Hammer handle wood

[easilyconfused]

To save money, and since I seem to have too much time on my hands without handy projects, I was thinking of whittling out some hammer handles from blanks like Uri did in his one blueprint. I'm wondering what's some good woods for price comparison and availability. I know ash and hickory seem to be favorites of handle companies and Uri said he used maple, which is easily obtained up here, but what else is there for choices? Would oak work? I've seen lots of hemlock but is that too springy/soft?

[philip in china]

For smaller handles on other tools than hammers I use old maple drumsticks that I get from a guy who works here. Ethan, a five year old boy on site, has a tiny hammer with a drumstick handle and yes maple seems to work ok in that as well. So try it in a full size hammer. What have you got to lose?

[HWooldridge]

I like bois d'arc or Osage orange - partly because it's native here and partly because it is commonly used in bows and makes a really good hammer handle, it's also pretty. Fruit wood cuttings out of orchards work well also. I also have a couple of handles from Arizona ash and they work great if you don't cross the grain, otherwise they will split or break. Lots of species will work but hickory is simply a very good wood for hammer handles, which is why it is the classic choice.

[Ice Czar]

I have an ancient ball peen with an Oak handle
As to if its a better or worse choice, Ive yet to use it enough to make a judgment.

[easilyconfused]

I'm just wondering for choices because Hickory seems to be a rare commodity in the area and i don't feel like looking all over the city if some others would be comparable. Or paying 2x as much for someone else to make it into a handle shape and then sit bored in the city while I should be studying.

[jayco]

easilyconfused......I can't say about hemlock as a handle, since I've never tried it.
But you can use oak.Hickory and maple are a little harder woods, and might last longer, but they are also harder to work down with hand tools.

I've made a lot of handles from red oak. Chestnut oak and white oak are tougher than red oak,but red oak just naturally has a straighter grain in this area,(eastern kentucky)so it wins out due to availability and workability.

Last fall,while splitting firewood, I noticed some particularly straight-grained pieces of red oak in the stack. Long enough for hammer handles..........so I took a froe and split out some handle 'blanks'. 2x2 inch square(more or less)
So I've got about a dozen handles seasoning in the back of the shop.

I once made an axe handle from elm, and it lasted several years.
Right at this moment, my main smithing hammer has a sassafras handle.
Sassafras is not a strong wood, but very light,.......This is just an experiment I'm trying.

these are just some of the local woods I've tried because they are available.
You may have local woods available to you that will suit your purposes.

[John McPherson]

Do not overlook used/broken pieces of shovel and axe handles. They are often free for the asking at construction sites and tool rental companies, along with usable steel such as dull or broken circular saw blades and pavement breaker bits.

Machinery pallets are often made from whatever local wood is available cheaply. I have seen them made from all kinds of north american and now asian hardwoods.My friend got some pallet boards that we think are some sort of teak that he is making small boxes from.
You can easily get a hammer handle length cut from between the nail holes, and the wood is usually already dry.

[son_of_bluegrass]

I'm not going to mention any specific wood as there are many that will work well. Instead let me tell you what I look for when I make a tool handle.

First straight grain. Straight grain is less likely to crack or split. The less the grain curves and curls the better it will take the stresses of being a handle. If you can split out a blank of the right size then so much the better. There is one exception to this - elm. Elm typically has such an interlocking of grain it is slightly less likely to split than a solid bar of iron (ask anyone who has tried working well seasoned elm)

Second a little bit of springyness but not easily bent if in cross section of 1/2 to 3/4 inch or larger. If it is too stiff it is likely to split or crack, to flexible it just feels wrong when I swing the hammer.

Last hard enough to not ding easily, any such wounding of the handle makes it more likely to fail at that point.

In general hardwoods are better than softwoods.


ron

[saintjohnbarleycorn]

I looked at the making hammer handles, and was wondering what kind of "glue" Mr. hofi was speaking about, epoxy? thanks.

[Glenn]

See BP1012 Making Hammer Handles by Hofi