Question

Are "claw hammer", "ball-peen hammer", and "sledgehammer" proper nouns in this sentence.

"There are many types of hammers, the claw hammer, the ball-peen hammer, and the sledgehammer."

Because in the instructions for my homework, it says specific things, or examples are proper nouns, but when I did some research it says that proper nouns are always capitalized, so I am a bit confused.

Answer 1

No.

Proper nouns have capital letters at the beginning because they are formal names or titles.
San Francisco
James Stewart
St. Louis, Missouri
Pope John Paul XXIII

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/nouns.htm
<i>A proper noun, which names a specific person, place, or thing (Carlos, Queen Marguerite, Middle East, Jerusalem, Malaysia, Presbyterianism, God, Spanish, Buddhism, the Republican Party), is almost always capitalized. A proper noun used as an addressed person's name is called a noun of address. Common nouns name everything else, things that usually are not capitalized.</i>

Answer 2

Those are common nouns. My claw hammer is the same as my neighbor's, yours, and those in the hardware store.

Answer 3

Please discuss this with your teacher. The text is not teaching correct things, and your teacher should have caught this.