Upholstery Hammer

An upholstery hammer, also called a tack hammer, is a lightweight hammer used for securing upholstery fabric to furniture frames using tacks or small nails. Its head is narrow, about 12 to 15 millimetres in diameter, usually cast in bronze with a fused steel tip, and many versions carry two striking faces: a magnetized face for holding a tack in place before it is driven, and a larger face for driving it home. Upholsterers historically held tacks in their mouths and spat them onto the magnetized face, the origin of the expression "spitting tacks"; a patent for a magnetized tack hammer dates to 1861. Staple guns and hammer tackers have largely replaced the upholstery hammer in modern production work, but it remains standard in antiques restoration and hobbyist upholstery.