West Woods Handles

rjdankert said:
What are the steps followed tree to blank (ready for lathe)? tia


Bob
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It's got to be somewhat oversize in all dimensions and whoever runs it over the machine will have to go on whichever way you chose to have the grain oriented (the reason why you supply a rectangle shape and not a square one). I suppose you could indicate on the blank which end is to be the butt swell. These machines are essentially a specialized lathe and the rotation is centered on the blank at both ends.

Obviously a hand-split 'billet' ('blank' is generally done with a saw) that you've carefully pared down and air-dried for a year or two will be optimal (a 'green' stick will shrink and may split or warp after turning) as will the choice of material.
 
cityofthesouth said:
I'd be happy to make a pattern or two for you. odell dot studios at gmail dot com.

Also, what do they look like straight off the lathe? I dunno about the rest of you but in my case, just getting a decent piece of wood is hard enough, I really don't need a finished handle. A guaranteed good piece of wood roughed into a handle shaped object with plenty of material for the swell, would be 100x better than anything we have available now.
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A pattern should have excess material beyond a generous swell so the lathe has something to hold on to that can later be cut off.
 
mhutch said:
Thus far I've been happiest with handles from Beaver Tooth but they are a bit thicker than I prefer sometimes.
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Beavertooth is the retail arm of Tennessee Hickory Products. Their stuff tends to be way too fat but made of the finest hickory. I think of them as rough-shaped handle blanks that need thinning/shaping/finishing.
 
Square_peg said:
Beavertooth is the retail arm of Tennessee Hickory Products. Their stuff tends to be way too fat but made of the finest hickory. I think of them as rough-shaped handle blanks that need thinning/shaping/finishing.
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Not according to Beaver Tooth. If this guy is who he says he is. Quoted from another site.

"Hello, I own Beaver Tooth Handle Co. We are not at all just a reseller anyone's handles. I provide different grades of handles and they are priced accordingly. I am not here to bash any company but you get what you pay for in a handle. The cheaper the price the less care and quality generally goes into it. I provide one of the best lines of all white axe handles anywhere and a nice assortment of leather axe sheaths to complement your restored axe. Drop by our site and see the difference for yourself."

Sounds legit, I don't know....
 
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Not sure how many handles will end up in the line, and of course it's not up to me at all. I know he is at least looking into making a couple full sized options in the future. I sent him the link to this thread so he could read through the responses.


It's funny that Beaver Tooth came up, here is a video Mr. West made showing the difference between one of his handles and a thinned down Beaver Tooth handle.


@cityofthesouth I'm sure you've looked around locally but I managed to find a semi local lumber yard / sawmill that sells nice quality ash and maple. Unfortunately he stopped selling Hickory a few years ago as it just wasn't moving. I doubt it would be cost effective to ship to you, but perhaps it would be worth doing some digging to see what you can find with in a couple hours drive. I sure do miss seeing your project thread updated, and I appreciate the inspiration it provided to me personally. I'm really happy with the handles that have come from that inspiration.
 
Kevin Houtzager said:
So true! But at least you still got some choice! Over here it's only ash and some straight round handles of black locust. If you're lucky you could find hickory. But in any case it'll be choosing between bad and worse. Although I must say that the worse a handle gets in the grain orientation department, the better it looks most of the time. I have a wartime (W.W.II) Hickory handle with tiny little knots that looks awesome. At least to me.
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I just returned from shopping for plant fertilizer, drill bits and motor oil (and then browsing through the tool handle section) at a Canadian Tire store in Bells Corners (Ottawa, Ontario). That particular store is carrying a line of "Yardmaster"-brand fully sanded and thickly varnished SB (single bit) axe handles that say 'Hickory' right on them and yet the label also says 'imported from China'. The grain orientation and absence of runout on the 1/2 dozen that I inspected was a whopping AA. QC (quality control!) at the offshore factory operation that supplies Yardmaster (a Canadian garden tool and supply distributor) would appear to be first class and I'll be keeping my eyes open.
Intrigued, at home I googled genus Carya ("the genuine" Hickories) to discover (over and above the famous north American species) that there are 6 species of these native to China, S. E. Asia, and India!
This is definitely going to 'stir the pot' with regard to the future of those of us who are adamant about "Hickory".
 
300Six said:
I just returned from shopping for plant fertilizer, drill bits and motor oil (and then browsing through the tool handle section) at a Canadian Tire store in Bells Corners (Ottawa, Ontario). That particular store is carrying a line of "Yardmaster"-brand fully sanded and thickly varnished SB (single bit) axe handles that say 'Hickory' right on them and yet the label also says 'imported from China'. The grain orientation and absence of runout on the 1/2 dozen that I inspected was a whopping AA. QC (quality control!) at the offshore factory operation that supplies Yardmaster (a Canadian garden tool and supply distributor) would appear to be first class and I'll be keeping my eyes open.
Intrigued, at home I googled genus Carya ("the genuine" Hickories) to discover (over and above the famous north American species) that there are 6 species of these native to China, S. E. Asia, and India!
This is definitely going to 'stir the pot' with regard to the future of those of us who are adamant about "Hickory".
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I believe we export a lot of lumber to China. I wouldn't be surprised if they are selling it back to us. How it could be economically feasible to cross the ocean twice I have no idea.
http://www.hardwoodweb.com/export/html/HWWExportLumber.html
 
I remember buying a dowel with a Maple Leaf and Canada sticker on it. When I got home I noticed a smaller sticker with "Made in China" on it. Wood grown in Canada, dowel made in China? IDK

IIRC, in researching S & N, that at some point when Hitchens owned S & N the handles were American Hickory but made in China. I don't know if I could find that reference again.


Bob
 
garry3 said:
How it could be economically feasible to cross the ocean twice I have no idea.
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Most of the cost of manufacturing anything in the US or Europe is labor. In China and in many 2nd and 3rd world countries you can force a 10 year old kid to work 80 hours per week at 25 cents an hour or less. And you can dump your toxic waste in his drinking water. It's a regular libertarian utopia!
 
Hacked said:
. . .

I'm sure you've looked around locally but I managed to find a semi local lumber yard / sawmill that sells nice quality ash and maple. Unfortunately he stopped selling Hickory a few years ago as it just wasn't moving. I doubt it would be cost effective to ship to you, but perhaps it would be worth doing some digging to see what you can find with in a couple hours drive. . .
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I was trying to suggest in an earlier post in this thread being able to buy a blank/billet. From a reply I got I'm not sure if I was clear. Would your friend consider selling blanks before they are turned? An air dried piece of Hickory ready to carve might appeal to someone who is where Hickory is not readily available. Seems like it would be easy enough to set aside a blank or two that are ready for the lathe. I don't see the shipping as a killer, but others may.

Bob
 
rjdankert said:
I was trying to suggest in an earlier post in this thread being able to buy a blank/billet. From a reply I got I'm not sure if I was clear. Would your friend consider selling blanks before they are turned? An air dried piece of Hickory ready to carve might appeal to someone who is where Hickory is not readily available. Seems like it would be easy enough to set aside a blank or two that are ready for the lathe. I don't see the shipping as a killer, but others may.

Bob
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Shipping is exorbitant.
 
I am friends with a timbering and sawmill owner. They generally leave a lot of good hickory standing because of low price. I'm sure if he could sell it for a reasonable price he would saw a semi load of premium billets rather than leaving the trees behind on purchased timber boundaries.
 
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