Good replacement handles - where?

R

recurve99

Joined
Jul 27, 2007
Messages
5
I have a new found love for the old axe heads:D, but a very strong dislike for anything I can find locally for replacement handles:mad:. Anyone find a good source online or is everyone making their own?

I have seen househandle.com and the prices seem too damn low to be any good (am I prejudice??). Can anyone speak to their quality?

What I am looking for is hickory with nice straight grain, proper orientation, etc...

TIA
 
Its difficult to find handles here as well.
However at least when you do find them locally you get to eyeball them to pick out the good ones.
I bought a new pick handle and axe handle yesterday and the grain direction/orientation of most of them were awful. About only 1 in 8 were acceptable.
I do most everything via mailorder/internet but i'd be cautious about buying axe handles that way.
 
Most of the time I select a larger one and hand shape it to fit. Takes a bit longer......
 
Sorry to ask simple questions, and I don't want to hijack this thread. I'm new here and to axes and knives. I inherited some of my Dad's and Grandad's old axes and most are either a loose head or on a broken or badly damaged handle. They seem to be good Plumb or Swedish axes, and worth new handles. I don't understand about grain direction/orientation in a handle as mentioned above. What should I look for?
 
EdD270 said:
Sorry to ask simple questions, and I don't want to hijack this thread. I'm new here and to axes and knives. I inherited some of my Dad's and Grandad's old axes and most are either a loose head or on a broken or badly damaged handle. They seem to be good Plumb or Swedish axes, and worth new handles. I don't understand about grain direction/orientation in a handle as mentioned above. What should I look for?
Click to expand...
Sounds like you have some fine axes there!
:)
I only recently started re-handling axes myself.

According to Jimbo and others "the grain of the handle should be as close to vertical as possible".

See Jimbo's articles
he discusses it in this article
"Some Axe Stuff"
http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/axes.html
closeup of the grain
http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/bg1.jpg
This is also great (rehandling etc)
"How to Assess and Fix an Axe"
http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/gsa.html

Index of Jimbo's articles
http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/
 
Last edited:
You might get a regular axe handle for $10, but one cut from small trees (with pronounced curve to the grain) costs about three times that.
Click to expand...
Where do I get the "small tree" handles that cost 3 times as much?

Interesting about the grains
Is he saying that tighter grain means stronger??:confused:
 
Hi,

I’m sorry to disappoint, but I don’t stock axe handles, only ‘hawk handles. Dave Mantz mentioned above, may be able to help. He has access to an Amish wood turner who does handles. I haven’t known him to stock them regularly however.
A sure source for handles however is the House Handle Company in Casseville MO.
Their web site lists almost any kind if handle you can image.
http://www.househandle.com/
They grade the handles, and the best grade will have a straight grain.
Still, it’s always better if you can hand select from a number of handles. When I visit a farm supply store or old time hardware store I’ll sometimes look through the bin for extra nice handles. I collect older axe heads.
Without disagreeing with all that has been said about handles, my experience has been that as long as you don’t do something silly like overshoot the log, any reasonably straight grained handle will last for decades. I’ve got some very old axes with sound handles that have marginal grain patterns. What’s more important to me is that the lower grip area is small enough in diameter to grip comfortably, and that the head is properly hung.

Best regards,
Ragnar
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top