Innovative Products: Madison Electric Products Smart Box Shark Tooth

The Smart Box Shark Tooth is an electrical fixture box from Madison Electric Products that solves two common problems at once: maintaining alignment and getting the perfect fit. 

It was designed by Long Islander and 30-year electrician Greg Hurst while he was laid up in the hospital with a broken back, and later purchased by Madison, says Rob Fisher, the company’s head of marketing. “Hurst had grown the company with his wife, but they didn’t like traveling and so had a hard time penetrating markets outside of New York,” he says. “We bought it because it’s a product designed by an end user that improves ease of install.” 

The two problems the Shark Tooth solves—alignment and fit—are problems electricians face everyday, with other paddle mount fixture boxes. “Let’s say you’re installing pendant lighting over a kitchen counter,” says Fisher. “Most boxes will come with a template, and you have to find a centerpoint and then finagle the template to try and keep it centered.” But the Shark Tooth itself is a drill bit/hole saw, and so maintaining the centerpoint alignment is as easy drilling a hole in the wall, because that’s what it is. 

Then you have fit. “The holes you cut with a saw are never going to be perfect for a box.” That’s not the case with the Shark Tooth. Because it’s its own saw, as it’s making the hole, the box is being installed. “It’s a perfect hole everytime,” he says. “It’s the perfect size for the box, which means maximum gripping power for the paddles. It’s the most secure install on that drywall possible.” 

The box supports fixtures up to 6 lbs, and Fisher says that it’s particularly suited to “fire alarms, smoke detectors, wall sconces, and other stuff of that size.”