New House Handles, 3 out of 5 are split??

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PsYCHoT|K

Joined
Mar 10, 2012
Messages
88
Hello again. Can anyone help me to understand if these handles are acceptable, or if I should contact House Handle to seek replacements? I ordered 5 new, hand selected, AA handles, and 3 of them have cracks or splits in them. Am I being too picky, or did I just get really unlucky? Thanks.

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah4/AT_Nyhof/IMG_1072_zpsuaqbnftw.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah4/AT_Nyhof/IMG_1073_zpsitzqhvoh.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah4/AT_Nyhof/IMG_1074_zpsohgbohpr.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah4/AT_Nyhof/IMG_1070_zpsmdbelbjs.jpg
 
PsYCHoT|K said:
Hello again. Can anyone help me to understand if these handles are acceptable, or if I should contact House Handle to seek replacements? I ordered 5 new, hand selected, AA handles, and 3 of them have cracks or splits in them. Am I being too picky, or did I just get really unlucky? Thanks.

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah4/AT_Nyhof/IMG_1072_zpsuaqbnftw.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah4/AT_Nyhof/IMG_1073_zpsitzqhvoh.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah4/AT_Nyhof/IMG_1074_zpsohgbohpr.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah4/AT_Nyhof/IMG_1070_zpsmdbelbjs.jpg
Click to expand...

I never pulled the trigger ordering handles online but I can tell you I wouldn't take those home from my hardware store...would probably hand them in to my hardware store and ask if they would want to exchange them for new ones.
 
Sigh. What can I say that has not been said? (I'm talking to myself, not questioning you)

As far as I am concerned, House Hand has struck out 20 times over. These obvious flaws are seen over and over by many different people over a long period of time. Crafcked wood, warped wood, mis-shapen wood, rotten wood. And this is on AA handles. They have been notified many times and it is obvious that they don't care and won't change. Send them back, make them pay the freight, and don't look back. I have mostly good luck with their hammer handles, but I learned a while ago to never order an axe handle from them again.
 
junkenstien said:
That one with the crack in the swell has got perfect grain ,if that's all that's wrong I would keep that one.
Click to expand...
If it was an old NOS handle that had developed that crack and it was otherwise good I may agree, but that's brand new and unused and it's already like that. It's flawed wood and who knows what else is going to happen. They must be drying too aggressively/quickly.
 
I try not to be unfairly critical, but the logician and objective thinker in me can't get past this curiosity: if these are the AA, hand selected versions, which I paid extra for, what on God's green earth do the normal ones look like?? Of all the places I've been over the past few weeks, from Lowes to Menards, to Home Depot to True Value, to Ace Hardware to Family Farm and Home, to Tractor Supply Company to my local hardware store, I have never seen one handle split like this. Sadly, I can go get a diagonal grain Link handle 5 minutes up the road with no splits whatsoever for nearly half the cost. Very Disappointing.
 
PsYCHoT|K said:
I try not to be unfairly critical, but the logician and objective thinker in me can't get past this curiosity: if these are the AA, hand selected versions, which I paid extra for, what on God's green earth do the normal ones look like?? Of all the places I've been over the past few weeks, from Lowes to Menards, to Home Depot to True Value, to Ace Hardware to Family Farm and Home, to Tractor Supply Company to my local hardware store, I have never seen one handle split like this. Sadly, I can go get a diagonal grain Link handle 5 minutes up the road with no splits whatsoever for nearly half the cost. Very Disappointing.
Click to expand...

This is it. Things happen so I would not hammer them except for the fact that the chance to fix a mistake has come to them over and over and they don't take it. It's no longer a mistake at that point. But that isn't the worst offense. Someone picked those up, looked at them, shrugged and put them in the box.
 
junkenstien said:
That one with the crack in the swell has got perfect grain ,if that's all that's wrong I would keep that one.
Click to expand...

If the crack were only in the swell and the haft was excellent other than that then I would accept it. Under no conditions would I hang an axe on a haft with crack right under the eye.

Here's the problem. There is no commercially offered handle that is very good in all ways (let alone excellent in all ways). Not available at any cost anywhere. So you have to choose which flaws you want to live with or which flaws you're willing to fix yourself. Obviously there is no way you can fix lousy wood or lousy grain. So those things must at least be good to begin with. 'Very good' or 'excellent' would be better but let's acknowledge that 'good' in these 2 features is a must.

If you frequent hardware stores you will occasionally find handles that fill those first 2 musts. Sometimes you'll even find a handle with decent shape as is (not great, just decent). The Seymor/Link stuff found in hardware chains will often include a very good boys axe or cruiser handle. Hardware stores are a good source for these sizes of handles. You may find a good full size or double bit handle in these same stores. They all tend to have swells a bit smaller than you like but still usable.

The only place where I've found consistently good to great wood is Tennessee Hickory Products. You still have problems with grain even at TH. Most are passable and many are very good or excellent. Every one will come way too fat and require some serious thinning (maybe 30% by weight) to become a good haft. It takes time and skill to do this.

If you want to hang an axe on the handle as it comes from the maker then stick to Link or House (and maybe a few local makers). If you don't mind a bit of work and want excellent material then look for TH stuff. I've found a couple local suppliers of TH products. They will let me pick thru their stock of not just what's on the shelf but also whatever they have back in stock. I never fail to find a few really excellent pieces among their stock (and almost all are at least 'good'). You just have to work to turn their fat handles into something great.
 
And back on topic, with that lot you were shipped I would either send the whole lot back or keep the single best one and send the rest back. Those aren't premium hafts.
 
S Square_peg I sent them an email tonight, but upon further thought I think I just need to call them tomorrow. I won't be rude or disrespectful, but I will be honest. When you pay for the best available product and even pay extra for hand selected, it is simply unacceptable that more than half of your order is not what was advertised or what you paid for. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and proceed as though they will be willing to make things right. Thank you for the feedback and I will update after I get a hold of them.
 
I wish you luck, it wasn't the twisted junk they sent me that put me off so much as the lie they told me that they were going to replace them that never showed up. Called back after waiting and they claimed they couldn't find the pics I emailed them. Waited some more, called again, finally after 3 tries they grudgingly sent 2 replacements. So my advice is ask the name of the person you talk to.
Poor costomer service
 
Square_peg said:
If you frequent hardware stores you will occasionally find handles that fill those first 2 musts. Sometimes you'll even find a handle with decent shape as is (not great, just decent). The Seymor/Link stuff found in hardware chains will often include a very good boys axe or cruiser handle. Hardware stores are a good source for these sizes of handles. You may find a good full size or double bit handle in these same stores. They all tend to have swells a bit smaller than you like but still usable.
Click to expand...

Same with Lowes around here that carries Ames handles. They are almost always good wood, straight and uniformly shaped. There are many with poor grain issues and terrible run-out but also many with good grain alignment and once in a while perfect. They are also about $11. The only two problems- they are very fat (addressable) and come in any size that you want as long as it is 36".
 
I've ordered a lot of handles from house. Some needed a return, most were fine. The service was acceptable for me at least.

I always look for the local boys axe handles, and seem to find useable, even nice ones, on a regular basis. I've hung a bunch of full size Connie and jersey heads this way, with excellent results. You have to make a big wedge, but they don't take a lot of fitting and need no thinning. It's really easy compared to working a club down to end up with nice thin lively handles for full size heads. If you dont mind the 28"

At this point there's no easy answer, it takes some effort to get, or make a nice handle, especially full size ones.
 
I am all for finding bright spots and silver linings in life, and on that note I do have an update. With that said, the update in no way detracts or changes anything that has heretofore been discussed in this thread. Everything, as far as I can tell, that everyone has offered up to the discussion has been true, so let us keep this in mind going forward in finding suitable ax handles that won't shatter during use. God forbid one of my razor sharp, hair-shaving edges comes flying back at one of my jugular veins while chopping wood in the back yard as my children watch.

Now, all melodrama aside, the update. I promptly received an email this morning, just before 8:30 am, with one simple sentence asking me, "Would you like us to send you replacements or would you like replacement handles?" Being that I, myself, sent them a short email (which included the pictures I shared in this post) and then a longer email a bit after that, I received another email from them about 45 minutes later that was slightly lengthier and, in my estimation, significantly more professional. While it was not apologetic, it was from a seemingly concerned person who appeared to want to remedy the situation as soon as possible and who expressed the desire to make things right. She implicitly asked for the opportunity to replace the handles for me, but stated that she would be willing to refund the money as well if that is what I preferred. After I contacted her and let her know that I would like the replacement handles, she stated that she would try to get them mailed out to me today.

Time will tell what happens from here, but I, seeking for silver linings, shall remain optimistic until proven otherwise. I will, however, be sure to rigorously inspect the replacement handles if/when they arrive as my confidence in House Handle has been slightly tainted. Anyway, I hope that this was helpful to some and I appreciate everyone participating in the conversation and helping me out.
 
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