My hammer head flew off in the middle of a demo last Saturday

I was showing a small crowd how to draw out a leaf at the county fair in Tulsa, and on the third swing the head just launched off the handle and bounced off a folding chair. Nobody got hurt, thankfully, but it scared the guy sitting closest so bad he spilled his lemonade. Turns out the wedge had worked loose over months of use and I never checked it, that was my fault. I spent the next hour finding a scrap hickory handle and re-hanging it with a new wedge from my truck, but the demo was shot. Has anyone else had a tool fail at the worst possible time, and how did you keep your composure in front of an audience?

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1 Comment

skyler_white3d ago

Man, that hurt to read. I've had a chisel slip and gouge a piece I was real proud of in front of a class, and just stood there staring at it like an idiot for five seconds. But a hammer head flying off is a whole different level, that's the kind of thing that makes your heart drop right into your stomach. You handled it way better than I would have, pulling out a spare handle and fixing it on the spot shows real character, even if the demo was a bust. That lemonade guy is gonna tell that story for years, so at least you gave him something good.