# Making a hammer handle



## Alf (31 Jul 2006)

Am I an expert in making and replacing hammer handles? Not likely. This is only the second one I've done. But on the other hand there seems to be very little out there on the subject, bar this explanation. But that's using a _ready-made_ handle. Fie and forsooth! Of course you could argue that it's not exactly difficult to fashion a workable hammer handle without step-by-step instruction, and you'd be right, but on the other hand if this should give one person the necessary confidence to give it a go themselves then my work here is not in vain. If it should get someone who _does_ know what they're doing to run up a quick tutorial that'll be even better...





The raw materials. In this case one London Pattern Shoemaker's Hammer head; one small metal wedge that came with the head's original, loose handle; one wooden wedge; one piece of reasonably straight-grained Ash. Ash and Hickory are the number one choices for hammer handles and who am I to argue? The required size varies; this one's about 9 1/2" long, 1 1/4" wide and 7/8" thick, but it's unusual in being shorter and sturdier than the normal run of hammer types. If in doubt, simply get a rough idea from measuring an existing handle, in a shop if necessary...





For some reason it seemed a good idea to bandsaw out the "waist" shape in the handle, but to be honest I think it might have been easier to just make the tapering oval shape and then worked in the waist afterwards. It's the usual method of shaving the corners first, in this case aiming for a oval shape rather than a circle. Pencil in some guidelines if you like. I used a spokeshave set very rank, but you could use a drawkife, plane, rasp, whatever you fancy.





So here are the first four big corners removed, leaving a squashed octagon and already a more comfortable handle to hold.





At the other end I penciled round the inside of the hammer head eye to give myself an idea of what size the handle needed to taper down to.





Here's the very rough outline of the finished shape. Not a thing of beauty, but don't panic - yet.





The next step is to take those corners off, and then the corners that generates have to be removed, and so forth until you're forming a nice rounded surface. Unhelpfully, it's really simply a case of removing the wood that isn't the finished handle. If it's any comfort the second one was a lot easier than the first, so don't despair if your first attempt ain't so good. I left the final stages until after the hurly burly of fitting the head.





I double checked the position of the hammer head in relation to my newly formed handle and redrew the eye in the right place again - the cross was just there to help centre the head on the handle end. It's worth marking the orientation of the head on the handle so you can put it back the right way for each test fit, especially with older, uneven heads. Then I shaved down the very end just to the pencil line and tried it for fit.





You can see where the dirt in the head marks the wood where it needs to be removed. Quite early on I switched to a file and removed just a fraction at a time - sooner a good tight fit achieved slowly than a loose fit and having to start again. 





Once the head started to slip firmly enough onto the handle that I didn't need to hold it I took to holding the handle upright on the bench and tapping it down hard. That way the head naturally seats itself and you can see if it's going on straight. It's very easy to make the head a nice fit but at an unusable angle, so check that often. Making steady progress here.





After some more filing and checking and filing and checking it's fitting snugly and the over enthusiastic wood removal at the very end is well clear and ready to be removed in the fullness of time.





A quick scrape and sand to put the final touches to the handle...





... and then make sure you don't damage it again while the kerf for the wooden wedge is sawn to a point that'll be about 3/4 of the way down the depth of the head.





A coat of finishing oil to keep it looking clean - more to follow over the next few days and weeks but the first coat will at least keep out the worst of the dirt.





And the moment of truth. The head's seated firmly on the shaft, the heel of the handle is firmly on the bench and the wooden wedge is being pounded in.





Then trimmed flush. This is an awkward type of eye on this head; it flares an awful lot at the top, more than the handle and wedges will be able to fill.





And as I feared, with no support to the top of the handle from the eye the hammering home of the metal wedge has caused a bit of a mess. It doesn't look pretty but it's as solid as a rock.





This is how it should look, with the more common shape of eye, all filed flush.





The finished product, ready for more years of useful toil. The Exeter Pattern cross pein above was the first handle I made. See what I mean about first attempts? It works though, even if it is pretty ugly.

_FIN_

Cheers, Alf


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## Waka (31 Jul 2006)

Alf
Another good explaination of doing it yourself.

Doesn't really matter what it looks like as long as its tough and funtional.


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## MarcW (31 Jul 2006)

That's a nice job, Alf. Thanks for sharing!

Regards, Marc


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## bugbear (31 Jul 2006)

Alf":1p20v6ql said:


> Once the head started to slip firmly enough onto the handle that I didn't need to hold it I took to holding the handle upright on the bench and tapping it down hard. That way the head naturally seats itself and you can see if it's going on straight. It's very easy to make the head a nice fit but at an unusable angle, so check that often.



If you're working with a hammer where the front is a good deal heavier than the back (.e.g Warrington cross pein) it's REALLY easy for the front to go too low, and the head to end up non-perpendicular on the handle. DAMHIKT.



> Then trimmed flush. This is an awkward type of eye on this head; it flares an awful lot at the top, more than the handle and wedges will be able to fill.



A "wrinkle" here; when you've driven the wedge as far as it will go, saw off the wedge so that 1/4" remains proud on the handle top. This short section is much stronger (in proportion) that the long waste you just sawed off, and can be hit harder. This trick allows the wedge to be driven a little tighter.

Oh, one more trick; if your hammer head is clean, and won't leave convenient rust marks to guide fitting, rub the inside of the head with coloured chalk.

BugBear


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## woodbloke (31 Jul 2006)

Alf - this is _real_ dedication to the cause. I can't see why anyone would want to make such a mundane thing as a hammer handle - I can go to my local tool emporium (InExcess - Salisbury) and buy a good ash handle for the princely sum of 75p - what's the point in making a handle ordinaire, apart from if you have a particular pattern of hammer (I use a Japanese hammer with a very slim oak shaft) where a replacement might be tricky to find? - Rob


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## Alf (31 Jul 2006)

Rob,

Why build a bookcase when you can buy one from Argos for £9.99? 

Cheers, Alf


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## bugbear (31 Jul 2006)

woodbloke":1vqvuk95 said:


> Alf - this is _real_ dedication to the cause. I can't see why anyone would want to make such a mundane thing as a hammer handle - I can go to my local tool emporium (InExcess - Salisbury) and buy a good ash handle for the princely sum of 75p - what's the point in making a handle ordinaire, apart from if you have a particular pattern of hammer (I use a Japanese hammer with a very slim oak shaft) where a replacement might be tricky to find? - Rob



Some people find woodworking quite enjoyable  

BugBear


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## Adam (31 Jul 2006)

woodbloke":x01y7695 said:


> Alf - this is _real_ dedication to the cause. I can't see why anyone would want to make such a mundane thing as a hammer handle - I can go to my local tool emporium (InExcess - Salisbury) and buy a good ash handle for the princely sum of 75p - what's the point in making a handle ordinaire, apart from if you have a particular pattern of hammer (I use a Japanese hammer with a very slim oak shaft) where a replacement might be tricky to find? - Rob



Whilst you are it it why make a replacement chisel handle - you could hammer on some plastic replacement? Each and every time you pickup a tool you have made (albeit a handle), you take pleasure from using it. It's just the same for using furniture you have made, or recieveing a gift or tools from parents/grandparents. Most of us do this as a hobby - if you go indoors after you've finished and take pleasure from having made a handle - thats great. Its another skill - a practice for an item in the future you have yet to think of. A windsor chair with unusual spindles, a handle for an item of furniture - who knows what might come out of it. Sometimes, its nice to go out inthe workshop and make something "smaller" - that you can finish quickly - unlike some of the marathon items that seem to take forever to make. I find your statement very odd if I'm honest. As ALF said - you can buy a bookcase for tenner - in fact I make things where I can't even source the wood for the price IKEA sell it for! Am I really wasting my time?

Adam


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## woodbloke (31 Jul 2006)

Alf wrote:




> Why build a bookcase when you can buy one from Argos for £9.99?



For sure, yes, you can buy a bookcase for £9.99 in Argos. What I am comparing here tho' is a _standard_ shop bought ash hammer handle as opposed to a _very similar_ home made ash hammer handle. IMHO the expenditure on time to make it ain't worth the effort, when as I say, I can go and buy exactly the same (pretty much) from town for less than a squid!
If on t'other hand you actually enjoy making hammer handles, then that's a whole different kettle of worms. Personally, I've got much more important projects to undertake in my 'shop than making replacement hammer handles from scratch - Rob


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## Alf (31 Jul 2006)

woodbloke":2ih4iu1j said:


> What I am comparing here tho' is a _standard_ shop bought ash hammer handle as opposed to a _very similar_ home made ash hammer handle.


Go and find me one of those dimensions then. Straight grained, no knots, no hole in the end from the machine that made it mind you. See you in a few months...



woodbloke":2ih4iu1j said:


> IMHO the expenditure on time to make it ain't worth the effort, when as I say, I can go and buy exactly the same (pretty much) from town for less than a squid!


Great; where d'you live? By the time I've gone into town and paid for the petrol to do so I could have made 5 handles and still have the money. Not actually the point, but as money seems to be the important factor to you...



woodbloke":2ih4iu1j said:


> Personally, I've got much more important projects to undertake in my 'shop than making replacement hammer handles from scratch - Rob


Don't let us detain you from your much more important tasks then. :roll: 

Cheers, Alf


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## gidon (31 Jul 2006)

Proper job Alf - as they say in your parts.
Everytime I try and make a handle for anything it becomes a monumental disaster - I must have aborted handles for about six tools in my shed. 
Nice WIP shots as well (as ever).
Cheers
Gidon


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## Mirboo (31 Jul 2006)

Nice job Alf. Thanks.


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## woodbloke (31 Jul 2006)

If I've upset or offended folks on the forum, then aplologies are in order. Its just my own personal point of view that I can't get it into my pea sized brain that a _standard_ component like a hammer handle needs to be produced when a perfectly acceptable, machine made, functional, shop bought product in the same material, is available to me locally. If the handle was a 'special' or I wanted to make it in an alternative timber then, fair enoughski. 'Nuff said on this one, going to make a brew - Rob


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## Mittlefehldt (31 Jul 2006)

woodbloke":ixqqubgt said:


> If I've upset or offended folks on the forum, then aplologies are in order. Its just my own personal point of view that I can't get it into my pea sized brain that a _standard_ component like a hammer handle needs to be produced when a perfectly acceptable, machine made, functional, shop bought product in the same material, is available to me locally. If the handle was a 'special' or I wanted to make it in an alternative timber then, fair enoughski. 'Nuff said on this one, going to make a brew - Rob



Sometimes the journey is more important then the destination, and the feeling of satisfaction at a job well or at least adequately done.


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## MikeW (31 Jul 2006)

Very nice as usual, Alf.

fwiw, I find making my own handles a relaxing thing to do. It is deceptively simply at times, say like adze handles I've made. The sweep is important--ankles are an important consideration.

Chisels often use to be sold sans handles. As did hammer, axe and adze heads. It was considered the "normal" thing to do for that otherwise very busy cabinet maker to make their own handles.

Of course, that meant putting off the more important work :lol: 

Take care, Mike


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## Waka (31 Jul 2006)

Woodbloke

I think you are missing the point here, yes you can pop into the local shop and buy whatever you want, but its the satisfaction of making something yourself that will probably last a lot longer than shop produced ones.

Personally I get real satisfaction in making and replacing things in the WS.

Certainly haven't offended me, all to their own I say.


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## Adam (31 Jul 2006)

Waka":5kt6amsq said:


> Certainly haven't offended me, all to their own I say.



Nor me, I was just thinking it odd to pick up on a hammer handle, when chisel handles are without a word considered for replacement even when purchased brand new. 

Adam


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## Ian Dalziel (31 Jul 2006)

Nice job Alf,
not an easy thing to do...in fact one of the more challenging things is to do. to get it right
I made a load of plane hammers and the shafts were the hard bit...well done you for showing how its done.

I have a few farriers hammer heads needing shafted excusing the pun they are not too dissimilar to your shoemakers.


I


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## Alf (31 Jul 2006)

Not upset or offended; possibly amused that you'd spend time saying you don't see the point when you've more important stuff to do though. :lol:

Okay, on the face of it perhaps it does seem daft. So what have I got out of doing it this way?

Saved the price of a ready-made handle and fuel costs to go and get it.
By doing this I have one less offcut skulling about in the workshop.
I got to practice with my spokeshaves which is always a Good Thing.
Managed to justify playing with the newest Mujifang shave and can thus claim I really needed it. Yessir.
Got a handle the size and shape that I find comfortable.
Turned 50p-worth of unusable hammer into 50p-worth of usable hammer.
Generated another page for my website, which might help to increase traffic to same.
Came out of the workshop with a feeling of satisfaction instead of disillusionment as has been the recent case while struggling with the #55.
Will get a replay of that satisfaction each and every time I use it.
Dammit, I should have been paying someone for the privilege on this basis. :lol: 

Cheers, Alf


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## Paul Chapman (31 Jul 2006)

Very nice, Alf, and thanks for the great WIP pictures :wink: 

Paul


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## Mittlefehldt (31 Jul 2006)

I did a shop made mallet recently and the handle on it would make Alf's look like Duncan Phyffe himself made it, but it was my own and made from bits and bobs about the shop.


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## engineer one (31 Jul 2006)

very impressive item alf, and as you say a good way to use up the
odds and sods in the workshop, if you actually have need for the
hammer.

or i guess you could sell it as an alf original for a vastly inflated price.

i think the answer is that we all make things for reasons other than just 
need, sometimes it is to improve a tool or a job that we want to use 
more effectively, and whilst doing so, improve our skills at
other things.

as has been said things are made and sold for ikea at prices we cannot
buy the wood for, and as a short term solution, they offer a solution.
however often it is only once you have bought something, and used it
that you can see how its inbuilt flaws can be improved upon.

manufacturers will make handles for the "mass market" and if you
have short fingers, or broken and badly re-set ones like mine, then
often the original does not work for you. then you have to work 
round the design, or make your own. :twisted: 

i too have bought for instance file handles from inexcess, in soton,
but the hammer handles just don't look like they would work 
for me for too long, and i definately need to improve my
spokeshave skills.  

indeed after last weekend, i need to improve my skills using my
mafell dd40 doweller. not for me as easy to use as the biscuit jointer.
but then i will persevere, and that is what alf has done. good on you.  

paul :wink:


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## Frank D. (31 Jul 2006)

That's funny Alf,
I just took two minutes to pop out a damaged handle from an old hammer I picked up not long ago, then I came here and saw your post! 
Thanks for posting,


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## Tony Spear (1 Aug 2006)

I'm about to make a handle for a friend who has a very small hand axe where the end that fits into the head is virtually triangular.

After that it's a new one for my Froe and then the interesting one - a Scythe and I'm buggered if I know how I'm going to do that!


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## MikeW (1 Aug 2006)

woodbloke":2l2nxw06 said:


> If I've upset or offended folks on the forum, then aplologies are in order. Its just my own personal point of view that I can't get it into my pea sized brain that a _standard_ component like a hammer handle needs to be produced when a perfectly acceptable, machine made, functional, shop bought product in the same material, is available to me locally. If the handle was a 'special' or I wanted to make it in an alternative timber then, fair enoughski. 'Nuff said on this one, going to make a brew - Rob


Hi Rob,

We all choose how to "waste" our time. Hammer and or chisel refurbs, and even what time we spend on the forums...

Take care, Mike


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## deirdre (1 Aug 2006)

I wanted to thank Alf for this topic, for I'm supposed to show up with a particular hammer to class next week -- and I have only the hammer head (hand-forged and hand-hammered -- pretty thing, really).

I got some dry turning stock (harder than anything I had in the appropriate size) for the handle and will start working on it as soon as I can.

Of course, I have a corneal scratch (making woodworking difficult) and I'm leaving Saturday....


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## Derek Cohen (Perth Oz) (1 Aug 2006)

Well done Alf. It looked like a fun project ... these little personal touches make such a pleasurable addition to the workshop.

Regards from Perth

Derek


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## Bernhard (1 Aug 2006)

Hi Alf,

nice and detailed report. Who ever even tried to fittle a broom-stick knows that this is not so easy.

I admit that I prefer to buy the hammer stick  reason is lack oftime and hickory.

Now my question: is it also important to follow the rule like an axe handle. I was told that the left side of the tree needs to be set to the front (or vice versa)?

Thanks for sharing

Bernhard


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## stairman (1 Aug 2006)

Bernhard":czrzj57w said:


> Hi Alf,
> 
> nice and detailed report. Who ever even tried to fittle a broom-stick knows that this is not so easy.
> 
> ...


 
And how do I get the merchant to tell me which side was left or if I chopped It down how do I remember after felled the tree cut it up air dried it (I think somebody is having you on)


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## Alf (1 Aug 2006)

Well I must say that's news to me - not something I can recall coming across. Sounds a bit like aligning the razor towards the pole* to keep it sharp. :-k

Cheers, Alf

* Hub, Discworld fans. :wink:


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## Bernhard (1 Aug 2006)

And how do I get the merchant to tell me which side was left or if I chopped It down how do I remember after felled the tree cut it up air dried it (I think somebody is having you on)[/quote]

I am not talking about a merchants handle as I trust they do not care. I am talking about a selfmade handle (like Alf) and there you have all chances to read from the grain when you start chopping. 

Do not believe that this guy is telling fairy tails because I know him very well and he never made jokes about tools. He even told me the reason that one side is more flexible than the other.


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## stairman (1 Aug 2006)

I mite understand the north side but the right hand side? 

I read up on converting timber and yes one side mite be more flexible but it would have more to do with where it was. on the side of a hill,in the middle of a forrest, at the edge of a forrest. 

The flex would have more to do with what was around it while it was growing for example the top of a branch is in tencion and the bottom is in compression 

But I am no expert and am willing to be corrected all knowledge is welcome


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## stairman (1 Aug 2006)

Been giving this some thought (yes it hurt)maybe it has to do with the growth rings as they can vary in width in difrant parts of the tree So the right side mite be the widest / narrowest rings (started on the pain relief (my this wine tests nice))


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## engineer one (1 Aug 2006)

gee alf, and i thought you had to put the razor blades under a 
pyramid to keep them sharp. :lol: :lol: 

paul :wink:


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## Bernhard (2 Aug 2006)

stairman":2z7bhwbm said:


> Been giving this some thought (yes it hurt)maybe it has to do with the growth rings as they can vary in width in difrant parts of the tree So the right side mite be the widest / narrowest rings (started on the pain relief (my this wine tests nice))



That was exactly the explanation given. Can´t recall which side to show to the face. Sorry if the wording right and left side of the tree is not common in England. We call right side the side which shows to the center.


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## stairman (2 Aug 2006)

sorry for not under standing, that makes a lot more sense :lol:


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## Pekka Huhta (3 Aug 2006)

I just wrote a similar story about an axe handle here to a local woodworking forum a few weeks ago. The story was so similar to Alf's that it doesn't deserve its own thread, but I picked up the pictures and items that were different. Just because it all starts with choosing the right part of the wood to make the handle 





I had two axes in need of a handle and a small birch trunk to begin with. At least over here the rule goes: back of the handle towards the bark. Never towards the center, and never getting the center on the finished handle. You also should always find some sort of natural croock in the wood. As you can see my trunk had a shallow s-curve in it, suitable for two handles. 

As a small note, the trunk shown is almost below the minimum size, you should start with 25+ cm trunk, but these were small workshop axes not intended for heavy hitting. 





The trunk was already chopped flat with an axe, the rest of it came with bow saws. Ohyes, they look crude, but one of these days I'll do something about it  Talk about "user tools", these are users if anything.

By the way, never take the blank from the end of the trunk as there are always cracks over there. Much more than in a plank, as a trunk is dried with the bark on and the ends crack much further. 

Of course you could make the handle from a plank as well, but it's just not the right way 



 

 

 



Fitting the end is just the same as on a hammer. I smeared some soot to the "eye" of the axe to be able to see the high spots on the handle. 

As you saw, fitting of the handle was done with only preliminary form of the handle showing. Getting the axe head on just right is delicate business and if you get it a bit wrong you can still adjust the angle or twist a wee bit if the handle isn't completely finished at this stage. 



 

 



Unlike almost all Finnish axes, this one was fitted with two hooks keeping the head on place. They were fitted just as fitting the axe head, with colour. Only that I used red felt-tip pen to colour the hooks, soot would have dirtied the whole handle. 



 

 

 



Wedging is just the same as on a hammer head, here was just the addition of rivetting the hooks on. 



 



On the first picture there is the old handle and un-finished new one. As you notice, I am a bit shy on making the final cuts on the blank, so there is at least 3-5 mm extra on every side. On the second, finished picture you can see the handle finished and tarred. 

An axe is practically the second most important tool on Finnish woodworking tradition, straight after the puukko (knife). A good axe is kept just as sharp as a knife. On the countryside a man would have built his own house from logs till the 1930's with just an axe and a saw. Even the delicate joints on corners were mainly done with just an axe. No framing chisels, no slicks, no nothing. We are pretty primitive people anyway 

To return to the issue of "which side up" or what grain direction to use, there are some rules on using the wood that are almost genetic around here. The skis are always done with the bottom of the ski towards the bark and you ski with top end of the tree back. When putting a plank to the facade of a house it's always "inside out and topside down", heartwood out and top down. Making an axe handle with the back of the handle from the "right side", or center of the tree would really *feel* like walking with your shoes on wrong feet. I can not thell why it's that way but I just can't twist my mind enough to do it the wrong way. 

This is just my intuitive guess why: Sapwood is more elastic than heartwood. Back side of the handle is pressure side and the more elastic sapwood will compress a bit more when hitting than heartwood would if it was on the backside. This gives a bit of flex to the handle to prevent it "kicking back" when you use the axe for splitting or other heavy hitting. Factory handles do this a lot as the grain orientation is whatever the machine produced.

Also, if you put the sapwood on the tension side (front of the handle) and the rigid heartwood on back youl have too much tension on the sapwood. As wood stands pressure very well but doen't like tension, you'll have a handle that might be prone to splitting on the front side if you do it backwards. 

So getting the grain dierction right you'll get both a handle that's "nice to your hands" and not too prone of splitting.

On a hammer... the intuition fails me. I would say that the same rules as on an axe would apply: you want to get a bit of flex in the handle. Or then if the rule of the "old wise man" was to put the center to the back on a hammer, he mght have thought that you want minimum flex on the handle. Which would make sense, as the weight of a hammer doesn't hurt you but if you have a badly done factory handle on a heavy axe, it really is unpleasant to use because of the kickback. 

Or did he mention hammer handles at all, just axes?

I don't know. He may be right with a hammer, but an axe handle is done this way. That's all I'm sure of 

Pekka


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## Pete W (3 Aug 2006)

Pekka Huhta":omr38em7 said:


> This is just my intuitive guess why: Sapwood is more elastic than heartwood. Back side of the handle is pressure side and the more elastic sapwood will compress a bit more when hitting than heartwood would if it was on the backside. This gives a bit of flex to the handle to prevent it "kicking back" when you use the axe for splitting or other heavy hitting.
> Pekka



As I understand it (a phrase fraught with danger ) this is the same principle in making traditional English longbows. Yew was a favourite wood because the combination of sapwood and heartwood gives excellent strength under stretching (sapwood) and compression (heartwood) forces. If you take a piece of yew with both types of wood and orient the sapwood to the front, you get a much more powerful bow.

In other parts of the world, they achieved the same principle by laminating bone and other materials to the front of the bow.

And thanks Pekka for a great article on the making of an axe-handle. 
After reading Adam Cherubini's article in a recent Popular Woodworking about the usefulness of an axe in the workshop I've been watching a few on eBay; most seem to be missing their handles.


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## Alf (3 Aug 2006)

Pekka,

Brilliant stuff - thank you so much for posting it all.  Looking forward to reading it in more depth later. I think I stumbled across your Finnish woodworking forum a few days ago (maybe there's more than one?), but unfortunately my Finnish is, erm, non-existant and the online translator wasn't much better.  It's a shame 'cos I for one really enjoy seeing this woodworking lark from someone else's point of view.

Cheers, Alf


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## bugbear (3 Aug 2006)

Bernhard":m67imxka said:


> stairman":m67imxka said:
> 
> 
> > Been giving this some thought (yes it hurt)maybe it has to do with the growth rings as they can vary in width in difrant parts of the tree So the right side mite be the widest / narrowest rings (started on the pain relief (my this wine tests nice))
> ...



Ahh! "Heartwood" and "sapwood".

Heartwood is the centre, sapwood the outside.

BugBear


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## bugbear (3 Aug 2006)

Lots of good and interesting stuff; I'll pick out my favourites.



Pekka Huhta":28ajm9i4 said:


>



Cool - bow saws where the stretcher meets the arms in a bridle joint, not the usual (in GB) mortice and tenon. this would allow the upright to NOT be weakened by a mortice at the point of maximum stress.


> Unlike almost all Finnish axes, this one was fitted with two hooks keeping the head on place. They were fitted just as fitting the axe head, with colour. Only that I used red felt-tip pen to colour the hooks, soot would have dirtied the whole handle.



Aah; in the UK those are called "straps". They're normally integral to the head, like in this hammer:

http://www.wdynamic.com/galoots/4images ... ge_id=2831

I've seen protective "straps" used on miners picks, but they're solely to prevent the handle being bashed, not to help the security of the head on the handle.

I've never seen separate straps like those in your picture.

BugBear


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## Bernhard (3 Aug 2006)

> Ahh! "Heartwood" and "sapwood".
> 
> Heartwood is the centre, sapwood the outside.
> 
> BugBear



Thank you BB, another lesson for me to remember that translation 1 by 1 is not neccessarily right. Sorry for causing confusion.


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## dedee (3 Aug 2006)

Pekka,
Interesting read, thanks.

On the subject of timber/tree orientation. In Tim Severin's book The Brendan Voyage a recreation of the type of craft that Brendan used to cross the Atlantic used a mast that was chosen from a tree growing on the specific side of a forest and would therefore guarantee that the rings were more pronounced on one side and would cope well with the tension in the mast when under sail. Can't remember the details though #-o 

Andy


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## Pekka Huhta (3 Aug 2006)

bugbear":m0iw3bog said:


> Lots of good and interesting stuff; I'll pick out my favourites.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



It's actually not a bridle joint (as I understand it), the whole arm is going through the stretcher in a loose mortise. And if you look carefully, one of the arms is already broken. I have about a dozen of these saws with different blades and half of them are cracked as the arms are about ½" thick. There is only a small thicker part on the low end of the arms to fit the handles. 

Theoretically a good solution, but not ideal. Could be improved a lot. I have looked at both local saws and UK models and I have to make a combination of both some day. Was this the "tuit" thing? 

Pekka


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## Alf (3 Aug 2006)

Pekka Huhta":3hipir5k said:


> Was this the "tuit" thing?


That's the one 

Well I see now my choice of a squared off, kiln-dried bit of ash is to _your_ handle making what a ready-made handle was to mine! I hang my head in shame and guiltily wonder where my axe is.  

Cheers, Alf


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## Pekka Huhta (3 Aug 2006)

Well Alf, you of all the people should know that making anything of wood is just up to "taking off the bits that don't look like a hammer handle". I remember them as your own words  I was just stupid enough to take the next biggest lump of wood to start with. 

I really hope that hanging your head in shame was a good joke, because what I've read of your work is really *something* not even found on these corners of the world. So really my intention was only to hang around on the subject instead of making a big number of meself  

Starting from bigger bits is just taking the next step towards the forest. First is to get whatever wood is offered at a hardware store, next is splitting it up to proper widhts, then being able to start from whatever thickness or width, then going for the logs and trunks and finally going to the forest yourself to cut the tree. Each step may raise some 'wows' and 'oohs', but after having the step yourself it isn't such a big deal. As in just about everything. 

We chopped down a 2ft diameter birch and a few apple trees from our garden and I had tons of fun with that wood. Most of it being just sitting beside the fireplace with a book, but there were all kinds of things I made out of that wood as well, including the axe handles. 

...And I thought I was being old scrooge for not buying any wood but scraping everything together from firewood  

Pekka


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## Alf (4 Aug 2006)

Gotta admit, there's nothing quite so satisfying as taking a piece of intended firewood and making something useful out of it apart from heat. Makes up for all the times I've taken a piece of board and turned it into firewood I suppose... 

Anyway, I've stopped hanging my head in shame now. I just remembered the ash was free. :wink: 

Cheers, Alf


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## bugbear (4 Aug 2006)

Bernhard":35ih9vqb said:


> > Ahh! "Heartwood" and "sapwood".
> >
> > Heartwood is the centre, sapwood the outside.
> >
> ...



Interestingly this site:

http://www.woodworking.de/woerterbuch/woerterbuch-ed

has heartwood == Kernholz
and sapwood == Splintholz

BugBear


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