I reecently needed to replace a hammer handle and i had some scraps of hardwood so i decided to make one. The first one diddnt work out but i got really addicted to making them. Only problem is i need some more hammer heads ‘figured this would be the right group of people to ask.
Got any straight claw hammer heads (or with a handle) that you wouldnt mind parting with?
I included pics with the latest hammer and the latest blank waiting for a head, the wood species are maple, purple heart and brazilian cherry
Any tips on good wood to use are more than welcome, the only non-splitting woods that i know of are ash maple and hickory, are there more? are there other properties that i should think about such as shock absorption?
Thanks for looking
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–> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad
Replies
sktrew yo7hu and the horse yopu rode inm on!
A Little Levaty Can GGoo a long way 1
skyecore,
Toughness is very important. You don't want a wood that will shatter under impact. I suspect the maple will shatter easily. Live oak and osage orange should both be good for hammer handles. The purpleheart is interesting. I have a bunch of it, and it sure is strong, but I don't know about the toughness. Sure looks cool, though.
Bill
thanks bill, the first one was all purple heart and the reason it only lasted a week is that it splits so easy and when i drove the wedge in i put a nasty split in it.Good tip about the maple! i dont like like the way oak looks but i do have a ton of it sitting around, maybe i'll use some on the next one.I'll keep you posted on how the maple holds up______________________________________________
--> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad
Maple splits pretty easily - although they do use it for baseball bats now.
I use only hickory for tool handles that will take shocks, but I'd love to get my hands on some osage orange. Ash will work, but one bad shot and it gets splintery.
what makes hickory so ideal, iv never seen a new hammer with any other type of wood______________________________________________
--> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad
Hickory, specifically shagbark hickory, has the highest combination of toughness, damping factor, and strength of any wood, possible exception of lignum vitae.
I have never broken a hickory handle that I've made myself. Lot of effort though. When I'm back in the midwest, I go to the camp I worked at as a kid and go onto the Sangamon river bottom and look for undergrowth shagbark that is about 1-1/2 to 2" dia, make the handles out of pieces with at least 25 growth rings per inch, yes it is hard to find, esp with the exact right curve already for something like a broadax. Strip the bark when wood still wet, linseed oil for a few months and then fashion the handle by splitting (hard to split), not cutting, very strong. Got a few looks at aircraft check in checking a 5 ft long bundle of these cuttings once.
As you are in Portland, OR, Vine Maple is probably the best native wood for handles in the PNW, but a poor second to hickory. Vine maple (or yew) is what the natives used out here, in Illinois they used hickory. You about cannot break wet/live vine maple, but becomes more brittle with drying.
awsome info junkhound, Thank you!if you have made a few handles before you might have a better technique than me for shaping the part of the handle which sits inside of the metal hammer head.I found the interface difficult to make in such a way that the wood meets the metal perfectly with no gappage. (the heads i've used are hart hammer heads with a tear drop shaped hole in the hammer head)I just used a sharp chisel, a blade knife and a coping saw but my skills with these tools, although adequite for the carpentry that i do in the week, is sub par for a task like this. Is there another method or tool you might suggest?______________________________________________
--> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad
shaping the part of the handle which sits inside of the metal hammer head.
After overall shape by splitting (draw knife works well, dont cut across growth rings unless needed for shape) , used here to shape the eye is a 12 " disk sander w/2 HP motor. For double bit axe handles, do use the bandsaw some, but try to find blanks with a 'fat end'.
BTW, pop taught me to split/slice hickory in IL in the late '40s, first item was a little bow with arrows, made mostly with a spokeshave that the 'little shaver' could not get cut with.
Have you tried any laminated? Maybe try a laminate of a really tough wood with one that is really strong. Wood version of Damascus steel. That would be cool.
Just a thought.
TR
Yours pics are too big (Mb) for those of us with weak connections. Would have liked to have seen them, but I also need sleep.
thanks for your intrest barmil i've resized the pics______________________________________________
--> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad
Osage Orange would hold up well, however, you'd want to be careful about cutting and sanding it, as it can give some people fairly severe reactions, and I'd lacquer the dickens out of the handle if it were going to be more than a display piece. Or don't and give it to someone you don't like.
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain
Grain direction also plays a part in the strength.