more striking power.

The milled face is cut with a raised pattern, called a waffle face, that grips the nail head the way tread grips a road. Fine Homebuilding says this gives more control when toenailing, and can help coax a bent nail straight. The same pattern shreds the surface of the wood and is a poor choice where the work must remain unmarked.

Many framing hammers also carry a means of holding a nail. Gansen’s 1991 patent describes a boss with tapered grooves that hold a nail projecting from the side of the head so it can be started with one hand in an inaccessible place, and notes that framing hammers had already been given tapered slots for the purpose. Stiletto describes a magnetic nail starter that fits nails up to 16d and duplex nails. The claw works as it does on the general claw hammer, which is described in that entry.

Anatomy

Milled face: The striking surface, cut with a serrated or checked pattern; also called a waffle face. Smooth faces are made for the same heads.
Claw: Usually a straight claw, called a rip claw by the collector interviewed by the Journal of Light Construction; used for prying and ripping as well as pulling nails.
Nail holder: A magnetic nail starter or a tapered slot in the head or neck that holds a nail for one-handed starting.
Neck tooth: On the Estwing Hammertooth, a notch between the claw and a tooth that grips the edge of a 2x board.
Handle: Hickory, fiberglass or steel; Estwing’s framing hammers are 13.75 or 16 inches overall, Stiletto’s 15 oz titanium model 18 inches.
Replaceable face: On Stiletto all-titanium hammers, a steel face bolted to the titanium head, sold in milled and smooth versions.

Variants

One-piece steel framing hammer: Head and handle forged in one piece, as in Estwing’s E3 series of 20, 22, 24, 28 and 30 oz heads with milled or smooth faces.
Hammertooth: A framing hammer with a tooth on the neck for straightening 2x boards against plates and rim joists, according to Estwing.
Titanium framing hammer: A lighter head of titanium with a replaceable steel face; Stiletto’s TiBone has a 15 oz head and a 33.2 oz total weight, and the company says it strikes like a heavier steel hammer.
Axe-handled “California framer”: A long-handled hammer with a large milled face that the collector interviewed by the Journal of Light Construction dates to the 1980s, made by Hart and by Dalluge. The name is now trademarked.
Recessed-face framing hammer: A hammer whose milled disk is set just below a smooth outer rim to keep the milling from wearing smooth; the Hardcore Hammer, reviewed by Fine Homebuilding in 2011.
Dead blow framing hammer: A steel framing hammer whose head holds a canister of movable shot to reduce rebound, as described in Carmien’s 2001 patent.

Specifications

Head weight · oz: 18 to 32 (Fine Homebuilding); Estwing offers 20 to 30Titanium heads are lighter for the same claimed striking force.
Overall length · in: Estwing’s framing hammers are 13.75 in. or 16 in.; Stiletto lists an 18 in. handle on its 15 oz TiBone.
Face · milled or smooth: Both are offered on the same heads by Estwing and Stiletto.

Made to

ASME B107.400

Safety and care

Safety

Do not strike hardened steel tools such as cat’s paws, chisels or punches with a framing hammer. Stiletto excludes damage from such use from its warranty, and Estwing says a nail hammer is for driving and withdrawing common nails only.
Estwing states that OSHA 29 CFR 1910.133 requires eye protection both for workers using striking tools and for workers in the immediate area.
The general cautions of CCOHS for hammers, which are listed in the claw hammer entry, apply.

Care

Wipe off dirt, grease and moisture before storing the hammer, and store it clean and dry (Estwing).
Discard the hammer if the face is chipped or dented or has mushroomed, if the claw is cracked, or if the handle is dented (Estwing).
On a Stiletto all-titanium hammer, replace a worn steel face and a worn grip; the company sells both (Stiletto).

Tips

Use the milled face for toenailing, and a smooth face for trim
The raised pattern holds the nail head as it is struck and gives control at a steep angle, and it can help straighten a nail that has started to bend. The same pattern shreds the wood surface, so a smooth-faced hammer is the choice where the work must stay unmarked.1
Straighten studs and joists with the Hammertooth
The space between the claw and the tooth on the neck is made to grab the edge of a 2x board, so a framer can pull studs, joists and trusses into line against plates and rim joists.1
Start a nail one-handed from the side of the head
A tapered slot or magnetic starter in the head holds the nail with its point out, so the hammer can start it where there is no room for a second hand. Stiletto says its magnetic starter takes nails up to 16d and duplex nails.1 2
Hold the handle toward the end for heavy work
Leonard’s machine-shop text advises against gripping a hammer in the middle, as a beginner does, and says that for the heaviest work it should be held at the extreme end of the handle. The longer handle of a framing hammer is made to use that leverage.1 2
Swap a titanium hammer’s face instead of replacing the hammer
On Stiletto’s all-titanium models the steel face is replaceable and comes in milled and smooth versions, so one head can serve for framing and for trim. Hickory and fiberglass Stiletto models have titanium heads from which the face cannot be removed.1 2
Use the side nail puller for a full-length nail
Stiletto’s specification sheet says the patented side nail puller on its TiBone eases a 16d nail out in one 180 degree motion.1

History

Earliest documented

1960s

United States

A collector of milled-face framing hammers, interviewed in the Journal of Light Construction, reports that as early as the 1960s Stanley, Vaughan and Plumb made hammers with a milled face and a rip claw, usually called decking hammers. He describes framing hammers as used almost exclusively in the United States and Japan, and as a fairly recent development among hand tools. No dated catalog or patent for these hammers has been located.1

The framing hammer is a specialization of the claw hammer, whose general history belongs to that entry. The collector interviewed by the Journal of Light Construction places the first milled-face rip-claw hammers in the 1960s, under the name decking hammer, and calls the framing hammer a fairly recent development used almost exclusively in the United States and Japan. His account is the earliest located; no catalog or patent from that decade has yet been read.

The same account describes how the form was settled. In the 1970s carpenters were making their own from rigger’s axes. By the 1980s Hart and Dalluge sold a hammer with a larger milled face and a longer ax-pattern handle, and once those sold well all the large hammer makers offered their own versions. The collector reports that a patent search returns more than 60 patents on the type. Gansen’s 1991 patent shows one line of that work: a nail-holding boss, which the patent says followed earlier tapered slots.

The face is the feature that separates the framing hammer from its neighbors. Fine Homebuilding explains the waffle face as traction on the nail head, useful in toenailing, and also warns that it shreds a wood surface. The wear of the pattern was itself the subject of a design: the Hardcore Hammer recesses the milling below a smooth rim so that it does not wear smooth, though the Fine Homebuilding writer said he was skeptical of the maker’s claim about fingers. Whether milled or smooth faces serve better is an argument of its own in this archive.

Weight and rebound drove the later changes. A heavy steel head returns energy to the hand, and Carmien’s patent describes the cost: more blows, harder swings, or a heavier head. His answer was a canister of movable pellets in a steel head. Stiletto’s answer was titanium. The company says its heads weigh 45 percent less than steel, strike like steel and produce one tenth of the recoil shock. These are the company’s statements; no independent test of them has been located. The collector reports that an early Stiletto with a titanium head and aluminum handle suffered breaks at the head-to-handle connection, which led to the one-piece cast titanium head with a replaceable steel face, and that a competitor’s titanium hammers left production because Stiletto owned the patents on titanium heads.

O*NET’s Tools Used table gives framing hammers as an example tool for one occupation, carpenters, while its hammer commodity class, which includes the framing hammer, appears in 100 occupations. The framing hammer is thus a specialist’s tool within a very widely used class.

Timeline

1960s
Stanley, Vaughan and Plumb sell hammers with a milled face and a rip claw, usually called decking hammers, according to the collector interviewed by the Journal of Light Construction.1
1970s
Carpenters make their own framing hammers by cutting the blade from a rigger’s ax and welding on claws, according to the same account.1
1980s
Hart and Dalluge each make a hammer with a larger milled face and a longer ax-pattern handle; the form is called the California framer.1
1991
Michael J. Gansen files for a patent on a framing hammer with a boss holding a nail in tapered grooves, granted 3 November 1992 as US 5,159,858; the patent says framing hammers had previously been given tapered slots for nails.1
1994
Greg Gossage of Santa Rosa, California, files a trademark for a side-striking framing hammer with a milled face and a milled side.1
2001
Carmien is granted US 6,234,048 (filed 2000) for a hammer with a hardened steel head, such as a carpenter’s framing hammer, holding a canister of movable filler to reduce rebound.1
2003
Fine Homebuilding describes framing hammer heads of 18 to 32 oz with a serrated face, and notes that claw hammers were by then being made with titanium heads.1
2011
Fine Homebuilding reviews the Hardcore Hammer, which sets a milled disk just below a smooth rim so the milling does not wear smooth.1

Where the sources disagree

How long has Stiletto been in business?

The company traces its history to the California Gold Rush and has made tools since 1849.1 2
Stiletto Tool Company (specification sheet) and its manufacturer description in the Journal of Light Construction
Stiletto Tools has been the “Standard of the West” since 1901.1
Stiletto Tools company profile in New Equipment Digest

Gaps in the record (6)

The origin of the milled face has not been located; no patent or dated catalog earlier than the collector’s 1960s account has been read.
Stiletto’s titanium patents and the year its titanium hammers were introduced have not been located. The collector’s account is undated on these points.
No independent test of slip resistance for milled and smooth faces has been located, so the framing-hammer-face argument stays open.
No independent measurement of titanium hammer recoil, weight or durability has been located; weights and recoil figures are the company’s.
The collector’s account in the Journal of Light Construction is a secondary report of one person’s research.
The text of ASME B107.400 was not read; only its table of contents. The standard slug is unverified.