The hand tool revolution

New materials and new thinking are changing the look, feel and usability of today's hand tools.

If you put your grandfather’s hammer next to almost any hammer now found on distributor shelves, the differences are dramatic. The same is true for handsaws. Hacksaws. Files. Clamps. The list goes on.

A similar comparison even 10 years ago would not have been so dramatic. That’s because tool designers are combining new materials with new thinking on tool use, coming up with some very user- and job-friendly (ergonomic) hand tools.

Ergonomics more than brightly colored handles
Tool users may equate the word “ergonomic” with brightly colored plastic tool handles molded to fit the shape of the user’s hand. Instead, it is a rather new discipline that looks at the tool’s interaction with the task, the user and the environment, says Olle Bobjer, senior ergonomist at Bahco Group.

“Many hand tools today make the claim they are ergonomic, but few really are,” says Bobjer. “An ergonomically designed tool will increase your capacity or productivity. The best innovations do not come from the drawing board. They come from user ideas and input.”

“Ergonomics is a flashy word that’s been used on the development side of the hand tool business for over 10 years. Even five years ago, it was used in tool marketing and often equated to making the tool flashy. Today, it’s closer to the true meaning of how the tool fits in the hand as it’s used to do a job,” says Walt Sedlacek, corporate director of product development at American Tool Companies.

Hand tool manufacturers are reinventing the way they develop tools. In the past, the focus was on the manufacturing process. That has changed.

Today, tool manufacturers go to the field to study how workers use tools. Stanley and others have work teams that swarm jobsites and thoroughly evaluate how workers do their jobs.

Stanley’s “Discovery Team” for tool research works with end-users about how they use tools, how they break them and how they improvise them to do their jobs, says Mike Morrissey, director of new ventures at Stanley.

“Discovery team members have an unusual set of skills,” adds Jerry Kardes, Discovery Team leader. “They are inquisitive and understand what end-users want to accomplish. They are very observant. They work one-on-one with end-users to find out their needs,” he says.

American Tool and Bahco Group have similar teams. “Our end-user team members are trained in ergonomic principles and have extensive hands-on experience with the types of jobs these tools do and know the language of the end-user,” says Sedlacek. “They take a tool idea to end-users and talk with them about it. They always come back with 10 more ideas on how to make the tool even better.”

Bahco Group’s design teams spend days videotaping workers doing tasks, taking measurements of the jobs they do and interviewing them.

“It’s hard for users to tell us how they use tools. It’s much like asking someone to explain how he or she ties his or her shoes. A simple task can be very hard to explain,” Bobjer says.

Outside help boosts insight
While these companies have inside development teams, they also reach outside for even greater expertise. The University of Michigan, University of Connecticut and University of Wisconsin/Madison have established world-renowned ergonomics departments that are a tremendous resource for tool companies. Still other private firms help with testing and evaluation of new tool designs.

“We have worked with the University of Connecticut on applied research. They have helped us figure out the ergonomics of tool use in certain jobs. Their research helped quantify the vibration transmission users were exposed to when using a steel hammer vs. our Anti-Vibe hammer. That research showed the Anti-Vibe hammer reduced vibration transmission eight-fold,” says Morrissey.

Work changes; so should tools
“As construction changes, users adapt what they have to get the job done. That can lead to using a tool in a way that could cause injury,” says Sedlacek.

For example, steel framers need to clamp components together for fastening, but they need to do it with one hand. “That led to the development of the Quick-Vise. It’s a much better choice for the job than a conventional clamp,” he says.

Similarly, Bobjer cites how fastener use have changed in the last 10 years. “You used to need just a Phillips and standard screwdriver in your pouch. But now workers use Posi-Drive and other fastener styles on a job. To help them, we color-coded and added a symbol to the top of each screwdriver so the worker only needs to glance at the top to select the right tool for the job,” he says.

New plastics better than steel
Where metal and wood prevailed, thermoplastic elastomers, glass-filled resins and metal alloys now reign, resulting in stronger, lighter and longer-lasting tools.

The new materials also improve the design process. In the past, engineers and craftsmen worked closely to build tool prototypes. This process could take months.

“Today’s computer-aided design technology allows the designer to build the tool on-screen, then send the data to a computer-controlled machining center that ‘grows’ the concept tool out of the same or similar materials that would be used in the final production tool. Instead of months, it takes hours,” says Sedlacek.

That means researchers can get prototypes evaluated quickly by end-users. They can then make changes and produce a second- (or third- or fourth-) generation tool to test. Tool development, from concept to introduction, can take less than one year. In the past, it would take as long as four years, Sedlacek says.

Published in the May/June 2002 issue of Contractor Tools and Supplies magazine.

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