Gigglebit: Woo hoo! Man constructs Homer Simpson’s hammer design

26 Jan 2015

A still from 'The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace'. Image via Vimeo still

Gigglebit is Siliconrepublic’s daily dose of the funny and fantastic in science and tech, to help start your day on a lighter note.

Homer Simpson has been many things in the 25 years of The Simpsons’ existence, one of which was his attempts to emulate renowned inventor Thomas Edison with his own line of ill-fated inventions including the make-up shotgun, the toilet couch, the chair with stabilisers so it wouldn’t fall over and, of course, the hammer that hammers itself.

In the show, Homer creates a hammer that in its design actually seems like a worthy concept with an electric motor driving a rotor that moves the hammer head back and forth without the need to actually put the work in yourself.

As is the case with Homer, his ideas tend to end in disaster with his beloved hammer eventually getting stuck and going on a rampage through the Simpsons’ household.

And yet, a quarter of a century later, Patrick Priebe from laser-gadgets.com has only gone and actually put the effort in to making a working electric hammer based off the cartoon’s design.

Does it work? Yes. Is it good? No.

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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