Project Overview

Workplace injury has disastrous effects on both the worker and the economy, and often caused by poorly designed hand tools not suitable for the task intended. Most likely everybody knows someone that has hurt themselves working, if not themselves, so it is a constant complaint that needs solving, especially in our aging demographic work force, people are more susceptible to injury as they age.

The Evolution Claw Hammer aims to reduce workplace injury incidence commonly associated with striking hand tools and keep the trade professionals on their tools longer and safer than ever before.

Organisation

Peter Fegan

Project Brief

It is a constant challenge to constantly try to find ways to make manual work easier and safer, to protect the worker from potential injury or strain from Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI) as experienced with users of striking hand tools.
It is also a matter of education in occupational health and safety for workers that use these types of hand tools as part of their regular practice, but also for the DIY'er or Weekend Warrior that can easily injure themselves from only casual exposure to a striking tool from using the wrong tool for a task, or using it in an incorrect manner.

Therefore the need to protect both professional and casual users of hand held striking tools from unnecessary injury, in two different price points, relative to the primary material utilized . Injuries are caused by both vibration transfer and poor grip ergonomics, so this design aims to satisfy these design deficits in contemporary claw hammer manufacturing with elegant, yet extremely robust and practical design solutions that are borne out of decades of on site experience and academic rationalization.

Project Need

Personal safety is a priceless commodity, especially in the workplace, so any investment in worker safety and potential injury mitigation is an investment in good health.

The Evolution Claw Hammer is constructed of either feather weight investment-cast aerospace engineered titanium or polished stainless steel; catering to premium and DIY users, allowing quality design engineering accessible to all hammer users.
It features an ultra-light weight skeletonised trussed throat and handle construction with a cavity head recess to reduce unnecessary weight, better balance weight distribution, dampen vibration transfer and has a unique oversize "D" shaped strike face, enabling better nail head contact in confined spaces and reduces the chance of overstrike and hand injury.

The titanium construction is almost 45% lighter than steel, enhances the strike force by 30% and dampens vibration considerably compared to steel. The domed curvature of the face to claw ensures no damage is done to the timber surface upon nail extraction, unlike traditional hammers.
It is forward weighted and features a curvaceous ergonomically engineered grip, designed in three sizes and three different profiles, constructed of co-molded polyurethane elastomer.

The design allows for application to other tools such as hatchets and axes.

Design Challenge

The designers interest in this project is borne out of over 25 years experience in the construction industry and vocational education sector and was first conceived during the students masters Degree and developed in Masters (Honours). This design concept is currently the basis of a PhD proposal, supported by over 35 international brands of striking hand tools, in the categories of hammers, hatchets, axes, tomahawks and machetes.

All will be subject to a comprehensive mechanical and ergonomic assessment in order to test the student design in a contemporary and competitive scientific arena. This will further drive the understandings of materials compatibility in the aim to reduce harmful vibration transfer in striking hand tools and enhance the safety for occupational users. The research for this design was informed by extensive theoretical documentation analysis, ergonomic evaluations, examination of injury statistics, field studies, user interaction trials, competition analysis and deconstruction, 3D modelling, investment-casting and extensive hand sculpting and modelling and personal intuition.

Comprehensive grip form studies were conducted within a wide range of user audiences and gender to best determine optimum grip dimensions, profiles and contours as not all hand sizes are the same, thus different size grips were developed.

Sustainability

All manufacturing is environmentally considered and the casting skeleton utilizes advanced additive manufacturing aerospace investment cast titanium technology, so there is no waste nor stock reduction process. The strike face is not ground nor polished to reduce manual finishing and enhance the head/nail tactility,nor is it powdered coated painted,polished,chromed or anodised, which are all harmful to the environment.

Titanium is not corrosive,non conductive,hypo allergic and fully recyclable, but this hammer is designed never to break, so it will never need recycling, but grips do deteriorate over time,usage and exposure so it is intended to offer customers a tool re-griping and over moulding service where a customer can return their hammer after many years of service and have it sandblasted back to casting skeleton and re-gripped again, providing another serviceable lifespan to the original tool, with the appearance of a brand new purchase.

The grip material is formulated of an environmentally safe,non-toxic,contains no isocynates, flexible polyurethane elastomer for maximum comfort,vibration dampening properties and tactical longevity.

All design and engineering was completed locally in Brisbane, with some casting contracted offshore to utilize sophisticated manufacturing technology unfortunately not offered in Australia.