Sledgehammer

A sledgehammer is a tool with a flat, massive, often metal head attached to a long wooden or solid handle; the combination of a long handle and heavy head lets the user build up considerable momentum during a swing, delivering far more force than an ordinary hammer used for driving nails. Rather than concentrating that force into a small point the way a claw hammer does, a sledgehammer spreads it over a wider striking area, more like a mallet, which suits driving stakes, breaking masonry or shaping hot metal at a forge. The handle typically runs from about 50 centimeters up to a meter long, and the head typically weighs from about one to nine kilograms, with some heavy duty modern versions carrying heads of ten to twenty pounds; swinging one properly takes both hands and a full turn of the torso. The word sledgehammer comes from the Old English slaegan, meaning to strike violently, a root also shared by the English words slay and slog.