question about handle making

jblyttle

jblyttle

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Sep 3, 2014
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so let's say that someone wanted to buy me a seasoned piece of hickory from the lumber yard for Christmas what size should they be looking for to be appropriate for all sizes of handle would it be 3 inches by 6 inches or 2 inches by 6 inches or something completely different
 
3x6 would give you more room to play with, but on the other hand that's the more material you need to take off. 2" SHOULD be fine.
 
I'd agree that 2 inches SHOULD be fine. I mean an 1-3/4" swell is big as swells go .... awesome ... but big. Not sure you need 6 inches either, but I guess I'd have to actually measure a handle to say - would almost think 4" but I dunno. What's the money on a 2x6?
 
cityofthesouth said:
I'd agree that 2 inches SHOULD be fine. I mean an 1-3/4" swell is big as swells go .... awesome ... but big. Not sure you need 6 inches either, but I guess I'd have to actually measure a handle to say - would almost think 4" but I dunno. What's the money on a 2x6?
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No clue, but should be less than a finished handle I hope? I would cut it and start with smaller handles anyway, so I guess 2x4. Hmmm....
 
The most difficult part of procuring a 5/4 x 3 x 36 rough sawn piece of hickory is in having the grain oriented parallel with the 3" dimension. Most specialty lumber is deliberately milled as some version of quarter-sawn, meaning the grain tends to be perpendicular to the 3" side. My nearby specialty lumber store carries lots of different types of 'drool-upon' hardwoods but it's extremely rare on any of the stuff to find grain orientation that is ideal for curved axe handles.
The special "someone" that's playing Santa might be best off to order blanks (or rough turned hafts) from House Handle, or some such, and pay a little bit extra to ensure they receive 'pick of the litter'.
 
Like some others have said, 8/4 (2" thick) flat sawn by 3" would be sufficient by a few inches more than whatever length you are looking for. I suppose availability will depend on your location. While 300Six say's it's scarce in his neck of the woods, I have a couple sources to choose from in my area. Hope you get some and post progress pics!
 
Even 6/4 SHOULD be more than enough. IMO, if 1.5 inches isn't enough of a swell for you, the rest of the handle is probably too thick.
 
Everything hinges on the thickness of the butt swell. Thickness at the shoulder is usually little more than an inch. Depth is a question of how much of a belly you want to give to the curve.

I went over my pile of old and vintage axes with a tape measure. Swell widths on some of the real oldies varies from 1 1/2 to 1 3/4, ones from the sixties and seventies are more like 1 1/4 to 1 3/8. One old axe, with an elm haft has a 2 inch thick swell which is way too much.
 
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I'm starting to think that I'm better off asking a local firewood service to sell me a roughly 3'x8" log. I can split it, throw it into the basement and play with it in the spring. Either. If I want to practice reshaping, I also have some decent cut offs that I can try to turn in hatchet handles. Just an idea.
 
jblyttle said:
I'm starting to think that I'm better off asking a local firewood service to sell me a roughly 3'x8" log. I can split it, throw it into the basement and play with it in the spring. Either. If I want to practice reshaping, I also have some decent cut offs that I can try to turn in hatchet handles. Just an idea.
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Curiosity has nearly killed this cat, but I would still be interested in finding out if you can score boards locally. Either way should be pretty fun.
 
jblyttle said:
I'm starting to think that I'm better off asking a local firewood service to sell me a roughly 3'x8" log. I can split it, throw it into the basement and play with it in the spring. Either. If I want to practice reshaping, I also have some decent cut offs that I can try to turn in hatchet handles. Just an idea.
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That would be the route I would go, JB. If you do that, I would go on and get enough to split out several staves to be drying. Smaller staves can be S-L-O-W-L-Y force dried in the microwave.
 
quinton said:
That would be the route I would go, JB. If you do that, I would go on and get enough to split out several staves to be drying. Smaller staves can be S-L-O-W-L-Y force dried in the microwave.
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You just gave me an idea. Whenever I have a fire in the firepit, if I have a few damp pieces of wood I will line the outer edges of the pit with them standing vertically. After a bit I can see the vapor coming from them, and they will be dry enough to burn next time. Perhaps if I carefully place a test piece at just the right distance....
 
That's the way I dry smaller chunks in the microwave. Heat the wood slowly on low power until it gets warm, and steam escapes from the end, let it cool a lil', then repeat until dry.
 
If I feel impatient I get the section of log and simply run it back and forth over a fire to dry it out. A question, instead of rasping the bow in the handle, could you not lightly rub it in oil, heat it over a fire, and bend it?
 
jblyttle said:
I'm starting to think that I'm better off asking a local firewood service to sell me a roughly 3'x8" log. I can split it, throw it into the basement and play with it in the spring. Either. If I want to practice reshaping, I also have some decent cut offs that I can try to turn in hatchet handles. Just an idea.
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I recently got some 8/4 kiln dried hickory (posted in an earlier thread). The piece was 13 ft long and 8 in wide and cost $53. Ripped into 2 in wide pieces would give me 12 blanks. However, I don't think going about it that way will allow me as good of grain orientation needed. My plan is to clean the board ends to see where the grain goes and then rive out the blanks. I'll be happy if I get 6 good blanks (abt $9 / blank). Buying boards is obviously more expensive than buying a log. Boards won't save labor except for splitting the log. After that the work will be the same. The boards are dried which is a plus. I'd personally get more satisfaction taking the blanks from a log. Hopefully I'll find one. I'll mention that if you want a 36 in handle you might want a longer log. Also plan on knots, and crotch wood. If you go to a firewood guy get a piece of butt wood, not a limb. The butt logs go for lumber and the rest is left or used for fire wood. I've never done this but I've read that you can weigh the blanks you get periodically and when they stop loosing weight they have stopped loosing water.
 
Yes, this is the way that I'm going to go for starters. I just want to make a handle from scratch for fun, then expand and improve my capabilities if I enjoy the process. At least I can say that I did it.

Like I said, I have full sized cut-offs that I can practice on, and when the time comes, I can grab a clean piece of hickory off of somebody's woodpile to make a hatchet or hammer handle from. One done, I'll see if I want to try other things. Good ideas all around here, and thank you 300Six for the heads up, I would not have considered that problem until it was too late.
 
JB, it a good way to use a hatchet also. It can be relaxing. I really enjoy roughing things out with a hatchet, I have a band saw but its just not the same.
Relaxing2_zpsa320afbf.jpg
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quinton, I have heard of useing micrwave ovens for bending wood but not drying it, I would think it would work great. I used mine the other day to dry a pair of socks(fresh out of the washer).
 
garry3 said:
JB, it a good way to use a hatchet also. It can be relaxing. I really enjoy roughing things out with a hatchet, I have a band saw but its just not the same.
Relaxing2_zpsa320afbf.jpg
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quinton, I have heard of useing micrwave ovens for bending wood but not drying it, I would think it would work great. I used mine the other day to dry a pair of socks(fresh out of the washer).
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Thank you, I'm restoring a small hewing hatchet just for that purpose. Nice pic, but my eyes keep getting drawn to that bottle. It seems that I simply cannot sit by a fire without something for my hands to do and a nice adult beverage nearby.
 
jblyttle said:
Thank you, I'm restoring a small hewing hatchet just for that purpose. Nice pic, but my eyes keep getting drawn to that bottle. It seems that I simply cannot sit by a fire without something for my hands to do and a nice adult beverage nearby.
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The bottle is strictly for medicinal purposes. When I left 50 behind my joints just require more lube, kind of like the tin man.
 
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