Hot on the heels of SawStop inventor and CEO Steve Gass sticking his finger in a whirling table saw blade comes the latest in physical testing extremes… ToolSnob’s Doug Mahoney put his thumb under the hammer in his review of the Craftsman Auto-Hammer.

Without further ado, click here to watch Doug hit his thumbs with hammers >> (You will flinch.)

Here’s Doug on the pain he endured (which seems like it’s FAR MORE than Gass endured for science):
“For this test, I positioned the head of the Estwing about 10 in. above my thumb. Then, I let gravity do the rest. There’s no need to detail the words that came out of my mouth upon impact. Even with that little bit of swing, the hit was truly painful. I switched hands, then pressed the nose of the Auto-Hammer against my other thumb and pulled the trigger. While the impact of the piston did sting quite a bit, it didn’t extend into a 5-minute throb like the hammer hit did. ”

According to Doug’s review in Popular Mechanics, Hammer vs. Auto-Hammer: A PM Lab Test, the Auto-Hammer doesn’t come close to the trusty old Estwing 16-ounce Rip Hammer.

However the Auto-Hammer DOES have an LED for dark hammering, performs better in cramped spaces and has auto-recordings of your favorite curses if it detects a human finger (or hot dog) coming in contact with the head ;)

via ToolLogic >>