01/30/14, 05:05 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: NC
Posts: 994
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My great uncles made handles for hoes, shovel, and bush axes......one had a bush axe with a 8' handle to clean out canals...out of red maple
Persimmon makes good mauls.....dig it up use the roots under the ground for your maul head....trim the trunk into your handles
Sweet gum makes a fine maul/beetle head....it's twisty grain makes it nearly impossible to split
for a handle use a nice clear grained hickory, white oak, or ash if its in your area....I think white oak is the strongest, but every body has their favorite.....my uncle like a large wild holly tree to make axe handles from.....He said it was as tough as hickory
Sweet Gum has been used alot for hoe handles especially eye hoes....always plenty around the right size.
If you break a handle....well a chunk of sledge hammer handle the right length makes a good handle for smaller handles..axe handle , same way
One great uncle would take a piece of water pipe, heat it till it expanded...drive it on the end of a long handle..pour water till it cooled....drill the right sized hole in the end....you got a good handle for a goose neck hoe, tater hook, steel rake, ect....
Remember that anything you strike with, like an axe,eye hoe, maul,sledge hammer, even a bush axe....you need the grain of the handle to run vertical, so that you don't split you handle lengthways when you use your tool.
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