# looking for Hickory



## Pipster (27 Nov 2011)

Im sorry if you have already read my other post about making drumsticks but this topic has it has spawned an seperate thread.
Can anyone recommend a supplier of Hickory spindle blanks or hickory dowels I am making my own drumsticks so I need minimum diameter of 1 inch (25mm) and minimum length of 18 inch (460mm)
Or can anyone recomend a different wood with the same qualities
IE ..can withstand impact
non flexing at narrow diameters
long / straight grain
heavy weight in relation to diameter and length ?

hickory tends to be used as tool handles (hammers ,pickaxe handles,spade handles etc) and , according to another member, the same stuff as used for old wooden golf club shafts so that gives you a good idea of what forces it needs to withstand
I have Googled "hickory dowel" , "hickory blanks" but when I connect to the web sites there is various hardwoods but NO hickory


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## paultnl (27 Nov 2011)

Why not get some old tool handles and use them?


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## Pipster (28 Nov 2011)

paultnl":2ccuyl9d said:


> Why not get some old tool handles and use them?



the price of tool handles is greater than the price of drumsticks and also I havent got a band saw


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## dennisk (28 Nov 2011)

As far as I know there are some Canadians and others playing baseball and perhaps hockey over there and perhaps you could source some hickory from broken bats or sticks, although I aware they use aluminum bats and synthetic sticks these days. Just an idea.


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## RogerP (28 Nov 2011)

Hickory is used for bow making so it may be an idea to trawl the various archery sites on the net. 

Here's one.


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## bugbear (28 Nov 2011)

Hickory is not really available as lumber in the UK to the best of my knowledge. This can be annoying if you read USA forums that routinely speak of using hickory for a "rough" project because it's tough and cheap!

For drumsticks, I would recommend buying hickory pick-axe (or mattock, same thing) handles. You should be able to get several drum stick out of that.

In the UK bowmakers have been known to 'W' splice two pickaxe handles together to make self-bows.

BugBear


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## Harbo (28 Nov 2011)

I bought some a couple of years ago from The Timber Mill now in Alresford, Hants.
Cannot say if they still have any after this time?

Rod


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## flh801978 (28 Nov 2011)

They do have some boards at Craft Supplies in bradwell


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## Chrispy (28 Nov 2011)

You should consider Hornbeam it is very similar to Hickory same weight etc. I know W.L.West & Sons in Petworth certainly used to stock it.


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## nev (28 Nov 2011)

http://www.exotichardwoods.co.uk/Woods_List/Hickory.asp


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## Jonzjob (28 Nov 2011)

Nobody has mentioned ash? If you get some straight grained wood you could rive it down to your blank size. It's as tough as old boots, that's why it's used for tool handles and the like.

How many drum sticks do you intend making?


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## Harbo (28 Nov 2011)

Oops - sorry it was Hornbeam I bought!

Rod


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## katellwood (28 Nov 2011)

During my apprentiship one of my jobs was fixing hooks to the end of 2" dia hickory poles. These were known as shunting poles and were used by shunters for coupling railway wagons together in shunting yards. They were pivoted over the buffer and the hook placed on the coupling chain to couple the wagons together. The shunter would then keep the pole hooked to the coupler and with the centre of the pole on the buffer he would sit on the outer end of the pole and ride along as the train moved supporting himself on the body of the wagon. They snapped on a regular basis and as such I had a regular supply of 2" hickory 

I do not know if this practice is still used, if so you could try rail yards or factories where rail transport is still regularly used. 

A bit of a long shot I know but you asking for hickory took me back 36 years


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## nugget (28 Nov 2011)

I'm sure Trev in newark has a load. He's very inexpensive and gets good postal rates, he will aslo cut to size.
01636 821828


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## Bill Mooney (29 Nov 2011)

Go to your city railway station & ask about old or broken shunting poles, these are usually hickory. Hope it helps.


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## richburrow (1 Dec 2011)

This guy has got loads!!!!
Not just what he has listed here, I have seen pallet at least two pallets of hickory at his yard. Nice guy as well  
Send him a message

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/gibson-cra...b=5304048&_sid=95426979&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322


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## bugbear (2 Dec 2011)

Jonzjob":13g6smrl said:


> Nobody has mentioned ash? If you get some straight grained wood you could rive it down to your blank size. It's as tough as old boots, that's why it's used for tool handles and the like.



Ash is Europe's supreme handle making timber, and is tough and springy.

But it's not as tough as hickory, and doesn't have hickory's remarkable shock resistance. Hickory is also split resistant, which ash (as you allude to with your notion of riving it) isn't.

That's why in the UK we import hickory for premium tool handles instead of just using Ash.

Hickory is remarkable (and nearly unique) stuff.

BugBear


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