Questions re: hickory for handles

Some of you need to spend more time whittling and spend less time on the internet reading. If it's written in a book or on the internet it must be true after all. This heart wood, sap wood debate has raged on for some years now. If you took the time to actually find out for yourselves there would be no debate. That's how I can tell instantly who is speaking from experience and who is just parroting what they have read. We are living in the age of internet experts that lack real world experience. Go ahead and buy your hickory as you see fit.

I don't care if what I have to say rubs some of you the wrong way, it doesn't bother me at all.

Carry on....
 
garry3 said:
Some of you need to spend more whittling and spend less time on the internet reading. If it's written in a book or on the internet it must be true after all. This heart wood, sap wood debate has raged on for some years now. If you took the time to actually find out for yourselves there would be no debate. That's how I can tell instantly who is speaking from experience and who is just parroting what they have read. We are living in the age of internet experts that lack real world experience. Go ahead and buy your hickory as you see fit.

I don't care if what I have to say rubs some of you the wrong way, it doesn't bother me at all.

Carry on....
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My direct experiences mirror those of the studies but I guess that doesn't count for some reason.
 
I think with a natural material like wood there are many variables present literally from tree to tree, add to those the many more variables added when season, handling, drying, storage, humidity even light...on & on it goes, even the final use with temperature & humidity, treatment & storage, etc all different.
I think it's possible for people to have such different experiences that in the end everyone can be considered right.. but only in their experience, it doesn't for one minute mean it will match someone else's.
Now if we were talking man made materials that'd be different......
 
garry3 said:
Some of you need to spend more time whittling and spend less time on the internet reading. If it's written in a book or on the internet it must be true after all. This heart wood, sap wood debate has raged on for some years now. If you took the time to actually find out for yourselves there would be no debate. That's how I can tell instantly who is speaking from experience and who is just parroting what they have read. We are living in the age of internet experts that lack real world experience. Go ahead and buy your hickory as you see fit.

I don't care if what I have to say rubs some of you the wrong way, it doesn't bother me at all.

Carry on....
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Well, others might have worked with wood too or held in their hands an axe handle or two... or more. Maybe even used a few axes.
What's more, they might have in addition to that, also read a few things. And thought about them, critically,
I agree with you: claiming some vague experience on the internet saying you worked as a technician or having whittled some sticks does not make you an expert, nor an authority.

Your arrogant attitude and tone while belittling other forum members sure does not help make your "arguments" being taken seriously.
Evidently many posts in this thread bothered you well enough to repeatedly attack others who disagreed with you, otherwise you would have not accused members of 'trolling' and 'parroting'.
Have you truly not been bothered at all, you would have simply ignored the thread instead of repeatedly coming back and posturing here.
To paraphrase your own words:
You need to spend more time thinking critically, or even just thinking before you post something on the internet and spend less time repeatedly pontificating about your 'stance' or 'experience' on said internet.
 
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As a kid I chopped several cords of firewood each fall for my grandparents 6’ fireplace. My grandfather had junk axes and I never saw a single broken handle. Completely useless anecdotal experience.

More recently, I’ve begun restoring and hanging axes as a hobby. I scorch the handles. I’ve identified several grain characteristics that seem to scorch better than others. I have minor concerns about many of the axes I’ve done, but none of them concern heartwood vs sapwood. Call me crazy but I prioritize grain structure to wood “type” every time. Several have been released to the wild and are holding up fine by all accounts. I have more concerns about my level of scorch than anything else.
 
I know that a sharp rasp will make hard plastic like shavings on good seasoned white hickory, but only produce dust on heart hickory. The two most definitely tool differently.

If my life depended on an axe handle it would be made by me from a riven stave and have a horizontal grain orientation.;)
 
quinton said:
I know that a sharp rasp will make hard plastic like shavings on good seasoned white hickory, but only produce dust on heart hickory. The two most definitely tool differently.

If my life depended on an axe handle it would be made by me from a riven stave and have a horizontal grain orientation.;)
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I know what you did here. :D ;)
Love it!
 
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Bob
 
NWFRS said:
As a kid I chopped several cords of firewood each fall for my grandparents 6’ fireplace. My grandfather had junk axes and I never saw a single broken handle. Completely useless anecdotal experience.

More recently, I’ve begun restoring and hanging axes as a hobby. I scorch the handles. I’ve identified several grain characteristics that seem to scorch better than others. I have minor concerns about many of the axes I’ve done, but none of them concern heartwood vs sapwood. Call me crazy but I prioritize grain structure to wood “type” every time. Several have been released to the wild and are holding up fine by all accounts. I have more concerns about my level of scorch than anything else.
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The flame tempered handles used to be a thing. I used lots of them and I seen no difference. But your handles are different, they look pretty toasted. Toasting hickory is a thing with the white wood bowyers. Some claim it makes the hickory stronger and it kind of does. They just do this on the belly of the bows, that wood that is in compression. Lacking good bow wood it makes hickory resist taking a set. To me it's kind of like supercharging an engine. It's going to run pretty fast but it's not going to run for 200,000 miles. You have likely made your hafts stiffer, by just how much is hard to say.
 
quinton said:
I know that a sharp rasp will make hard plastic like shavings on good seasoned white hickory, but only produce dust on heart hickory. The two most definitely tool differently.

If my life depended on an axe handle it would be made by me from a riven stave and have a horizontal grain orientation.;)
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Felt identical under the rasp and produced shavings indistinguishable from one another other than by color. I'd also note that I have worked plenty of lightweight white hickory that felt brittle and "dusty" over the years, as compared to good dense growth that produces the plastic-like shavings. Just something to consider.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
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300501300_10227084542167897_8139570359225417866_n.jpg


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Felt identical under the rasp and produced shavings indistinguishable from one another other than by color. I'd also note that I have worked plenty of lightweight white hickory that felt brittle and "dusty" over the years, as compared to good dense growth that produces the plastic-like shavings. Just something to consider.
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I did say "good" white hickory, both of those samples look kinda dusty, like the stock I grade out and designate to hatchet handles. Good white hickory is quite rare these days.
 
If it looks at all dusty it's only because it's been sitting in my workshop literally under dust behind my band saw, which also got on my hands when digging it out of the scrap pile. The wood itself is nice and dense. I do know the difference between "dusty" and "plastic" hickory and I'd rate this stuff about an 8.75/10 as far as density.
 
I don't want to put anyone on the spot, but I know there are some here that will have an opinion on this and if they would be willing to share their knowledge it might help some here that are lurking and willing to listen.

With disregard to grain orientation here is some hickory that I think is a good representation of what one might find hanging on a store rack.

What are your thoughts?

 
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