Ergonomic Hammer Art

As sculpture TA, I oversaw Oberlin's sculpture lab and woodshop, a beloved space filled with well-worn tools, paint-splattered stools, and years of student use. Wanting to extend the life of these everyday objects, I began a small initiative that became known among students as Ergonomic Hammer Art.

Using scrap wood from the shop, I hand-carved new ergonomic handles for damaged hammers, reshaping and refinishing them to be more comfortable and durable than the originals. I also refurbished shop stools, stripping old finishes and laser-etching them with illustrations of tools, shop scenes, and safety graphics. Students were invited to contribute their own designs, transforming the furniture into a collective archive of the space.

The project was less about restoration than stewardship: finding ways to make shared tools feel cared for, useful, and worth maintaining. Over time, the hammers became so popular that several quietly disappeared into students' personal toolkits, which I ultimately took as a compliment. Though I wish I had better documentation, it remains one of my favorite projects: a small intervention that helped foster a stronger sense of ownership, pride, and community within the shop.