My trip to Tennessee Hickory

[Slim278]

Apparently this place is only about 5 miles from my in-laws. I visited today at a little after 4. The hours turned out to be 7-3:30 but someone was still there and let me look around. I was able to pick some handles from the shelves of extras. I was told if I returned during hours I would be able to go through the pallets of stock, as there wasn't anyone available to assist me. Picked 5 unfinished handles for $33 including tax.
Photos to come when I return home.

-Slim278

 

[Square_peg]

I would enjoy that. They have the best wood.

 

[tandanus]

Do their handles flair out at the fawn's foot in both dimensions?

 

[Nbrackett]

Just realized they are only 30 mins from me. I'll have to check them out.

 

[Slim278]

Do their handles flair out at the fawn's foot in both dimensions?

Yes the do, especially the one I picked out of the stack marked "racing axe".

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Interesting...I don't see racing axe handles in their catalog. Have a picture?

 

[Slim278]

I just got home and here are the photos.

Here are the ones I picked up. All 32'' The one not sanded is the one on the shelf marked "Racing Axe".

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Not the best of pictures but its what I got.

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Enjoy

 

[lmalterna]

I could spend half a day in there!!

Better than any outlet mall.

Bill

 

[300Six]

Love those pictures. Quite the stockroom inventory. Would be interesting to see how much, or how little, automation is in place in that operation. It'd get horribly monotonous loading and unloading the lathe all day long week in week out.

 

[Square_peg]

I love their wood but I wish they would make larger fawns feet and slimmer hafts.

 

[BG_Farmer]

Thanks for the pictures! My mom grew up in Loudon and her best friend worked in the office there for years, but I never went inside the factory, just picked up hickory scraps for firewood in the yard. I think it was $5 for as much as you could fit on a pickup, and we would block the springs...

An hour or so west in crossville is the Turner Day (iirc) factory (now Seymour?), which ought to be interesting also if it's still there. They used to put their scraps out on a conveyor belt that you could just back up under. Some of their rejects in those days would put hardware store handles to shame these days.