Framing hammer

22-ounce wooden-handled framing hammer with milled head

Framing hammers are larger claw hammers used for framing houses in North America. The hammer heads typically weigh from 20 to 32 ounces (567 to 907 grams). Heavy heads, longer handles and milled faces allow for driving large nails quickly into 2x material.

The milled face consists of a waffle-like grid of small four sided pyramids. Nails typically used for framing have a grid of intersecting raised metal lines on the head of the nail. The raised marks on the head of the hammer grip this grid, which helps to prevent the hammer from sliding off the nail head when striking a nail. Since the frame typically will not be seen on the finished house, the inevitable marring of wood surfaces by the milled hammer face is not an issue.

Typically the head will be made of steel and the handle of wood, but all-steel versions are also available. Also, fiberglass is becoming a common handle material.

Framing hammers have increasingly been replaced by nail guns.