Comments on: Part Hatchet, Part Hammer, All Destruction

By: Toolmonger » Blog Archive » The Week in Tools: Toolmonger Top 5

Toolmonger » Blog Archive » The Week in Tools: Toolmonger Top 5 — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:17:25 +0000

[...] Part Hatchet, Part Hammer, All Destruction The Lee Valley box tool has a Mad Max vibe to it, complete with pits from the steel casting process. The box tool was designed to bust open objects you’re really not interested in putting back together. It’s part hatchet, part hammer, part pry bar, and part horror movie. We like it. [...]

By: Old Donn

Old Donn — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:44:54 +0000

This falls into the same slot as the fence tool, (6 tools in 1!). Looks handy in the store but for most of us, winds up in the never used section of the tool chest, along with the Gator Grip and Metrinch sets.

By: Fred

Fred — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 02:29:14 +0000

Re Chris Says

This tool sounds like a slate roofing hatchet. If it is, the point is used to poke a nail hole in the slate.

By: RevRagnarok

RevRagnarok — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 02:24:15 +0000

I got one of these about two years ago from everybody’s favorite Chinese-crap toolbox, Harbor Freight. I doubt I spent $5 on it.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:12:59 +0000

@Dave: Heh. We have a similar tool at work, looks like a hatchet with a pickaxe at the butt end (imagine the hammer surface of this thing extended about three more inches, and sharpened to a point). A number of years ago, someone decided it was a good idea to try to hack his way out of an aircraft cockpit with one of these crash axes and hit one of the windows in an attempt to break it. Airplane windows are a lot tougher than you might think, and the axe bounced back and hit the guy in the head, nearly killing him.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:06:50 +0000

Watch out if you use this thing as a hammer. Get to swinging it enthusiastically, then whack! Axe in the forehead. Sadly, I’ve done this with a roofing hammer. My buddy giggled the whole way to the hospital.

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:42:53 +0000

When wooden crates were the way things were shipped - this style hatchet was on the loading/receiving dock to whack them open and pound them shut. I think that some of these were probably made in China when I was a kid in the 50’s. For their purpose they never had to be high quality.

By: Benjamen Johnson

Benjamen Johnson — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:44:24 +0000

Well a modern day shingler’s hammer/hatchet looks quite different, but I can believe that this could be an older version. If you look at the end, the claw is definitely curved to be used as a pry bar, so it is definitely meant for prying things apart also. Maybe they used it to pry up old or damaged shingles to replace?

I’m sure this probably has another name other than “Box Tool” I couldn’t find any other examples of a “Box Tool” anywhere. I’d be really interested to see the pics, especially if there’s a makers mark or name on the tool.

By: Brad

Brad — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:15:35 +0000

My grandfather had one of these hanging on a wall. Lee Valley can call it whatever it wants, but Pa’s was very old school and he called it a shingler’s hammer/hatchet. He indicated it would be used for old school cedar shingles. The bladed side would be used for splitting shingles when necessary. I think my dad has it now. I’ll take pics if I can find it.