The Hardwood Wrench

In the Deck Master post, commenter Josh mentioned that he liked using the Hardwood Wrench for dealing with bowed planks. Earlier we covered the Cepco BoWrench, a lower priced competitor, but had never covered this particular tool.

Just like the BoWrench, the Hardwood Wrench rides a joist and uses it as a fulcrum to lever misbehaving boards into position. The makers claim that the Hardwood Wrench “applies much more bending power than other methods of straightening decks” (which may or may not be a shot across Cepco’s bow).

You can use the tool over a single joist or move one of the pins into a second position to accommodate double and triple joists. Besides operating in the class two lever configuration as shown above, it also works in a class one configuration, shown below — which is handy if you’re on the first few rows next to a wall or other obstruction. Once you’ve levered the board into position, it “cam locks” so you can let go of it and concentrate on fastening the board in place.

The Hardwood Wrench is made from anodized aircraft-grade aluminum and has a hardwood handle.  You’ll spend just shy of $200 before taxes and shipping to purchase one. Is it worth 4x more than the BoWrench? We’ll leave that up to you.

Hardwood Wrench [Corporate Site]
Hardwood Wrench [The Deck Store]
Hardwood Wrench [Ipe-Decking.com]

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