My hammer handle split mid swing and sent the head flying across the shop

3 comments

3 Comments

That split handle proves it was working right, honestly. A good tool fails at its weak point to warn you before something worse happens.

hugow301mo ago

Wait, that's not really how tool design works though... A split handle is usually just a crack from stress or bad wood grain, not some planned weak spot. If they wanted a safety break point, they'd engineer a specific notch or thinner section. This looks like plain old failure to me.

ray_king1mo ago

Yeah I gotta disagree with blake_murray on this one. A handle splitting while you're swinging it is just a failure, not a safety feature. A real weak point would be designed to fail safely, not send a metal head flying at speed!