HeadOne of the two main components, shaped by hot forging. Hammers are sized by the weight of this piece: claw hammers run from 7 oz to 32 oz, and a common curved claw hammer is 20 oz or less.
Smooth faceThe striking surface, which a worksheet calls simply the face. It can be flat (plain faced) or slightly convex (bell faced). A bell face is less likely to bend a nail that is struck at an angle.
PollThe broad striking end of the head. It is the block that carries the face. The face, this block and the claws are heat treated so they do not chip or crack in use. The blunt back of an axe goes by the same word.
NeckJoins the poll to the main body of the head. It is a slightly tapered section.
CheekThe head's side, next to the eye. It is not a striking surface: workplace safety guidance says never to strike with the side or cheek of a hammer.
Curved clawA pair of claws with a V between them. The V catches a nail under its head. Rocking the hammer back levers the nail out, and the more the claw curves and the longer the handle, the greater the leverage.
EyeThe hole in the head where the handle fits. It is called an adze eye on a claw hammer. A design introduced in 1840 tapers the head down around the opening, which gives the handle more bearing surface when nails are pulled.
Checkered faceAlso called a milled face, and typical of framing hammers. The grid grips the nail and reduces skip-off when a blow is not square. It marks the wood like a waffle, which does not matter in rough carpentry.
Straight clawA hammer with this claw is a rip hammer. It still pulls nails, but it is made for prying nailed boards apart, so it gives less nail-pulling leverage than a curved one.
Handle and fit 3
HandleAlso called the haft or helve. Wood ones are most often hickory or ash, tough woods that soak up shock. It is 12 to 13 inches long on a common curved claw hammer. Steel and fiberglass are the other materials.
WedgeA wood wedge spreads the handle against the inside of the eye. It is tapped into a slot across the handle's top. Two smaller steel wedges driven crossways lock it. Steel and fiberglass handles are bonded with epoxy.
GripSteel and fiberglass handles usually carry a contoured sleeve of synthetic rubber. It absorbs shock and protects the handle from a missed blow. A wood handle has no separate one: the wood itself is shaped for the hand.
How this list was compiled: Every part on the drawing is named by at least two independent references, all read on 2026-09-19 for facts only, with nothing copied. (1) Wikipedia, Claw hammer, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claw_hammer: metal head and handle, the poll with a smooth or textured surface used for driving, the pair of downward curving V-shaped claws, more curve and a longer handle giving more leverage, the hole in the head for the handle, the steel wedge, one-piece forged steel hammers with polymer grips, the framing hammer's checkered milled face and straighter claw, head weights from 7 to 32 oz. (2) Wikipedia, Hammer, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer: face, head, neck, eye and cheek as part names, haft and helve as other words for the handle, hickory or ash for wood handles, a head fastened by a wedge or by glue. (3) Wikipedia, Framing hammer, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_hammer: a rip hammer with a straight claw, the milled face as a waffle-like grid of small pyramids, less nail-pulling leverage than a curved claw, hickory handles, rubber grips on steel and fiberglass handles. (4) How Products Are Made, Volume 4, Hammer, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Hammer.html: head and handle as the two major components, face (plain faced, bell faced, checkered), poll, neck, adze eye, cheek, claw, the 1840 head that tapers down around the handle opening, hot forging, heat treating of the face, poll and claws, a 7 to 20 oz head and a 12 to 13 inch handle on a common curved claw hammer, handles up to 18 inches on a framing hammer, the straight claw driven between nailed boards, the contoured synthetic rubber grip, wood handles having no separate grip, one wood wedge locked by two steel wedges, epoxy for steel and fiber cores. (5) Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, OSH Answers, Hand Tools: Hammers, https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/safety_haz/hand_tools/hammers.html: striking face, head, handle, claw and eye sections, and the rule not to strike with the side or cheek. (6) USDA Forest Service, Handtools for Trail Work, https://www.fs.usda.gov/t-d/pubs/htmlpubs/htm05232810/page09.htm: nail hammers have a heat-treated steel face and claws on the other end, wood handles are usually hickory, the wedge slot. (7) Wiktionary, poll, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/poll: an axe's or hammer's broad or butt end. Labels, hints, detail lines, groups and position notes were written for this site. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site, 2026-09-19. Own original line drawing, built from our own measurements, part list and layout brief; nothing was traced or copied, no picture was opened, and no maker's shape, name or mark is shown. Read for accuracy (text only): Wikipedia, Claw hammer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claw_hammer) and Framing hammer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_hammer), and How Products Are Made, Volume 4, Hammer (http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Hammer.html). The left hammer is drawn as a 13 inch tool and the right one as a 15 inch tool at a slightly smaller scale, so the right one looks less oversized than it is; the view from above is about 1.3 times the size of the left hammer and the round close-up is enlarged further; the neck and both handles are a little thicker than life so they can be tapped, and the thin ends of both claws are drawn a touch thicker than life so they do not close up into a solid line. Licence: own work
How it works
Two claw hammers stand side by side: a wood-handled one with a curved claw, and a one-piece steel framing hammer with a straight claw. Twelve rings mark the parts, from the face and poll to the wedge that holds the head on. Find each part, or name the ring that lights up.
Read the full guide
Why 12 parts need two hammers
Nine parts are in the group The head: head, smooth face, poll, neck, cheek, eye and curved claw on the left hammer, then the checkered face and straight claw on the right. Handle and fit holds four: handle, eye, wedge and grip. No single hammer has all 12. A wood handle is wedged in and has no separate grip, and a steel handle is the reverse. The view from above shows the eye and wedges, which a side view hides.
From first look to clean round
Start in Study and tap each ring for its detail line. Find it names a part for you to tap. Name it is harder, because you recall the word yourself. Type it takes plain names too: face for either face, claw for either claw, haft or helve for the handle. Print blank is a sheet to fill in, and Print labelled is its key.
Learn the head from left to right: face, poll, neck, cheek, claw. The names follow the steel from striking end to pulling end.
Poll and cheek are the pair people swap: the poll is the block behind the face, the cheek is the flat side beside the eye.
After a round, the big button brings back the parts you missed.
Questions and answers
What are the main parts of a hammer?
The head and the handle. On a claw hammer the head has a face that strikes the nail, a poll behind it, a neck, a cheek beside the eye, and a claw for pulling nails. A wood handle is wedged into the eye. Steel and fiberglass ones usually carry a rubber grip.
What is the end of a hammer called?
The striking end is the poll, and its striking surface is the face. The other end of a claw hammer's head is the claw. On a ball-peen or cross-peen hammer that end is the peen, which is why no ring here names one.
Where do the names come from, and is this safety training?
They were checked on 19 September 2026 against three encyclopedia articles, a dictionary entry, a published account of how hammers are made, and two government guides to hand tools. The drawing is original work. The page teaches vocabulary and is not safety training.