The Great Heartwood/Sapwood Controversy

It's sad. What was common knowledge and as simple as picking out a tool handle they are clueless. Replace a handle? Sharpen an axe? Most people are helpless. I really do think that things are starting to change,kind of like an arts and crafts movement. I sure hope so. Its hard to find a tool worth buying.
 
So, I haven't been following to closely on this one, as one up there pointed out hickory is not so important for me. But I have noticed one thing in general which is there is not much understanding of the handle at least conceptually. Plenty of knowledge of the handle practically which is one thing but it seems it has become just like the conceptualization of milk in the general way, that is to say, if you ask young kids where milk comes from they will tell you the supermarket.

This is why the entries have been mostly one-sided reflections of forrest department surveys and industry reports, if not interesting but useless personal accounts it all plays very nicely into the hands of the marketeers and entrepreneurs wanting to sell off value added merchandise. "Don't worry about it" they say, "We'll give you what you want in a bag".

E.DB.
 
I think things are starting to make a recovery but these things will take time since the market for high-end hand tools is comprised of informed/experienced users and educational outreach will be one of the best tools at the disposal of manufacturers wishing to grow market share and raising product awareness.
 
Ernest DuBois said:
So, I haven't been following to closely on this one, as one up there pointed out hickory is not so important for me. But I have noticed one thing in general which is there is not much understanding of the handle at least conceptually. Plenty of knowledge of the handle practically which is one thing but it seems it has become just like the conceptualization of milk in the general way, that is to say, if you ask young kids where milk comes from they will tell you the supermarket.

This is why the entries have been mostly one-sided reflections of forrest department surveys and industry reports, if not interesting but useless personal accounts it all plays very nicely into the hands of the marketeers and entrepreneurs wanting to sell off value added merchandise. "Don't worry about it" they say, "We'll give you what you want in a bag".

E.DB.
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Ernest, I have went through a lot of handles. At one time my biggest worry when buying a replacement was to get hickory over ash. I would not even buy a ash handle. Now my tools get occasional use and I am OK with ash on them. If you use a tool a lot and its rough use hickory is way better than ash.
 
I'm thinking hickory over because I do like it don't get me wrong, but I also have plenty of ash wood at hand. Were I to go the hickory route I would from the beginning have to be resigned to the fact that I could not get ideal wood because all hickory I have access to would be imported and necessarily in that case have gone through an artificial drying out process because nobody in their right mind would transport water. That said, here is how I would go about it: I would make the trip down to a trusted and reliable timber merchant I know of here and visit now and then, once there I would have a look around at what was available, pick out a good piece or two with some good lines and bring it home, let it settle and get ready for in the dry season, maybe take the time to split handle blanks out of a plank. Then I would go to fitting it to an available axe, if I had an appropriate one waiting. I wouldn't put a hickory handle on a Swedish timmerbila for example.

E.DB.
 
Earnest, Why not hickory on a Timmerbila? Would it be like putting headers on a model A?
You bring up a very good point on kiln verse air dried. Can't say for sure how it stacks up. I can tell you about my own experience heating wood and making self bows. There are those that will heat bend there bow staves to make them easier to work or put some reflex into them before they start to tiller. Its not beneath me to heat bend a bow stave but it will never be in the working section of a limb. I have found that I will have problems with it later. I have some bows that have been shooting for well over a decade and they have know more string follow than when they were new. So not heating wood works for me.
 
Well, in fact I have one timmerbila from the Swedish company that does that with a hickory handle. I would just make another choice since I'm not in the marketing business.
If you want to truly defeat the purpose of a functional axe handle, subject it to high humidity, boiling temperatures and forced air treatments. Good for the timber merchants, bad for you and me.

E.DB.
 
Ernest DuBois said:
Well, in fact I have one timmerbila from the Swedish company that does that with a hickory handle. I would just make another choice since I'm not in the marketing business.
If you want to truly defeat the purpose of a functional axe handle, subject it to high humidity, boiling temperatures and forced air treatments. Good for the timber merchants, bad for you and me.

E.DB.
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I use heat to straighten warped handles. I like to save them vintage handles. Started a thread about it awhile back to show how easy it is. It will make a warped handle useable. I really don't know how much you would give up with a handle that really doesn't have to work(flex) all that much.
This is what happens after timber is harvested " subject it to high humidity, boiling temperatures and forced air treatments". Kind of ironic.
I have long thought that the killer for my handles was the change in the seasons. I have often thought of soaking a handle and then drying it out again before I used it. It might help. But I am no longer out in all weather conditions using tools so my needs have changed and my tools are like me and just fair weather users now.
 
Watering the wood, it's a common practice in many places to speed up air drying process, stabilize the wood and can also help making the wood somewhat more resistant and durable. Most commonly done after felling and prior to milling.

E.DB.
 
garry3 said:
M3mphis said:
You are certainly right, however the majority of people will never reach that point because of very little time swinging.
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My first thought when I read this was that you were underestimating people. But then I thought of the axe, hatchet and hammer reviews I have seen on the net and well, its just odd watching a review with some guy that swings like a sissy or uses two hands to swing a hatchet with a 18" handle.
So yep, your right.
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Totally right. Many youtube 'reviews' are done by some clueless fellow who just bought his first axe/hatchet/hawk. And even the so-called (or self-proclaimed) experts often don't know what they're talking about. I got a kick out of reading one 'expert' review. The author stated that it "will take weeks of continuous work" with a file to re-profile the hatchet in the review. Since a hatchet could be reduced to nothing but filings in a day or two I question the authority of that reviewer.
 
Square_peg said:
Totally right. Many youtube 'reviews' are done by some clueless fellow who just bought his first axe/hatchet/hawk. And even the so-called (or self-proclaimed) experts often don't know what they're talking about. I got a kick out of reading one 'expert' review. The author stated that it "will take weeks of continuous work" with a file to re-profile the hatchet in the review. Since a hatchet could be reduced to nothing but filings in a day or two I question the authority of that reviewer.
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From that same reviewer:

"I am not an expert on any issue concerning bushcraft, survival, camping, or any other outdoor pursuit. This is just a hobby for me."

You are right, though, in that the file statement is way out there.
 
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