At the NRA convention in 1976, I sat at the table with the gentleman who started and owned Saeco. He told us that he went to a stock manufacturer(don't remember which one) and bought their scraps of figured walnut to make handles for his molds and tools.
Bois D'arc means ''bow wood'' in French
If you have a choice of woods, first is hickory, second is maple, then white oak of the common american woods.
Wayne the Shrink
There is no 'right' that requires me to work for you or you to work for me!
How about a wood from the Genus Ebony? The only species north of the Tropics in right here in the good ole USA (other places as well), and is Persimmon. Grows wild all around my place and makes the best wood for woodturning projects. Neighbor and I have used it for Maul handles, ect.
At work I made a Brass Ball Peen hammer with an ebony handle up. This wasn't for actual use but was buffed up and polished to a shine and mounted on a plaque for a retiring mechanic.
I always save broken broom & shovel handles. Chuck a piece in the lathe & turn away. Never throw stuff out, never know when it'l come in handy. And if I need something bigger, I go out to the firewood pile.
Go to the hardware store and ask for chainsaw file handles. Already contoured (but can be changed to your liking) and have a hole predrilled (which can be enlarged if need be)
Made of hickory I believe and pretty tough stuff.
LOL, that's about exactly what I do...But I did buy this bag of handles at a thrift store recently. I don't know what they were originally for? came with an eye bolt and washer. No internal threads in wood, only a through hole. They are a lightweight wood like pine, but has a real tight grain, like mountain cedar. shown next to a Lee mold for comparison.
This is really my prefered...aged/weathered white oak, from the firewood pile...the knotty and gnarly the better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
― The Dalai Lama, Seattle Times, May 2001
I save all my broken oak shovel and ax handles and recycle them into other handles. I have a few screwdrivers with curly maple handles and I have used scraps of purple heart and ebony for fancy handles for duelling pistol sets. Use your imagination, use denser woods for the most stressed applications and from there just go with it! Don't ignore turned deer antler as a choice either.
[QUOTE=JonB_in_Glencoe;3987501]LOL, that's about exactly what I do...But I did buy this bag of handles at a thrift store recently. I don't know what they were originally for? came with an eye bolt and washer.
They are handles from jump ropes.
OK, OK. I'm guessing!
Chill Wills
File handles are a good handle for a lot of things. Ive used them for a lot of things. I have been known to even sand them out nice and stipple then oil finish them. A lot come out with a very nice look. Ive also used copper pipe caps for ferrles on wood handles.
You can often find good Hickory or other hardwood Tomahawk handles if you shop around.
I know I found some in the 18" length for 6$ each.
Another often over looked wood is Mullberry. It can be very pretty and is easy to work with.
We have Osage trees growing everywhere here. The stuff lasts forever, you commonly see very, very old fence posts made rom it that have been out in the weather for sometimes 60 years or more that are still strong.
I live on some acreage and we have quite a few osage trees. The former owner had left an old shovel head out in the yard and I was going to buy a new handle and install it, but a handle costs almost as much as a new shovel. I wonder if I can find an osage limb straight enough to work something out of it, I never thought of it making good tool handles.
Hi JonB.Those are handles for the aluminum skillets that are usually Teflon coated.The loop is for hanging them up.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo
People never lie so much as after a hunt,during a war,or before an election.
Otto von Bismarck
When mold handles start working loose I've had great results with high temp silicone sealer. I squirt a generous amount in the original handle hole, push it back on and wipe off the excess if necessary. Set it aside for 24 hours before using. Haven't had one come loose yet.
David
Sometimes life taps you on the shoulder and reminds you it's a one way street. Jim Morris
It took a while but someone finally said dogwood. It was used for axe handles at one time. It is tough stuff.
Lots of good suggestions, ideas and reasons in this thread.
As they say, "in olden times" the traditional home made handles were made to be tough and durable. Most of the woods used have been mentioned. Osage, Dogwood, Persimmon, Hickory, sometimes White Oak and in specific uses Locust. I have used some of all these in various projects. I will warn against using any Hickory or Oak with wide rings = it's weaker and splits easily, trees from dryer and higher has closer growth rings and is tougher. This has been my experience, yours may be different. 10ga
10 gauge: as per Robert Ruark, "use enough gun"
MOLON LABE
"I have a list, and am prepared for widespread civil disorder!" 10 ga
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |