Stanley Black & Decker and the US CPSC have issued a recall for 2.2 million Dewalt, Craftsman, and Stanley fiberglass hammers and sledgehammers.
According to the recall notice, the head of affected hammers can loosen and prematurely detach, posing an impact injury hazard.
The recall affects sledgehammers and mini sledgehammer-type hammers, such as drilling and engineer hammers.
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Here is a list of all of the affected models:
Recalled Dewalt Hammers
- DWHT56141 – 2lb Fiberglass Drilling Hammer
- DWHT56142 – 3lb Fiberglass Drilling Hammer
- DWHT56143 – 2-1/2 lb Fiberglass Engineering Hammer
- DWHT56146 – 2-1/2 lb Fiberglass Blacksmith Hammer
- DWHT56147 – 4lb Fiberglass Blacksmith Hammer
- DWHT56148 – 4lb Fiberglass Engineering Hammer
- DWHT56024 – 4lb Drilling Sledgehammer – hollow handle
- DWHT56025 – 4lb BS Sledgehammer – hollow handle
- DWHT56026 – 4lb ENG Sledgehammer – hollow handle
- DWHT56027 – 6lb Sledgehammer – hollow handle
- DWHT56029 – 10lb Sledge 36″Hammer – hollow handle
- DWHT56030 – 12lb Sledgehammer – hollow handle
Recalled Craftsman Hammers
- CMHT54163 – 4 LB Engineering Hammer
- CMHT56006 – 3 LB Drilling Hammer
- CMHT56011 – 8 LB Sledgehammer
- CMHT56019 – 10 LB Sledgehammer
Recalled Stanley Hammers
- FMHT51297 – 4 LB Engineer Hammer
- FMHT51298 – 4 LB Blacksmith Hammer
- FMHT51308 – 3 LB Drilling Hammer
- FMHT56006 – 3 LB Drilling Hammer
- FMHT56008 – 4 LB Blacksmith Hammer
- FMHT56009 – 4 LB Engineer Hammer
- FMHT56010 – 6 LB FATMAX Sledgehammer
- FMHT56011 – 8 LB FATMAX Sledgehammer
- FMHT56019 – 10 LB FATMAX Sledgehammer
Recall Details and Remedy
There have been 192 reports of hammer or sledgehammer heads detaching from their handles, with 2 injuries reported.
These hammers were sold from November 2013 thru November 2022 at Home Depot, Ace Hardware, hardware stores nationwide, and online retailers such as Amazon.
Users should stop using the recalled sledgehammers and contact Stanley Black & Decker for a full refund.
Learn More: Recall 23-183 via US CPSC
Learn More: Stanley Black & Decker Recall Page
To request a refund, complete the form at Dewalt, Craftsman, or Stanley websites, or call them toll-free at 855-418-3032 from 8am to 6pm Monday thru Friday.
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The refund process requires a photo of your hammer with “RECALLED” written across it in permanent marker. If you cannot do this, you can ship the tool back to them with a prepaid label. See the recall forms for more details.
Thank you Fred for the heads-up!
Andrew Holmes
I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but I feel like I see articles for recalls on SBD brands come across here more often then others. Is it just because of the number of brands they oversee or is it a larger QC problem.
Bonnie
Probably a bit of column A, bit of column B. They’ve got so many brands, and probably even more OEMs.
Tom
I wanna know how much they are paying me. I got one of the larger demo hammers 5 years ago. There’s no way I have the receipt.
Frank D
No receipt required …
bill Rogers
They only pay $20 for alarger $50 hammer that is as new
Paul
That may help explain why they got pulled from HD shelves and why I didn’t see them listed on DeWalt’s website when I looked a few weeks ago during that discussion on Crescent replacing DeWalt drilling hammers at HD.
Joatman
I have one of the Dewalt models. Looks like I’ll be looking for a replacement. I probably wouldn’t have know about this…….thanks Stuart!
eddie sky
I got notice last week from Amazon on my Stanley FATMAX 4lb Engineering hammer. I love it for kindling (with Cracker). Now I am sad as to how to replace. They want me to write RECALLED on the handle, provide address/email info on paper, and snap a photo to upload. Not a problem. I might get a $7 hickory handle (for 4lb hammers) and drill out the epoxy and replace. They are sending a check (6-8 weeks) but I would rather know of a replacement/ I couldn’t get answer (can only call with questions and I am at work during those hours and can’t).
eddie sky
And I missed that last line you wrote…same info. 🙂
fred
On a post about Estwing a while back – I opined that we never found their camper’s axes to be great (regarding balance, sharpness and ease of honing) – but some other comments suggested that their “Fireside Friend” was worth a look:
https://www.amazon.com/Estwing-Fireside-Friend-Axe-Construction/dp/B000HAEI1A
Jared
I have the Fireside friend. It’s an oddball hatchet, super heavy – but that’s what I like about it.
It does indeed make a good fireside tool since you don’t need to take large swings to dice up kindling. It can also cut some pretty hefty logs if you wind up and let them have it.
It’s not my “general duty” hatchet, but I bring it along on all my camping trips.
MM
Another useful tool is the Japanese “Nata”. It’s basically a rectangular knife with an extremely thick blade to give it enough weight and a wedge action to split wood. It is meant for splitting kindling or doing light duty chopping tasks outdoors or in the garden. There are all sorts of these on the market from cheap to fancy. They vary in size but most are smaller and lighter than the average hatchet so they’re nice for camping. Downside is they aren’t as good for hammering.
Jared
Neat! I have a Condor Mini Duku that seems like a similar category of tool – but I wasn’t familiar with the Japanese version.
fred
I have something similar from Buck:
https://www.amazon.com/Buck-Knives-0108BRS-COMPADRE-Cerakote/dp/B07MY149F9
While this one is called a froe knife – other similar ones are sometimes referred to as a batoning knife.
I also have a traditional froe – made by Ray Isles in England. This was the tool used to split wooden shakes (sometimes also called shingles) for house construction.
https://toolsforworkingwood.com/store/item/MS-IFROE.XX?searchterm=froe
Bruce
If you can’t replace the handle, don’t buy the hammer. Fiberglass is a poor substitute for a well fitted handle and it transmits more shock to the user. Hate them all, won’t buy them.
ChicagoJon
With this refund procedure I’m guessing SBD is about to pay out for about 5 times as many hammers as they actually made.
Ct451
Disposing it in the trash after they confirmed your refund as they instruct seems like an overkill. I understand why they say that but I’m sure there are competent users that can replace a handle. It’s still “perfectly” good Vietnamese steel. I bet some were fixed already.
Bonnie
All about liability I presume.
JR Ramos
In this case (and these days) that’s surely a part of it, but generally they also make attempts to keep processed claims from reentering the chain as a second (or third or fourth) claim and losing tons of money that way. Way back when as I worked for a major hardware chain we had lots and lots of defective (or “defective”) door locks returned to us for whatever reason, and each of the lock vendors had basically the same return agreement where we were supposed to mark and/or destroy the items before putting them in a locked dumpster. We thought it was such a waste because the majority had good undamaged finishes and such, and if nothing else they were worth some scrap money (still a fair amount of brass back then). We let a local guy grab what he wanted from that dumpster and he made off to the scrap yards on occasion.
Considering the energy in processing steel and then steel products, it does seem a real shame to just trash heads like this for handle issues. It’s cheaper for somebody in the short term…..