Where to get good axe handles that don't need any work

Was just showing the nice handle and how close to the right size the tongue was. I did a little rasp and sanding as the entry to the eye was smaller than the exit. In the end i took a tiny bit more than needed. I hope it is one of those learn by my mistakes scenarios that will pay off as i do more. the grain on the handle is nice and going the right way.
 
Honestly, go to the local hardware store and look for straight (not crooked) handles with grain you like. I’ve found many do it best handles and link handles by doing this. Bring your axe head with you.

ive got mixed results buying online. I’ve received good handles, warped handles and cracked handles. I’ve sent them back but it’s really a waste of time.
 
tommytman said:
Honestly, go to the local hardware store and look for straight (not crooked) handles with grain you like. I’ve found many do it best handles and link handles by doing this. Bring your axe head with you.

ive got mixed results buying online. I’ve received good handles, warped handles and cracked handles. I’ve sent them back but it’s really a waste of time.
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I agree 100% with this. all of my best handles are either link or do it best. I don't know who makes do it best, but some of their handles are really good - especially their boys axe handles. but the majority of the handles currently on my axes are link. you do have to pick through them, but I'd say about 25-30% are decent to good. certainly good enough. my local ace was carrying 32" link bent handles for a long time - then about a year ago the price on them went way up at the same time they replaced most of their other handle styles with Truper which were horrible looking.

Link are the only handles that I've found with decent swells at the ends and a good shape throughout. The house and hickory handles are super fat with barely a swell. and the house bent handles have a super weirdly placed constriction near the swell that I don't like - especially on their octagonalized handles. the quality of the wood is probably better on house and hickory, but I've never had a problem with link handles breaking or anything.
 
LOL,
I just picked up another do it best handle just because it was a nice one. It's a shame that the truper handles are crap; I really do not like them at all. but then again for 15$ what can you expect.
I did order one or two link handles online and they were good; one was for a double bit maul and those can be tough to find locally.
 
lmalterna said:
Pegs,
Hello :) Yes, post #30 of that thread shows the Connie COTS hung for me in exchange for a couple of heads.
15775487220_b3134a26ec_c.jpg

I am ashamed to say that I have not sharpened or used it but it gets lovingly oiled once a year. Mayhap I will get on finishing that edge next weekend. I love the Connies but just tend to grab my smaller Maine wedges more often. I just do not cut much larger wood.

bill
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I'm hiding off in the back corner still. Caught a couple of your posts recently, glad you're still around!

For the OP, Bill is right. Making handles is really time consuming. I also never reached a volume (or really had the tools) to get super fast at it. A band saw would really make a difference but short of a copy lathe and the sales volume to justify it, it's difficult for companies to produce an inexpensive handle. There are several guys making handles for sale now though. It's better than it used to be.

Guy on Facebook - East Coast Lumberjack
Whiskey River Trading dot com
Hoffman sells his
I've seen some on etsy as well and I am just sure there is at least one or two more but I can't come up with the names. There is an axe junkie group on facebook where you can find them.

I'm not sure any of them are really vintage in style (not that all of mine are) or better than making your own. I've never bought any of them. Bill's handle was done by getting House Handle to send me handles as they came off the lathe and I also ordered billets from them. But nothing ever ended up being 100% consistent and reliable. The rough handles were already clipped, the billets were sometimes too narrow and/or checked, and no matter how much begging I did I would always get a piece of wood somewhere in my order with grain running diagonally resulting in continuous runout. I have a pile of wood and half finished handles sitting in a corner that are pretty much firewood. Now, I order baseball bat billets and they haven't been 100% either but much better. They should be better considering that the way they grade them is (or should be) based on the runout standards for MLB bats, but it hasn't been perfect. Anyway, blah blah blah. The answer is, it's very difficult to get a "perfect" axe handle, and still troublesome to get a "good" axe handle off the shelf. I've made a couple axe handles at this point lemme say, and I am still trying to make the perfect handle.
 
Some point on HH-- If you ask for Octagonal shape, you get a slimmer handle BUT they also slim the butt so you have little to no swell.
IF you are lucky to get a straight shaft with special order grain- the tongue may still be crooked.
I have gotten some really nice handles from them, I have also cut a few into 2" blocks to soak and add to the coals when cooking steak.

The more particular you get, the larger the starting piece of wood will be. I have made some nice handles by buying the fattest "straightest" Link handles the hardware store had and started stripping off the excess in suitable areas. I have also salvaged some excellent old handles by slimming a worn tongue and shoulder to fit a head with a smaller eye- maybe a boys axe. If the shaft is thick enough, it might work for a hatchet head.

When in my teens, we hafted an axe head in less than 30 minutes. Now I might spend hours. Really depends on what you want at the end, a stick with a head secured at the end or something that warms your heart.

Bill
 
In reading my posts you're reading of a rookie in the fine art of hanging an ax head. We called it handling in my youth. We weren't hacks but I've learned a whole world of fine techniques from you guys on this forum. The handles were different back then. We are here, now, so again, I've learned new methods.
EBay offered a selection I could never get back then allowing me to complete head sets I started back then and I have hung most of them the past few months, about 18 so here's what I've learned about handles.

Since July'20 ; first hang on a DB is a BakerPro 36" Nice haft, only shaped for fitting the head eye. Removal of varnish, by hand not the easiest and not 100% so some scorched spots when lightly licked with propane torch but took loads of BLO and is very smooth.
Second hang on a SB is a House Handle. Fitted to eye nicely but me being ignorant to traditional haft shapes I left shoulder and swell fat as received with only a finish sanding and BLO. The alignment was great but subsequent hangs on hafts with lop sided swells and huge shoulders led me to thinning and shaping of shoulders and swells. 6 hours or more to hang on a House Handle is common for me. I've purchased about 25 HH, no varnish, hand picked with 3 returned for defects, (they have excellent customer service), hey, who doesn't flub up now and then. Most have excellent grain orientation, rest are very good.Little to no run-out. I've been very happy with House products. A few of my early hangs I thinned and shaped after completion, reapplying BLO and they turned out real nice.
I've done 3 ax-eye mauls, 2 with BakerPro, 1 with House. I prefer House mostly cuz I don't have to remove varnish. But BakerPro DB seem to be sized the same as ax-eye maul hafts, too small for filling head eye fully.
To sum it up, with my unemployment lately, I really enjoy fitting, shaping, aligning hafts to these vintage heads. The days of buying a quick and easy haft might be gone.
P.S. I have learned so very much from you guys, thank you very much.
 
If you can find a local distributor for Tennessee Hickory Products handles then you'll have a good source for wood to make a great custom handle. In my experience TH has first quality second growth white hickory, which is what you want. Their handles come fat as a bat so they are really unusable as-is but they offer plenty of first rate wood to shape your handle.
 
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I've found that a local saw shop stocks THP products, if you can't find a hardware store who carries them you might try checking your local saw shop too.
 
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