Hammer Handle Material ?

[jeep4x4greg]

i see from pictures that most 'smiths use wood handled hammers.

any reason i couldnt/shouldnt use a hammer with a fiber glass handle? :confused::confused::confused: (shorter life? poor energy transfer? etc..)

theres a combo set of ball pein hammers that contains 8 oz., 12 oz., 16 oz., 24 oz. and 32 oz hammers.

its priced well, but they all have the yellow fiberglass handle with rubber grips....I dont want to buy something that i wont be able to use.

share thoughts :)

[gerald]

Many smiths like to thin down the "neck" of the handle just below the head. Pretty hard to do with a FG handle. FG and hot items don't always mix well. Rubber grips can't be "hand fit" with a rasp to individualize the grip. Rubber grips will eventually harden from weather and glaze over from sweat/skin oils and make for a splippery grip. Are there hammers in my shop with FG handles? You bet. Do I like them? Not particularly, that's why they spend most of their time in a rack someplace.

Keep watching the sale papers from the same place you see the one's with FG handles. In a few weeks there will be a sale for the same set with wood handles. Pick one or two sizes to leave as "hammers" and knock the handles out of the others so that you can re-forge them into other handled tools.

[Finnr]

Or whip on over to HF and pick up a couple of the cheap sledges they sell and rework the heads into Cross peen or slash peens to use until you get some good smithing hammers.
Finnr

[MLMartin]

i have a handful of bought hammers, my mane smithing hammer if a sweedish cross peen from Kane and Son, great hammer, but recently I've started making my own hammers, when you make your own hammers they come out the right shape and size ya want, haha because you make them of course, but when i make hammers they don't come with fiberglass handles, so woods pretty much the only choice for me, but I'm kinda cheep all my handles are made from old handles of things like sledges and axes, now and then i miss a chisel strike and it takes a good chunk of wood handle out, but woods easy to replace, fiberglass it hard to replace,

[Frosty]

I bought a 5/4 hickory board and cut handles from it.

Quarter sawn is supposed to be much better as the growth rings are aligned with the swing and it makes for better energy transfer and shock absorbtion.

If you want to reshape the rubber grips simply freeze in dry ice and alcohol and rasp. Or use a belt sander with a really course grit with good ventilation or outdoors.

Let us know how the FG handles work for you.

Frosty

[HWooldridge]

I have tried FG handles and the hammer is too lively for me - has a tendency to kick back more than I like but give it a try and see what you think - nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[Justin Keller]

To continue this line of questioning, if I'm going to be making my own handles, what type of wood should I be using? or should I just buy a pre-made one from my local hardware store? What does everyone else out there use?

[Blacksmith Jim]

I hear lots of people like hickory. I'm just a lowly beginner, but I buy handles from the local farm supply store. They actually carry a 'blacksmith hammer' handle that is pretty much what I'm looking for.

One thing to look out for when using a store bought hammer is whats holding the head to the handle. Most are covered over with a resin or glue, so you don't really know. Most store bought hammers that I have forged with have come off of the handle with moderate use. Some of them are half resin and a small metal plug or something. Not a good solid wedge job at all..

[Glenn]

These may help

BP0342 Handles
BP1012 Making Hammer Handles

[jimbob]

some guy on ebay sells a bunch a lot cheaper than the hardware store...some are bent ...I look at them as corrective handles to correct your bad form.

[ThomasPowers]

Hickory is the traditional wood for handles here in the USA; however I have used bodark (Osage Orange) and fruit woods were used a lot in Europe.

Traditionally air dried was considered better as it tends to be less brittle.

Probably checking that the grain goes straight from one end to the other is more important than a lot of things, grain runout results in broken handles *FAST*.

I sometimes can find seconds being sold at fleamarkets and since I will be modifying it to suit myself anyway I can often pick up a cosmetic second that will modify to be a #1 when I'm done.

Note it is a good idea to buy spare handles whenever you get a good deal so you have some on hand for the tools you pick up that need handles. I store some of mine by putting a staple in the end and hanging them from that with air flow all around to help avoid warping.

[the_sandy_creek_forge]

Hickory, Hickory, and Hickory.

I will concur with Thomas though that hedge (aka Osage Orange) does make a relatively durable handle, but finding hedge or hedge boards might be a bit tricky depending on your location. I've also used rock elm for hot cut and cold cut handles and had good luck with it in that application.

Ideally you'd want to cut an older growth hickory that is relatively free of knots. This is one time that the old boyscout rule of not cutting down living trees does NOT apply. If you harvest a standing dead hickory, chances are the wood is either half rotted already or is ridden with some form of insect (at least that's the case around here, not sure about other areas). Once it's down cut out the main trunk and leave the rest to season for firewood (burns nice with a pleasing aroma). Strip the bark and split the trunk into rails (like for a split rail fence) about 4 or 5 inches wide on the bark side to make billets. Lean the billets up inside a relatively dry building to season out for 8-14 months (again depending on your area as far as relative humidity etc.) Once it's seasoned out, cut out the good straight, knot free sections and start sawing/turning/whittling/rasping/drawknifing or whatever method suits you.

Sounds like a lot of work? It is, but you'll end up with just about the best handles possible. Right now I've got about a dozen billets in the back of one of the barns, each billet will give me anywhere from 2 to 8 handles depending on what length i'm making them. Now, if you don't have any hickory in your timber (or any timber for that matter), follow the advice above. ESPECIALLY the part about the grain.

If you look at the end of the handle as it would be inserted into the eye of the hammer, the grain of the wood should run in the same direction as the long dimension of the hammer eye. That's also something that the goofballs at the big box home improvement stores most likely won't have a clue about (been there done that and ended up explaining the whole concept of wood grain to the poor kid ).

Any questions just ask.
-Aaron @ the SCF

Disclaimer: This is my personal method. It worked for my grandpa, it's worked for my dad, and so far it's worked for me. Your mileage might vary.

Edit: Note to self. Check profile, then post response. Seeing that you are in the central illinois area, if you want to drop me a private message, I can probably hook you up with a billet if you want to take a go at making your own handles. I'm located in the greater Peoria area, and I am in Peoria everyday for work. Shoot me a message, we'll see what we can do.

[jeep4x4greg]

well to be honest, I'm not looking to be making handles just yet.

I have too many irons in the fire as it is....this is one i should pass on for the sake of getting started more than I have so far (now that i have most of the tools)

however! i will send you a PM in a shameless attempt to get to come see your forge in action and maybe mooch some pointers since i'm in the Peoria area too ;)

[the_sandy_creek_forge]

You're welcome anytime I am around. It'll probably be later this fall before I'm back to forging in the shop again, this being the reason:

http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f43/leland-gifford-drill-press-time-brag-3399/

I'm trying to get as much as possible stripped, cleaned, brushed, and repainted before it gets to cold out for the paint to set, and the thing's kinda taken over my shop. But once it cools off, you're more than welcome to come up on a Saturday (as long as you don't mind working in a half-finished shop on a somewhat....um.... overgrown farm) we built the shop on my parents farm (my neighbors in town would not have appreciated the racket I cause at times), then stalled out over a winter, and never really got around to completely finishing it off. SO I am still working over mostly dirt/partial concrete floors and working around whatever my dad can find to conveniently store in the shop. It's cluttered, dirty, and drafty, but it works ( in other words: don't expect a professional looking shop)
-Aaron @ the SCF

[Candidquality]

It's cluttered, dirty, and drafty, but it works ( in other words: don't expect a professional looking shop)
-Aaron @ the SCF

I always thought that was a good sign of a professional shop. ;)