first was for a neighbor a week ago. baileys had replaced a broken axe handle on a council tool broad axe by sending me a new unit. i had some black ash blanks harvested from a dead tree and made a handle for the old head. the guy was thrilled. more of the black ash on this helko 2.5# head. nice stuff this wood extremely tight grained and slow growing. i had some heavy gauge aluminum sheet stock and beat out the protector and tied in on with light polyester cord. my skills and judgment are coming along with handles and more importantly i am getting the rhythm of the work. the handle is 25" long, a bit short for the weight, hopefully about right for light splitting duty.
Back in the old days loggers used to never buy handles but make them for themselves. They called it "hang". In an old book I have one logger in Maine was accused of murdering another but was acquitted because his axe handle was not right for him. They had to be made just right, not just to fit the hands but for proper spring; a much required function when driving an axe into a frozen tree at 20 below.
Rarely do it nowadays because of time constraints,but years ago I would make most all of my hammer,hatchet & axe handles with drawknife,spokeshave,cabinet scraper. When I buy a new one now will have to look at each one on the rack,sighting down its length checking grain direction & any flaws.Most are crap now & its not unusual to look over 7-8 of them before finding a good one.
people praise 'house handle' in MO for good product and price and make up a large enough order to justify UPS. also mentioned is tennessee hickory products. if handles are going to be an issue get a half dozen of the stuff you are going to need. nothing worse than the typical modern sourcing headache. it's what led me to roll my own. there is no economics to the scheme however although pride of work and a unique item balance things nicely.
New hickory handle on the single-bit. I know a guy that will install Osage orange in axe and maul heads. He says his customers prefer Osage rather than hickory for toughness.
