Handle grain

M

marty123

Joined
Oct 31, 2000
Messages
903
I'm starting to understand handle grain.

I went looking at a bunch of hatchets and axes, as well as replacement handles for same, at a few hardware stores nearby, and I'm starting to recognize and understand the differences in the grain patterns of wood handles. I hadn't looked at this sort of thing before. But, after examining around twenty handles, I can see that there are clear differences in grain alignment that are now readily apparent. Clearly, a lot of handles do have poor grain alignment.

Ideally, the grain of a handle should be parallel to the head, but a lot of handles have grain that deviates from this ideal, from a little bit to a whole lot. At it's worst alignment, the grain will be perpendicular to the head. Some writers use the terms "vertical" and "horizontal" instead of "parallel" and "perpendicular".

I find it easiest to examine grain alignment by looking at the bottom of the handle, where things are most apparent to me, but I'm starting to recognize grain patterns by looking at the sides of handles as well. I'm going to keep looking at handles once in a while to learn this sort of thing better. That way I can better judge the grain on handles with painted bottoms where the bottom grain is covered by the paint.

So, I'm starting to get it. Hooray. Onward and upward. Uh oh.
 
Not surprisingly, I think that it matters a lot more on longer handles. I have a couple hatchets with less-than-perfectly-straight grain and I doubt it will ever make a significant difference. However, when I picked my GB double bit felling axe with 35" handle, I was very picky about the grain of the wood.

Of course, any shaft with grain that runs perpendicular to its length is going to fail pretty quickly regardless of the length. Fortunately, I've never seen that.
 
If you have a fast connection, have a look at the book that's online in the thread above.. It explains things better than I can!
 
It is really critical with heavier tools such as mauls and picks. I have seen a lot of broken handles on construction sites.

-Cliff
 
I've been collecting a lot of old hatchets lately. Often the handles aren't much good in terms of being battered around - but I'm noticing that they all have vertical grain. Every one.
 
Jimbo, there's a reason for old tool handles having vertical grain. Most of 'em weren't 'sawed' from the log, the billets were first split out. When you split wood out using a froe, you take advantage of (or follow) the vertical grain naturally. These split billets, allowed to dry, could then be turned on a lathe and/or shaped on a shaving horse with drawknives and spokeshaves. Nothing magical, just people who understood different woods and tools. I made a few axe handles in my youth, just to say I did it. But it's pretty easy to just buy 'em now (especially since Dad sold the shaving horse I made, and all our drawknives. Damn tourists.)
 
I use the terms "parallel" and "perpendicular" in reference to handle grain on axes and hatchets. Others have used the terms and "vertical" and "horizontal". Are we talking about the same things? Or are they different ideas?

Suppose that there is a (two-dimensional) plane, with one axis (the y axis) running the length of the handle, and the other axis (the x axis) running from the back of the head of the hatchet to the edge, or alternately, from the back of the handle to the front of the handle. Ideal grain, as I understand it, would be parallel to this plane, and that's what I mean by "parallel" grain. When grain deviates from this ideal by rotating around the y axis, it's at it's worst alignment when it has rotated 90 degrees, (or pi/2 radians :rolleyes: ), at which point it's "perpendicular". Is this what others mean by the terms "vertical" and "horizontal". Or by "horizontal" is it meant a rotation around the x axis, a flaw that would be worse than my "perpendicular". I see alot of grain that deviates from the ideal "parallel" alignment by tending to the "perpendicular" in varying degrees, but I haven't seen grain that rotates around the x axis to any appreciable extent.

I don't know if my explanation makes any sense.I'm just trying to clear up differences in terminology so as to have common terms of reference.
 
What you are talking about in your second case is grain runout. The grain doesn't follow the length of the handle. A handle like that is sure to break and very soon - with dangerous results.
With an axe - only the continuous grain that extends from the eye to the back of the handle is really contributing to strength. That isn't very much in handles with a lot of curves.
 
Okay. So my "parallel" and "perpendicular" are the same as your, and others, "vertical" and "horizontal". Thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't sure before.
 
Next question: how much of a difference does handle grain make in real-world, practical use, as opposed to theory? Particularly on hatchets.

Cliff points out that he's seen a lot of broken handles on striking tools with heavy heads and long handles, such as mauls and picks. I can see that. It makes sense that handle grain would matter more on tools like that than it would on lighter and shorter hatchets. But, how much does grain matter on hatchets? DancesWithKnives doubts less-than-perfect grain on his hatchets will make any significant difference. On the other hand, Jimbo, in a recent post on Wetterlings hatchets, says he's seen Black King hatchets (Wetterlings) that he wouldn't buy because of the grain being lousy. So, today's question is: how much does handle grain really matter, for practical purposes as opposed to theory, on hatchets? Does it really make that much difference? How much fear of handle failure would one have from a hatchet handle with horizontal grain? A lot? A little? And, on a lower-priced hatchet of good quality, such as the aforementioned Wetterlings, would imperfect handle grain be enough to dissuade one from buying, or recommending the purchase of, said hatchet.
 
I was anticipating this question. It's one I've thought about quite a lot - and it's sure not an easy one.
I gave details on one of my webpages of an old Garant axe that I used for years - and it had horizontal grain. We're talking over a decade of use here - that it gave good service. When it went though, it went suddenly. My buddy was using it to split wood and since it didn't have any marks on the handle, no he didn't miss and hit the handle over the billet.
In theory you could make quite a case for a hatchet having horizontal grain. In lots of survival situations you might be peeling bark of some big hemlock (at least around here) and might be putting a lot more stress on the handle from the side than in actual chopping.
Since I've been gathering old hatchets though, I've seen that a lot of people still manage to ding up their handles even with hatchets. The handles have often held together well just because they have vertical grain. They're always dinged top and bottom..
I'm pretty careful with my hatchets, but the thing that convinces me that vertical grain is the only way to go is to look at the handle from the side - even draw a double line directly back from the top and bottom of the eye to the end of the handle. You soon see that with handles having curves only in the vertical plane - there's very little continuous grain from the front of the hatchet to the back. This is compounded with cheaper hatchets having narrow eyes. Handles dont have curves sideways other than broad axes and hatchets and those are steamed and bent to get the continuous grain. Always.

It's nice to think that you'll have some warning when a handle is about to let go - but you might not. If you are lucky you will be left holding a handle with the head sunk in a piece of wood. If you use your hatchet a lot for hammering though - as with a fallers hatchet which is a big head on a short handle for driving wedges and just a bit of chopping.. well when the handle goes, the head will go flying.

In these days of improperly dried handles, then a handle with vertical grain will shrink up to twice as much vertically as it will horizontally. Strangely its the side pressure of the axe cheeks which holds the handle rigid. If the handle had horizontal grain then it would tend to loosen more readily - assuming that you didn't drive the wedge a little more to tighten it. Whether this matters with decent wood and good maintenance is debatable...

I've just thrown up a few ideas. Sometimes though I really depend on my hatchet and I've come to trust a wood handle with vertical grain. That's the real bottom line. I sure haven't seen everything but I've seen enough examples to convince me that I want vertical grain. I don't abuse my hatchets - but someone else might and I want to be sure that they still work for me. I just shudder to think of one of my sharp heads (unfortunately the bald one isn't too sharp any more..) flying.
 
I would be curious as well as to how much banging you have to do to break a handle with poor grain, obviously without a sharp axe head attached, raw strength, as well as repeated shock. I'll check around for some replacement handles and see if I can't pick up a couple and take them apart and see how significant are the differences.

Bottom line though, clean grain from top to bottom is going to be far more durable, and the question I would ask is why trust anything else, even if you are just looking at low probabilities? It is not like it is impossible to find axes with the proper grain, so it is just a matter of what you are willing to settle for.

-Cliff
 
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