House Handles Off Center?

B

brettdean

Joined
Jan 5, 2013
Messages
72
It seems all my other handles are centered. But I just received this 36" straight bit handle from House Handle and it seems really off center. I've been leveling out the ("cheeks"?) because it was really "bulging" more on one side (I think this is typical) but now that I look down the haft, it's off center. Head blade and haft will be WAY off on this one.

Is this typical of House Handle? Is this the first time I've noticed hafts are normally off center?

Edit: You can really see it in the first photo.







 
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looks warped or crooked to me. crooked handles in todays handle market are a very common occurrence.

that said, i have sorted through MANY MANY handles that had the eye off to one side or the other instead of inline with the center line of the handle itself. those handles, unless very slight, do not get used by me.

the ones that are slightly off center can usually be corrected with a rasp when hanging the head.

another point, the kerf can be off center considerably, and not cause an issue with the final hang, as long as the actual eye is centered up right.

i have a local supplier that has a fair selection of House Handles, and i have never used a single on on any of my axes. i have not been pleased with the quality, shape, or grain orientations on any of them. the swell at the end is usually funky shaped IMO, and a bunch of material needs to be removed just below the head itself, if you want it to look like its hung up to the "shoulder" on the handle, and so that it clears when splitting. i keep clear of the house handles, i dont even stop to look through them anymore.
 
Small crook in the haft wouldn't bother anybody much in the old days (providing it was slightly curled to their advantage) but Internet savvy folks today don't want to buy unless it's $1.50 from China or $50 from Sweden. It's a living piece of hickory wood man! Grain is OK and you don't show what run-out there could be throughout the length. Nice piece of wood. Likely you'll break long before it does.
 
300Six said:
Small crook in the haft wouldn't bother anybody much in the old days (providing it was slightly curled to their advantage) but Internet savvy folks today don't want to buy unless it's $1.50 from China or $50 from Sweden. It's a living piece of hickory wood man! Grain is OK and you don't show what run-out there could be throughout the length. Nice piece of wood. Likely you'll break long before it does.
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i disagree. in the old days, guys swinging axes would have been much more picky with what they hung an ax with. having a crooked haft also wouldnt fly, as axe men chopped from both sides, no matter which "handed" they were. nearly all the truly old handles i come across were of great quality, which is still obvious after decades of weathering and aging.

i think its a dang shame how much hickory is wasted saving a couple payroll seconds instead of lining up the grain for little run-out and proper direction. blanks arent dried properly, so shelves are full of warped, crooked, twisted handles. why anyone would spend the time it takes to properly handle a tool, with those poor pieces of work is beyond me.

that particular handle, grain is exactly wrong, and like you said, who knows about the run-out.
 
Well...I'm probably going to complain to House Handle, chip up this hickory handle and use it in the BBQ. This will most certainly be my last purchase from HH.


I may just look into getting a draw knife and spokeshave and making my own...
 
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Steve

Thank you. I emailed House Handle and explained the situation with a photo. So, we'll see what they decide.

(I wonder how many times I need to respond to this thread before it sticks, this is my third attempt)
 
I think the kerf was sawn off-center. A common occurrence. I sometimes try to re-saw it straight and centered. It shouldn't matter after it is wedged as long as the axe goes on straight and is centered to the handle, not the wedge slot or kerf. In the old days many handles were sold without sawn kerfs and you had to saw your own. I wish they would still offer them that way.
 
I have bought probably 2 dozen handles from House- all were requested AA some octogon, some not. Most all have ben serviceable, some have been Excellent!- Some I cut way down for hammer handles.

It annoyed me at first but my other option is picking through Seymour Industries/Link handles at the hardware stores. Occassionaly I find a good one there but still requires work and the price is twice what House gets before shipping. Usually look through 5-8 before I find a winner and they do not order until they run very low so someone esle has to buy the rejects before I get a new lot to pick through.

For my end of the hobby, House still wins out and I order 6-8 at a time, knowing I might have to cull a couple- at least until I learn to steam straighten handles but that is the allure of the hobby for me, learning to work with what I have.

My drawknives have become favorites for slimming fat shoulders :)

Bill
 
All the House Handles hafts that I've purchased have been off. The wedge slots are crooked. I've purchased several boy's axe handles and they are not symmetric. They each have a weird notch on one side, but not the other right before the fawn's foot. And the 36" double bit handle must be made for a giant. I have large hands that can palm a basketball, but I feel like a boy scout holding a man's axe when trying to get my hands around the DB handle.

I've had better luck with Link by Seymour. One thing that helps is if you can find a hardware store that will special order them for you. And then get the best quality for good grain orientation. The part #'s will end in -02 or -04 for the best quality with a wax finish.
 
Cardston, Thank you. I have emailed House Handle regarding this, requesting a refund or an exchange and I haven't heard back in almost a week. I'll let this go for another week or so and send a follow up email if they haven't responded to my original. We'll it looks like i'll be in search for another handle manufacture.

Or maybe I'll just make my own.....hummmm..

Thank you for the info Cardston
 
"Or maybe I'll just make my own.....hummmm"

:) Last Spring I cut a beautiful mature Hickory(think bigger than bear hug diameter- approx 20" across the cut) and cut into 40" sections. Still drying in the woods. I have to roll them out to the field by hand, split down and then begin learning how to carve.

There are several guys on here adept at carving really nice handles- I hope to learn along the way. I can only be sure of making chips.


Bill
 
brettdean said:
Cardston, Thank you. I have emailed House Handle regarding this, requesting a refund or an exchange and I haven't heard back in almost a week. I'll let this go for another week or so and send a follow up email if they haven't responded to my original.
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You might have better luck just calling them. House Handle is a pretty small operation and while that doesn't excuse poor customer service, they may not be very up to speed or on top of the e-business side of things.
 
Bridger said:
You might have better luck just calling them. House Handle is a pretty small operation and while that doesn't excuse poor customer service, they may not be very up to speed or on top of the e-business side of things.
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Bridger, They did contact me back, and told me that they will be mailing out a replacement with a postage paid info so I can return the "crooked" handle at no charge.

Good news.
 
House handle has done me right. I always get AA, Hand selected, and will get octagon from now on. Not all are perfect like a well crafted hand made, but they are always worth the 10-12 bucks. It would take me WAY longer than $12 dollars worth of time to make one myself, but I'm slow.

Hope the replacement is straight enough =)

Thanks,
Jon
 
Did you you buy an AA and ask for it to be hand picked? Maybe I missed that part somewhere - just curious. As someone else stated, it's worth the extra $2.50 to have it hand picked and lacquer removed. I've only ordered 2 axe handles but I said something like, I would like to pay for a handpicked handle with grain running parallel to the tool head. And that works out good for me .... mostly. I got a hammer handle with roughly 45 degree grain for my AA+$2.50. I think whatever they call a standard "grade" is essentially, whatever comes off the lathe is good enough. As someone else said, your grain is exactly wrong (which is a great phrase btw). Nice to hear they're gonna make it right though.
 
cityofthesouth said:
Did you you buy an AA and ask for it to be hand picked? Maybe I missed that part somewhere - just curious. As someone else stated, it's worth the extra $2.50 to have it hand picked and lacquer removed. I've only ordered 2 axe handles but I said something like, I would like to pay for a handpicked handle with grain running parallel to the tool head. And that works out good for me .... mostly. I got a hammer handle with roughly 45 degree grain for my AA+$2.50. I think whatever they call a standard "grade" is essentially, whatever comes off the lathe is good enough. As someone else said, your grain is exactly wrong (which is a great phrase btw). Nice to hear they're gonna make it right though.
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I received the replacement handle and it's better, I still need to check the grain though. I will give them a try one more time, specify AA, and see how that goes.

Thanks for all the help guys
 
Ok. So I received the replacement handle. Hung it, and it seem a little "twisted" to me.

I checked all my other axes and these are the only two that I've issues with, the first one I posted in this thread and now this one.

Am I just a rookie, or does the handle have a twist?
Did I just hang it wrong?






 
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brettdean said:
I received the replacement handle and it's better, I still need to check the grain though. I will give them a try one more time, specify AA, and see how that goes.

Thanks for all the help guys
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It's not that you have to specify AA. You do, but what I'm trying to say is you will notice there are two grades for most (or all, I dunno) of their handles so you'll just add the AA to your cart. When you are at your shopping cart page it tells you that if you want one hand picked, or this or that, to write it in the order comments - it's kinda primitive as the internet goes, I know. You may fully understand all this, but it gets lost in translation for me on forums some times. I'm not sure grain orientation matters that much and your new handle looks fine as far as that is concerned, but it's tough to tell about the twist from the pics. If you ordered "FH" grade, you are just getting what you get. A local hardware store near me carries a bunch of HH sticks and I am sure they order FH grade - it's a grab bag and some are terrible, some are fine.
 
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