Hit the handle jackpot!

Curt Hal · Oct 25, 2015

I know this may not mean much to the American folks on this forum, but in Canadian terms, I hit the handle jackpot today. I was in small town Alberta, and decided to drop in and see what was in the their local hardware store. Shockingly, (I have not seen this anywhere else in Alberta) they had 36", 32", 28' and boys handles! The price varied from $13-17CDN. That's about $10-$13 US. Needless to say, I just about cleaned them out. Then they said, if I wanted more, they could easily order them! The handles come from VB Manufacturing in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. They are decent handles. Now I don't have to buy those clubs I've been getting and spend hours rasping and sanding. I also don't need to order from HH (don't get me wrong, they are great!) and pay shipping and the extra 35 cents on the dollar exchange. The eye sizes match nicely, too. I came home this afternoon and popped a 2+ lb Zenith Marshall Wells head on a boys axe handle, and it fit like a glove. The wedge was in, sawn and sanded in 10 minutes. This is a game changer!

Now if I could only find a good source of axe heads in Canada!

Square_peg · Oct 25, 2015

What a relief for you to finally find a good source for handles.

VB Manufacturing in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas is Vaughan & Bushnell. Vaughan makes their own handles.

http://www.vaughanmfg.com/pages/history-of-vaughan

gben · Oct 25, 2015

Pretty strange that hardware stores there would not normally carry tool handles.

jblyttle · Oct 26, 2015

gben said:
Pretty strange that hardware stores there would not normally carry tool handles.

I think that they do, but no selection. Usually just 36" only and of questionable quality. That's the way it is around here anyway. Actually, my local Home Depot has a ton of 36" handles and when I've looked through them it was easy to find good ones, it's just that I have almost zero need for 36" handles.

I know what you mean about "clubs". I like HH too but some of their handles may as well be called blanks.

Curt Hal · Oct 29, 2015

Okay. A little consternation. The handles I got that are listed as Boy's Axe handles are 28" long??? Is that right??? I put a 2 pounder on one and it looks a little funny.

Steve Tall · Oct 29, 2015

28" is the standard boy's axe handle length these days, usually with a 2-1/4 pound head.

300Six · Oct 30, 2015

Curt Hal said:
Okay. A little consternation. The handles I got that are listed as Boy's Axe handles are 28" long??? Is that right??? I put a 2 pounder on one and it looks a little funny.

The Home Hardware Boy's versions that I've found (and bought) are 28 inch OAL but there is a very generous shoulder on them and shortening to 26 inch merely requires a saw.

Curt Hal · Oct 30, 2015

Good to hear people say the 28" is about right for a boy's axe. This one ended up being more like 27" on a 2lb, 2.5oz head. I am not really familiar with boy's axes, but this is about right? The other thing that is weird is that the bevel on the butt is not perpendicular to the handle. I found this to be the case on a House Handle. Is it always like this on boy's axe handles?

Square_peg · Oct 31, 2015

Curt Hal said:
The other thing that is weird is that the bevel on the butt is not perpendicular to the handle. I found this to be the case on a House Handle. Is it always like this on boy's axe handles?

No. That's just sloppy work by the manufacturer. Thankfully it doesn't really harm anything.

I prefer the old style handles where the fawn's foot isn't clipped off. They clip them so that a pneumatic press can push the handles on the heads. Unclipped fawns foot handles are more comfortable to me. I prefer the fawns foot to extend through my palm so it's less likely to blister.