A hammer-head comprising an optimally designed set of nail extraction claws oriented at a predetermined tangency angle relative to an integrally mounted anvil. The hammer-head is to be used with an integral or removable handle to minimize the forces required in extraction of nails and in exercising prying forces by such tools as a common hammer, a crowbar, or a lever with a stationary or movable fulcrum point. An optimization methodology based on minimization of the nail extraction energy or minimization of the nail extraction energy is implemented in a design methodology and an algorithm for the synthesis of the optimal contour shape of the claws. Boundary conditions, constraints, constitutive models, and governing equations for this design methodology are derived from the length of nails and the engagement conditions between the nail, the board, and the hammer, and the outcome facilitates the design of a single optimum claw contour for extraction of a range of nail sizes, or a family of claw contours for the extraction of varying ranges of nails.
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