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Brick hammer vs club hammer

Updated: 23 October 2026

One job needs a brick cut and another needs a chisel through a mortar joint. The hammers look like neighbours. They are not. A brick hammer has a square face and a chisel peen. A club hammer has two flat faces and strikes something else, usually a bolster. This brick hammer vs club hammer page is that split. Lump hammer is the same tool under the other British name. The listings we kept are on the [mason's hammer comparison](/hub/hand-tools/mason-s-hammer). A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Products Compared used UK tool guides and those cards on 22 October 2026. We did not lab-test either head.

One job needs a brick cut and another needs a chisel through a mortar joint. The hammers look like neighbours. They are not. A brick hammer has a square face and a chisel peen.

Our top picks

Estwing Estwing E3/20BL 20 oz brick hammer

Best overall

Estwing Estwing E3/20BL 20 oz brick hammer
9.2/10about £47.86
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Roughneck Roughneck ROU61624 24 oz brick hammer

Best value

Roughneck Roughneck ROU61624 24 oz brick hammer
9.2/10about £16.20
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Faithfull Faithfull FAIHWALL walling hammer

Alternative

Faithfull Faithfull FAIHWALL walling hammer
8.2/10about £18.95
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Two different heads
  2. 2.When the brick hammer is the one
  3. 3.When the club hammer is the one
  4. 4.What not to mix in

Two different heads

Look at the ends of the head before the ounces. A brick hammer, sometimes sold as a mason’s hammer, has one blunt face and a chisel peen. The face sets the brick and opens a scored split. The peen cuts the groove. A club hammer has a face on both ends and no cutting edge. You hit a bolster, a cold chisel, or masonry you are breaking out. ITS describes that split: chisel-plus-face for bricks, double-faced for chisels and light demolition. A heavy brick hammer does not become a club hammer. Handles can look alike, in hickory, tubular steel, or one piece. INDG229 still says stop if the head is loose or the face is chipped.

When the brick hammer is the one

Use the brick hammer to trim a clay brick, cut a half on a marked line, or set a brick in the bed. The peen scores and the face finishes the split. You do not need a second hammer for that one cut if the peen is straight and the head is firm. In this set the brick examples are the Estwing at about £47.86, the Roughneck at about £16.20 and 24 oz, and the Spear & Jackson at about £19.50 with a one-piece claim and grip-slide reviews. The Blue Spot is the 16 oz title, with a head-off comment. None is a club hammer. The peen is the wrong striker for a wide bolster. A crooked peen, which some Roughneck reviews mention, will not follow a pencil line.
Estwing Estwing E3/20BL 20 oz brick hammer

Testsieger

Estwing Estwing E3/20BL 20 oz brick hammer
9.2/10about £47.86
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When the club hammer is the one

Use a club hammer when the cutting edge is a separate tool. DIY Doctor’s method beds the brick on sand and strikes a bolster with a club hammer. Two flat faces make that blow repeatable. Lump hammer is the same name in British tool English. BuildWiz treats the two names as one tool. A usual bolster weight in that guide is about 2.5 lb. InterDIY puts club hammers at about 800 g to 1.8 kg. Both figures are a rule of thumb, not BS 876. A club hammer bruises an arris. ITS calls a lump the wrong tool for fine dressing. Buy the brick hammer for dressing and setting. Buy the club hammer and a bolster when the blade should be wide.

What not to mix in

A walling hammer matches neither job. It dresses field stone, often at about 2½ lb to 4 lb. The only one kept here is the Faithfull, about £18.95, with a hickory haft. UK reviews praise the head on stone and describe the shaft snapping. It is not the striker for a bolster. Gate Foot Forge warns that a hard dressing hammer should not hit a chisel. A 4 lb club hammer was removed from this set as a misfit. There is no club hammer row to rank. Do not substitute the Faithfull, or the Alyco card, which mixes a mason’s hammer with a Garden style field and has no UK review texts. Grind a mushroomed bolster before you strike it. If either head moves, stop.

Common questions

Is a lump hammer the same as a club hammer?
Yes. In British tool English, lump hammer and club hammer are two names for the double-faced hammer. You do not buy one of each for the same bolster. You buy one, in a weight you can control, and you keep the brick hammer for the peen work the lump hammer cannot do.
Can you strike a bolster with a brick hammer?
You should not. The bolster wants a flat face square on its head, which is what the club hammer is for. The brick hammer’s peen is a cutting edge for the brick itself, and its face is not the usual striker for a wide blade. One brick can be scored with the peen alone. A course of cuts wants the bolster and the club hammer.
Can you trim a facing brick with a club hammer?
You can knock a brick apart, and you will bruise the arris. Fine dressing wants the chisel peen. UK guides describe the lump hammer as the wrong tool for that finish. Use the club hammer on the bolster when the split is the goal. Use the brick hammer when the edge has to be nibbled back to a line.
What weight club hammer do UK guides suggest?
BuildWiz treats about 2.5 lb as a usual bolster weight, and InterDIY describes a band of about 800 g to 1.8 kg. Both are publisher rules of thumb, not a British Standard and not a weight from this comparison. Choose a weight you can swing onto the bolster without glancing off, and ignore any table that pretends to be BS 876.
Why is there no club hammer on the comparison?
A 4 lb club hammer was taken out of this set because it is a different tool from the brick hammers and the walling hammer we kept. Ranking it beside a 20 oz peen would hide the head pattern this page is about. Shop the club hammer in its own category, and buy the bolster with it.

Related pages

Brick hammer buying guide

How to use a brick hammer

Mason's hammer

Best brick hammer: which listing fits your brick job

Walling hammer for dry-stone walls: weight and edge

Sources

Prices, stars, and review counts are amazon.co.uk listings dated 22 October 2026. BS 876:1995, ISO 15601:2000, HSE guidance on hand tools, eye protection and paving cuts, and the Dry Stone Walling Association tool list are the public sources. None of these listings states BS 876. This is not a lab strike test.

  1. HSE INDG229: Using hand tools (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. HSE: Using the right type of PPE (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. HSE: Cutting paving, blocks, kerbs and flags (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. BSI Knowledge: BS 876:1995, specification for hand hammers (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. ISO 15601:2000, assembly tools for screws and nuts, forging and striking tools (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. Dry Stone Walling Association: tools (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. DIY Doctor: using a brick bolster (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. ITS: a guide to hammers (retrieved 22 October 2026)