Hammers haven’t changed much in hundreds of years, save a few minor tweaks with materials and aesthetics for branding. But, though they haven’t changed, the old saying still goes, “hammers are the hammers of the construction industry.” Don’t quote me on that. Everybody has a hammer, even people who can barely even hold a hammer. Hammers are even used to make other hammers, here’s proof. So, when a new hammer hits the market, it’s not really that big of a deal, unless, of course, it’s the only one to provide an adjustable claw.
Craftsman has recently released an 18 ounce Flex Claw Hammer, which provides 4 different claw positions to give you greater leverage for prying at the perfect angle. Just press the button on the joint head, rotate it to the correct angle, release the button, and get dirty. The hammer also comes equipped with a magnetic nail starter for one hand nailing and a large striking face for solid contact. The hammer retails for $19.99 at Sears, so it’s a pretty good value.
Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first hammer designed with a flexible claw. We were able to dig up a patent from 1953 created by Ray W Johnson. It’s a different design with the general idea of increasing the hammer’s leverage being the same. In Johnson’s design, he used an additional “adjustable fulcrum” on the top of the hammer to allow longer nails to be more easily pulled out of a material. We’re not sure if Johnson’s adjustable leverage hammer ever made it to market, but it’s pretty cool to see an idea from 60 years still relevant today. You can view the patent images from Johnson below.
Last summer, Hilti announced that they had developed their first exoskeleton designed for construction tradespeople in a partnership with Ottobuck, a prosthetics, orthotics, and exoskeleton provider. Earlier this month, Hilti officially released the exoskeleton, announced more details, and published its retail price on their website.