My First HH Order Review.

[DarthTaco123]

Alright, so here's my review for my House Handle order (now keep in mind I've yet to use any of these in a hang yet). My order was as follows (top to bottom) Two 32" SB handles, hand select no lacquer, two 30" SB hand select no lacquer, two 30" DB hand select no lacquer octagonal, two 28" SB hand select no lacquer, and two 28" boys axe hand select no lacquer.
In terms of overall grain orientation they're pretty spot on aside from a few (which can be seen down below) and some cases of runout but they don't look like the runout runs very deep and I should be able to shave it down enough to minimize the problem. The rings were a bit spotty, some showing they came from fast growing trees where some had a rather slow growth (also the occasional false growth ring), I'd have rather seen it all be slower growth but what can you do.
That brings me to the second point: Thickness. the regular hand selected handles (non octagon) ran 22mm in the center of the handle, that's darn thick. There was also quite a bit of taper in width to the handles but that means I've got more room to shave it down and get it exactly right so that doesn't hurt my feelings too much. The octagon handles however are a nice slim 15mm, they feel really good and if one didn't want to bother shaving down the regular handles, the octagon handles would be the way to go as you can simply round off the corners.
In terms of overall shape, it varies. As you can see sometimes the palm swells are a bit off kilter but nothing that poses a major problem. Aside from the thickness, the curvyness of the handles varies too (again not a big problem for me).
I only had one handle that was heartwood-sapwood mixed which surprised me but one of the 32" handles did show some staining and both of the DB handles had checking in the butt of the handles (I could probably get my money back on those) and on the sides of one of the 30" SB handles but those are being reduced in width anyhow so I'm not too concerned.
Overall I'm impressed with the order, especially for the price. I believe it was around 140 shipped for all 10 handles which is cheaper then buying the lacquered up glorified 2x4's from the local hardware stores so I'm not complaining. Will it replace a quality slim and curvy (or even straight) vintage handle? Heck no. But they're a great platform to set yourself up with a nice handle.

 

[DarthTaco123]

I forgot to mention the shipping!

Where all of the handles in this order were hand select, no lacquer (and the four ocagonalized handles) it took roughly a week for the order to be processed and placed together, but only three days to ship up to Fort Kent, Maine.

 

[phantomknives]

i wanna put a 30" on my KP 3 pounder, how's the 30's compared to the 32's. also, if you dont know already, overstriking will kill those octagonals faster than blinking so be careful

 

[DarthTaco123]

Oh I imagine those octagonal handles don't take overstrike very well since they're a thin flat surface. 30" is my preferred length for most handles anyways so to me they feel great (a bit thick but I'll thin them down).

 

[phantomknives]

ok, thanks for the advice, all i'v ordered are 36's and 32's for DB's, im a little hesitant to get anything else

 

[Curt Hal]

My experience with HH has been pretty good. So far the quality is pretty decent. I have yet to see a palm swell with good symmetry. I also find that many of the shoulders are rough and need sanding. They are usually a much better fit into the eye, which saves time and effort. And, even with the exchange rate to Canadian dollars, they work out to be comparable to what I can get here. Finally, not having to take the lacquer finish off is a real blessing.

 

[jblyttle]

The furthest north that I have been is rafting near Moosehead Lake. I'm hoping to get to Baxter this year to climb Katahdin. Damn you are way up there!

 

[DarthTaco123]

Just how I like it JB!

 

[300Six]

They look OK and ought to work fine for ya. Looking over the collection of them I'm thinking there must be a new kid operating the sander, or smoothed handle pay is based on piecework. I can see why some forum members specifically ask for unsanded hafts; many of us are capable of being much more 'polite' with belt sanders, rasps and wood shaves at home.

 

[serotina]

I can see why some forum members specifically ask for unsanded hafts; many of us are capable of being much more 'polite' with belt sanders, rasps and wood shaves at home.

Yeah, we can. But not on a handle we would sell for $8-$12.

I like HH a lot. I don't mind in the least getting a chunky handle that I can shape to fit my needs. If someone were selling the exact handles I wanted for $25 rather than less than half that, I might buy those instead and save time, but I sure wouldn't pay much more than that.

I don't expect perfection or anything close to it from such inexpensive handles. Out where I live, it costs me more to buy wood to make my own handle than it does to get one from HH and go from there. I can buy decent Ames handles down at Home Depot, but the sizes are extremely limited. Other stores carry these terrible Truper handles. I only mention this because my perspective is pretty different than a guy's would be where you can actually find lots of decent stuff to choose from.

 

[serotina]

I forgot to mention the shipping!

Where all of the handles in this order were hand select, no lacquer (and the four ocagonalized handles) it took roughly a week for the order to be processed and placed together, but only three days to ship up to Fort Kent, Maine.

That's a long way from Penobscot County!

I lived for a few months in Easton when I was a kid. Then 3 years in Ashland before we moved down to the Bangor area.

 

[300Six]

Yeah, we can. But not on a handle we would sell for $8-$12.

I like HH a lot. I don't mind in the least getting a chunky handle that I can shape to fit my needs. If someone were selling the exact handles I wanted for $25 rather than less than half that, I might buy those instead and save time, but I sure wouldn't pay much more than that.

I don't expect perfection or anything close to it from such inexpensive handles. Out where I live, it costs me more to buy wood to make my own handle than it does to get one from HH and go from there. I can buy decent Ames handles down at Home Depot, but the sizes are extremely limited. Other stores carry these terrible Truper handles. I only mention this because my perspective is pretty different than a guy's would be where you can actually find lots of decent stuff to choose from.

What you're saying makes perfect sense. Were you suddenly to decide that a store bought haft was too pricey and elected to make your own you'd have had to ask a lot of questions, do a lot of reading, have $100s invested and 2-3 dozen hours of physical effort before the first one was installed. The concept of paying $25-35 (or even $50) for hand-selected #1 wood and a carefully sculpted handle would only encourage me to buy 'tailor-made' instead of choosing to fuss around in the shop. But then again what are hobbies for?

There was a 25 year long drought for getting decent axe handles where I am in eastern Canada. Some materials-conscious commercial maker and national supplier (bonjours Garant et fils, PQ) switched over to using 1 inch dressed boards instead of the conventional 1 1/2" rough blanks back in the early 1990s and many of us steadfastly refused to buy into these. They felt like you were hanging on to a piece of strapping or a survey picket! Below are factory hung examples of an old stock 'flat slab' along with a current production handle. Stores had to 1/2 price the stale stuff just to move them along because buyers jumped on the new (old fashioned) stock.

 

[serotina]

What you're saying makes perfect sense. Were you suddenly to decide that a store bought haft was too pricey and elected to make your own you'd have had to ask a lot of questions, do a lot of reading, have $100s invested and 2-3 dozen hours of physical effort before the first one was installed. The concept of paying $25-35 (or even $50) for hand-selected #1 wood and a carefully sculpted handle would only encourage me to buy 'tailor-made' instead of choosing to fuss around in the shop. But then again what are hobbies for?

Yeah, that is pretty much it - if I were using axes to make a living, I would likely be much more amenable to a $50 handle that would last well. As it is, I split wood to heat a workweek house, mostly because the wood is available and I need the productive activity after 8-10 hours a day at work

From that point of view I almost prefer a chunky handle that is a good base for some fun sculpting. I've always been pretty good at carving by eye so I enjoy reshaping a handle, but I wouldn't want to do it 8 hours a day. I suspect that the employment market is such that there is little incentive for manufacturers to provide anything but the inexpensive, chunky handle that makes a good starting point.

There was a 25 year long drought for getting decent axe handles where I am in eastern Canada. Some materials-conscious commercial maker and national supplier (bonjours Garant et fils, PQ) switched over to using 1 inch dressed boards instead of the conventional 1 1/2" rough blanks back in the early 1990s and many of us steadfastly refused to buy into these. They felt like you were hanging on to a piece of strapping or a survey picket! Below are factory hung examples of an old stock 'flat slab' along with a current production handle. Stores had to 1/2 price the stale stuff just to move them along because buyers jumped on the new (old fashioned) stock.

That is kind of what those Truper handles are like - flat. Never looked closely at them though, first glance turned me off when I knew I could just order some from HH instead.