Drying wood for hammer handles?

[danny boy]

I picked up a few old hammer heads at a flea market with the intention of putting new handles on them. I could go out a buy handles but would rather make my own. I cut a couple of nice sturdy, straight hickory limbs but i don't know how to dry them. Any suggestions?

Thanks

[Fe-Wood]

First off- I hope your not in a hurry;)
Second- You don't really want to use "limb" wood as its not going to give you the best grain structure, unless its over about 4" diameter. Ideally, you want to use a piece big enough to give you nice straight grain running parallel with the sides of the hammer.

As far as drying goes- the easiest way is to put wax on the end grain (cut ends) and throw it in a cool dark corner for about a year or more.
If you would like to speed that up a bit, you can cut it into an oversized piece, maybe 25% bigger and coat the whole piece with wax. The reason you coat the wood with wax is to slow down the evaporation of the moisture, this reduces checking or cracking. You will want to cut several pieces and stack them in a cris cross pattern to allow for good air flow between each piece. The faster it dries the more likely it is to crack. Ideally in Ca., we are looking for a moisture content of about 6%, your area my be different. Here is a chart: Computing Moisture Content of Wood

I think air drying is the best method for drying wood because it gives you a product that is very stable for the area it was dried in. The machinability is better too.

If you want to go really fast, you can use a box and a light bulb to make small kiln but thats another whole can of worms...

[pkrankow]

I prefer shellac for my anti-check coating, but that is really just another type of wax. pigmented or not, store bought has worked excellent for me. Plan on letting it sit 1-3 years.
Phil

[dkunkler]

It's possible to really speed up the process by using a microwave oven to dry small pieces of wood. I've tried it on a few of my wood turning projects with success. Here's a link to an article about it.
Microwaving Wood to Dry
Do a web search for microwave wood drying for more info.

[lincolnimp]

Hi,

Keep it fairly basic, split and shape (or cut and sand with a 4 1/2" 80 grit flap disc to the shape of your choosing). Leave the head end oversize. Put the handle in the airing cupboard for a few days, finish shaping where the handle fits the head, and fit. Now soak the all the timber in a 50/50 solution of turps and linseed oil for a minimum of 1 week.

A handle made thus will last an awful long time.

[pkrankow]

I might need to give that microwave thing a try sometime. That seams like a neat idea!
Phil

[Fe-Wood]

dkunkler and lincolnimp-
Both good techniques although I've never used either. Thanks for reminding me about them...

[David Einhorn]

Old fashioned method is to stack the wood with air spaces between wood, in a wood loft for one year for each inch. For example, 4 inch thick lumber air dries for at least 4 or more years. One way to hasten the process is to cut to thinner thickness, dry, then laminate.

If you have access to some wood from a tree, then you might wish to consider cutting sections to length, split the wood to find the straight parts of the grain, cut to thickness and set the wood to cure. That way if you need the wood in the future, it is cured and you already found the grain.

I used a wheelwright design to build my shop, so the shop has two wood lofts at the woodworking end. :D

[Steve McCarthy]

Another option would be to buy a handle for a sledge hammer or splitting maul and make several hammer handles shaped to your hand.

[son_of_bluegrass]

If you cut limbs then expect only 1 in 6 to end up usable maybe less. For hammer handle you want straight, clear (free from knots) grain. I find if the branch is smaller than 4 or 5 inches diameter there are too many knots to get much usable for hammer handles. And limb wood is more prone to warping while drying.

That being said...

Split the wood through the pith (center). You generally don't want pith in the handle and it will reduce the checking (splitting from an end during drying). It won't eliminate the check. You can split down to something about 2 X 2 inches and 2 to 4 inches longer than you intend the handle to be. That will air dry in 18 to 30 months depending on your environment and where you put it. The faster it drys the more checking there will be. The smaller you split it the better you'll have to stack it to reduce warping.

Seal the end grain. You can use wax, carpenters glue, varnish, laquer, shellac, grain sealer or paint. Each has different advantages and disadvantages. Paint is the worst but better than nothing.

Stack it so there is some air circulation around each piece. If you cut or split the pieces smaller than 3 inches, it needs to be stacked, stickered and weighted. It should be stacked away from the weather and in an area that doesn't get too hot (figure it should stay under 100 or 110 degrees F, if those are common summer temps try to find someplace it will stay a bit cooler) and with plenty of air circulation.

Wait. Check occasionally for signs of insect infestation (the appearance of holes or sawdust), mold growth and maybe restack if the stack is large enough (moving middle pieces to the outside).

Depending on way too many variables to type here you may need to wait anywhere from a year to 4 or 5. You can check progress with a moisture meter or by weighing a sample (when the weight stabilizes it is dry to your local).

ron

[bigfootnampa]

Ron's advice is good... but go ahead and do the microwave thing... it works very well and it would be silly to wait three years to get a hammer into action. I have some experience with this and make limb (and trunk) handles all the time. I assure you that I have world class skills with this and my handles are as nice as any made in this world.
You are best off to use a chunk of wood that can be split into at least quarters and still have robust blanks to shape (bigger is fine just split down smaller). The drawknife and shaving horse is your friend!! With these two tools you can really go to town!
Leave your blanks long so that you can clamp with the extra when you are shaping.
Rough out to size at first (no precise fitting to the tool head yet). In the microwave use the lowest power setting and set the timer for 5 minutes or so at first. You have to kind of feel your way along until the wood is dry. If you overcook it you can burn it pretty easily! Be careful because it will get HOT. You have to use your hands though as when it is too hot to touch that is a sign that you need to let it rest and cool a little. You keep checking and cooking and cooling and cooking until you get it to where no moisture is left that will cook out. Some guys weigh it and know to stop when the weight no longer changes... personally I just watch and feel and check for moisture condensate and with my experience I can just tell pretty close when it is dry. As you approach the fully dry state you enter the critical zone where the tiny amounts of moisture left can be vaporized quickly and disastrous overheating can happen very quickly... so this is the time for special caution.
It sounds scarier than it is though... with a little practice it is a pretty reliable and effective technique that is not too difficult. A little practice is a good thing.

Do your precision fitting after drying (because shrinkage will alter the dimensions slightly). As for wood selection, use what you have but avoid twisty grain and any big knots (some small to tiny knots are actually nice...though they can be a nuisance during the shaping process). Lots of species work well... ash, hickory, pecan, oak, hackberry (or other elms), locust, walnut, persimmon, are all excellent. Maples, cherry, and many others (even many soft woods) are fine for many tool handles but I try to stick with the best species for hammer handles as shock absorption and extreme strength are needed for most of them (some light duty hammers can have almost any kind of handles though).

Clay

[danny boy]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm gonna see if I can pick up a second hand microwave (I don't think my old lady would appreciate me using hers) and try that. In the mean time, I'm gonna find some larger pieces of hickory and start air drying them for future projects. Thanks again, this really helped me out.

[ThomasPowers]

Note that apple and crabapple were also used for handles, crab in particular is known for it's tough springiness. I bought a number of handled items when I was in Germany at the fleamarkets and noticed that limb wood had been used on several of them years ago. A favorite had a curved handle!

When I first started drying wood the 1 year per inch sounded like an eon. Now I have wood stacked up that is going on 20 years per inch still waiting till I get around to the project!

[Bentiron1946]

Citrus is a fair wood to use for handles too.