Mauled my maul handle

Agent_H · Jun 24, 2015

Had a good weekend but broke my maul handle.

Blew my maul out on juniper. My brother brought a bed load of seasoned juniper with him this weekend. Later Saturday night he and I were hanging out in the garage. He brought in an especially ugly piece of juniper with 5-6 tight knots in it.

I started to hear a clicking noise and thought it was my furnace but it was coming from the piece of wood. The wood is riddled with beetle holes. Here is a clip for fun.

Anyway, we went out back to split it open of course. Juniper 1: my maul 0. That stuff is harder than you would think. Ended up using one of my 3.5lb Lakesides on a 28 inch handle. Should have just started there.
This was wandering near the pile the next day

Anyone recognize this critter?

Also heard insect noises Ive not recognized they probably wont do as well and thrive here. At least I hope not... Think it is a wood borer of some sort. My brother was a little uptight about knowing that he brought them here in the wood.

Guess I know what I am hanging next Juniper sure smells nice and makes me think of high plain/ Central Oregon.

Any difference hanging a maul than a standard axe? Input or inside advice is appreciated.

Oh and since we all like axes, thought Id share these. He sent these pictures to me yesterday. Guess he snapped some shots of the workbench while I was inside. He was joking with a friend that maybe I have a problem.

Oh, any good maul pictures would great.

Crazyotter · Jun 24, 2015

I dont blame your brother for being uptight, hopefully he didnt bring wood from out of state. Pretty sure thats illegal, due to invasive species...

Agent_H · Jun 24, 2015

Crazyotter said:
I dont blame your brother for being uptight, hopefully he didnt bring wood from out of state. Pretty sure thats illegal, due to invasive species...

Eastern Oregon to Willamette Valley. I hope so too. He meant well, trust me.

Crazyotter · Jun 24, 2015

Thats good then. Im not trying to be a jerk, I just worry about things like that. Id even burn the wood and kill everything in a 50' circle, but well, just me.

Heres my misery maul. Had a few overstrikes today on birch and almost wound up in your boat. This thing literally gets a handle a year.

Guitarist7.62 · Jun 24, 2015

You're most likely gonna need a sledge handle bucause of the eye, hang it like an axe other wise. Check state laws sometimes it's illegal to transport wood past county lines

Agent_H · Jun 24, 2015

We burned it entirely Otter. Maybe I should not have posted that at all- he knows better, I know better but my wife asked him to bring "junie" because I have been complaining of not getting out to the desert and it has a distinct smell when it burns.

Anyway, great looking maul. Do you feel that using a metal wedge is advisable with a maul? All of my axes run without and don't have any issues is why I ask. My maul was not my hanging job - in fact, I believe it was in the basement of a house I rented in 98'. It was riddled with metal wedges and I have never had to do anything but sharpen it now and again.

Agent_H · Jun 24, 2015

Guitarist7.62 said:
You're most likely gonna need a sledge handle bucause of the eye, hang it like an axe other wise. Check state laws sometimes it's illegal to transport wood past county lines

Do I need to have this post removed?

Crazyotter · Jun 24, 2015

Agent_H said:
Anyway, great looking maul. Do you feel that using a metal wedge is advisable with a maul? All of my axes run without and don't have any issues is why I ask. My maul was not my hanging job - in fact, I believe it was in the basement of a house I rented in 98'. It was riddled with metal wedges and I have never had to do anything but sharpen it now and again.

I actually have a CT aluminum wedge in mine, no wood wedge at all or metal wedge backup. The kerf was so tight I didnt have a choice, but its held fine. If I was doing a wood wedge though, Id definitely use a metal wedge backup in the wood wedge. All of my user axes are set up that way as well so. (

TheAxeGuys · Jun 24, 2015

Hey bud, im no entomologist but it looks real similar and sounds kind of like what we get out here in california called June Bugs they come out around the month of June.

300Six · Jun 25, 2015

The wood inside the eye of the maul seems to have suffered from dry rot over the years. Good that you found out sooner rather than later. I guess oil-soaking of hafts has supplemental benefits especially if they have to endure being stored in damp basements for extended periods.

jblyttle · Jun 25, 2015

Crazyotter said:
Thats good then. Im not trying to be a jerk, I just worry about things like that. Id even burn the wood and kill everything in a 50' circle, but well, just me.

Heres my misery maul. Had a few overstrikes today on birch and almost wound up in your boat. This thing literally gets a handle a year.

Wow you missed every shot.

Square_peg · Jun 25, 2015

Agent_H said:
I know better but my wife asked him to bring "junie" because I have been complaining of not getting out to the desert and it has a distinct smell when it burns.

Those juniper forests are a cool and unique ecosystem. We've got a little of it in south central WA, too. This photo was taken last February in the Juniper Dunes Wilderness Area.

Agent_H · Jun 25, 2015

Square_peg said:
Those juniper forests are a cool and unique ecosystem. We've got a little of it in south central WA, too. This photo was taken last February in the Juniper Dunes Wilderness Area.

That is beautiful country there. Juniper lives a hard life. SE Washington and eastern Oregon are amazing territory for sure.

Skiv · Jun 26, 2015

Just a guess: "Black-horned Juniper Borer"?

Depending on where you are in the Willamette Valley they might just curl up and die. I suggest you send a sample to the Entomology department at Oregon State, or/also to the College of Forestry. I also suggest you indicate the bug was "picked up in Eastern Oregon."

If you're significantly far from Corvallis, check your local Forestry extension agent listing.

We've got lots of juniper around here. Some gets burned and you're right -- smells good. I tend to leave it near the house as a source for juniper berries for curing pork (pancetta and filetto, yum!).

Agent_H · Jun 27, 2015

Skiv said:
Just a guess: "Black-horned Juniper Borer"?

Depending on where you are in the Willamette Valley they might just curl up and die. I suggest you send a sample to the Entomology department at Oregon State, or/also to the College of Forestry. I also suggest you indicate the bug was "picked up in Eastern Oregon."

If you're significantly far from Corvallis, check your local Forestry extension agent listing.

We've got lots of juniper around here. Some gets burned and you're right -- smells good. I tend to leave it near the house as a source for juniper berries for curing pork (pancetta and filetto, yum!).

We burned all of the wood that night. As far as passing through Corvallis to drop it off at OSU; that I could do. Going to visit a friend in a neighboring community with plans to "junk hunt". There to Sweet Home seems to be a great place to find old tools and logging "ephemera".

As a rule I pick up trash where ever I go, rinse my boats after each trip, and only burn windfall or recently-downed wood. The forest out back is primarily Silver Maple and it shows boring beetle damage - keeps the woodpeckers busy all day, every day so it could be that it was just on it's routine morning walk lol.

Sent a picture to my dad, who is in Uclulet, BC at the moment and he seems to believe it is a False Powder Post beetle - he is no entomologist but lived in Eastern Oregon for a spell and has experience with renovation and replacing structures that have damage.

Anyway, I need to hang my maul as it is sitting looking at me longingly on the garage workbench...

garry3 · Jun 27, 2015

I have burned a lot of that western juniper. Its what we had. Not easy to split with all the knots.The other common tree in the area was Mountain Mahogany, if you have ever been around it you would know why we cut Juniper. This was in SW Idaho. I used to go as long as two weeks at a time with out seeing or talking to anyone out there. Very strange to here another voice after a bit of time alone. Any way I will always associate the smell of Juniper to some of that very remote country, good memories mostly.

abbydaddy · Jun 27, 2015

Last year I split a pile of Juniper from out near John Day for some people I work for near Eugene. That wood was infested as well. Before I split most of it we wrapped it in plastic and set it out by itself until it stopped making noise.