The Making of a Hickory Handle

[Chignecto Woodsman]

I just checked the grain on the ax the guy next door used to chop off the turkey's head for our thanksgiving dinner. The grain is horizontal ! But I am OK with that because the ax was only used to kill something other than a tree.

The horizontal grain flexes more and transfers less pain to the turkey. It has been deemed Humane by Obamacare.

 

[quinton]

Hartwell Brothers trivia

"Guaranteed to be straight and usable" That phrase leads me to suspicion..

 

[Chignecto Woodsman]

Why? I bet their lowest quality handles are near any premium handles you'd find today. Probably better.

 

[quinton]

Why? I bet their lowest quality handles are near any premium handles you'd find today. Probably better.

If they are guaranteed to be straight and usable, that would lead me to believe they were crafted with the grain in the un-popular orientation. I've made a few handles over the last 30 years or so, and vertically grained handles "may" warp over time. I know of 2 said handles that I made that were PERFECT when they left the shop came back with a bow in them after a year or so. I steamed them back straight and the last I heard(years ago) they remained straight. Horizontal grain DOES NOT WARP!

 

[Chignecto Woodsman]

Well they can't really guarantee against warpage, only prevent it as best as possible. I have a Flama axe handle with horizontal grain. I don't know anything about the company really, but I would guess some of the handles from all companies would come out horizontal.

And could the horizontals not come out and warp towards open or closed?

 

[quinton]

And could the horizontals not come out and warp towards open or closed?

Yes, but, that would not be noticeable at all..

 

[quinton]

I would guess some of the handles from all companies would come out horizontal.

I read a short book online today, 'American Hickory Handles' by W. Leroy Neubrech. A really good read if one is in to this sort of thing. The book reiterates, and like I have read before, the guys who work in a handle factory have much experience.

'The modern hickory handle factory is the outgrowth of over a century of experience and many of the key men in the industry were
"born and raised" in it.'

With a lathe, one would get the same grain orientation each time depending on how the blank was loaded, so, I would say that no handles come out horizontal unless intended to be that way.

 

[Steve Tall]

... With a lathe, one would get the same grain orientation each time depending on how the blank was loaded, so, I would say that no handles come out horizontal unless intended to be that way.

A question that might be only illuminating my ignorance(?): Wouldn't the grain direction in the finished handle depend more upon how the blank was sawn, instead of how it's loaded/attached in the lathe (considering the size of blanks that are used these days)? There doesn't seem to be much adjustment possible in the relatively narrow blanks, such as these blanks from House Handle (an extra charge was paid to hand select for grain orientation):

...

...

In other words, no matter how you loaded these axe handle blanks in the lathe, you couldn't end up with horizontal grain, right?

 

[jblyttle]

One example is evidence of nothing, but here is an older Hartwell replacement handle that's on a 4.5lb Collins Dayton. I can't speak to it's age, it was on the head when I bought it and I only refinished it. I'm not making any point, just showing my only current example.

 

[quinton]

A question that might be only illuminating my ignorance(?): Wouldn't the grain direction in the finished handle depend more upon how the blank was sawn, instead of how it's loaded/attached in the lathe (considering the size of blanks that are used these days)? There doesn't seem to be much adjustment possible in the relatively narrow blanks, such as these blanks from House Handle (an extra charge was paid to hand select for grain orientation):



In other words, no matter how you loaded these axe handle blanks in the lathe, you couldn't end up with horizontal grain, right?

Right, Steve. But I assume it was different loading larger riven stock. I personally rive my blanks large enough to get a nice fawns foot if I want one on a handle, and that size gives me room to orient the grain either direction.

Hickory timber selected for handles must be cut when the sap is
down. This is done in the colder months, usually not earlier than
September and not later than March. Winter-cut timber is less liable
to meet conditions favorable to sap stain, insect attack, or decay.
Years ago, when the industry first began, it was common practice
to hand split the logs into billets because in these early days saw-
milling machinery was not generally available. However, later
experience has shown that carefully sawn handle "blanks" produce
equally good handles and that sawing is not nearly as wasteful of the
timber. Notwithstanding, many farmers still make a practice of
working their own hickory logs into hand rived billets.
As hardwood sawmills were established in most localities where
hardwood timber was available certain mills began to specialize in
sawing dimension stock (handle "blanks" or "billets"), particularly
for the handle plants. This work requires highly specialized sawyers
having a good knowledge of the requirements of the handle industry.
Such sawyers can saw blanks equal in every respect to the hand rived
billet. It is estimated that there is a loss of 15 to 20 percent in timber
actually utilized in hand split billets as compared with sawn blanks.
Thus the more modern practice of sawing is to be encouraged from a
conservation point of view.
Although handle plants still purchase substantial quantities of hand-
rived billets from farmers, the greater part of handles produced are
from sawed billets, either sawed at the handle plant or by specialized
independent sawmills. One of the most economical sources of supply
for sawn handle blanks is the portable sawmill located in, or near, the
timber stands.

 

[quinton]

One example is evidence of nothing, but here is an older Hartwell replacement handle that's on a 4.5lb Collins Dayton. I can't speak to it's age, it was on the head when I bought it and I only refinished it. I'm not making any point, just showing my only current example.

That's enough evidence right there to say that Hartwell didn't solely make horizontal handles. Thanks, JB.

Here is another example, though. A 4 lb. Collins Dayton, but this one has the original handle stamped "Collins".

 

[rjdankert]

I read a short book online today, 'American Hickory Handles' by W. Leroy Neubrech. A really good read if one is in to this sort of thing. . . .

Thanks for pointing out that publication. I am one who likes that sort of thing.
A U S Department of Commerce publication from 1939. Here is a link:
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112101554332;view=1up;seq=1

. . . With a lathe, one would get the same grain orientation each time depending on how the blank was loaded, so, I would say that no handles come out horizontal unless intended to be that way.

That is true. If the blanks were square in cross section when given to the lathe operators they could use any orientation.

. . . Wouldn't the grain direction in the finished handle depend more upon how the blank was sawn. . .

Not saying it doesn't happen, but the only videos and pictures I've ever seen of lathe turning of handles started with blanks rectangular in cross section. In that case the grain orientation is determined in the blank before the lathe operator gets it. So the way the log is sawn into a board to the final thickness required will determine the grain orientation of the handles that will come out of that board.

Bob

 

[Square_peg]

Thanks for pointing out that publication. I am one who likes that sort of thing.
A U S Department of Commerce publication from 1939. Here is a link:
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112101554332;view=1up;seq=1

Thank you for that link. My affiliation with a local university allowed me to download the full book.

 

[300Six]

A U S Department of Commerce publication from 1939. Here is a link:
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112101554332;view=1up;seq=1
Bob

Thanks for this! Interesting read. When I lived on the west coast during the late 70s I befriended a tugboat operator. He salvaged stray cedar logs from shorelines and beaches during his return trips (nice to have a decent boat and a hoist/winch!) and during the off season months would hand-split squares and squares of roof shakes. These generated pretty good cash money for him. I notice from photos in this book that it was common in the 30s for seasonal workers (farmers?) to rive axe blanks to sell to handle makers. Presumably this was also convenient to help supplement income.

 

[halfaxe]

'American Hickory Handles' by W. Leroy Neubrech. A really good read if one is in to this sort of thing.

Another interesting tidbit in that article is that hickory heartwood is immune to powder post beetles, unlike the sapwood.

 

[300Six]

Another interesting tidbit in that article is that hickory heartwood is immune to powder post beetles, unlike the sapwood.

It should be! Within heartwood the pores (nutrient transport vessels) have become blocked due to accumulation of mineral etc deposits. Difficult to lay eggs in and difficult for the worms to gnaw through.

 

[quinton]

Another interesting tidbit in that article is that hickory heartwood is immune to powder post beetles, unlike the sapwood.

I saw that. I've lost a few good hickory staves over the years due to powder post beetles. No worse feeling than putting in enough work to square a blank only to discover it was a waste of time..

 

[300Six]

I saw that. I've lost a few good hickory staves over the years due to powder post beetles. No worse feeling than putting in enough work to square a blank only to discover it was a waste of time..

These critters are a new one on me. Maybe they don't get up this far north and then again maybe they're specific to hickories. And there ain't a lot of hickories around here. Makes me wonder though if dipping a stave in soapy water (soap film impedes respiration) every now and again would suffocate the eggs and/or kill the tunnelling worms.

 

[rjdankert]

Thanks for this! Interesting read. . ..

Thank quinton since he pointed out the article.

Bob

 

[300Six]

Thank quinton since he pointed out the article.

Bob

Thank you for the actual reference quinton and thank you, again, rjdankert for providing the convenient link to this. Otherwise I'd have never been able to read through it. By the way powder post beetles come in many shapes and sizes (four different insect families and many different species) and feed on various types of no-longer-living wood. We seem to be lucky in Canada in that bringing them in from out in the cold mostly only messes up their life cycles and ruins their appetites. Touch wood; I've never had dealings with them!