Broke my hammer handle forging a railroad spike last Tuesday

I was out in the shop around 6pm trying to bang out a simple knife from a railroad spike. On the third heat, my hickory handle just snapped clean at the eye. Had to spend the next hour digging the broken wedge out with a punch and a drill. Anyone else had a handle fail on them at the worst possible time?

3 comments

3 Comments

theawest20d ago

Hickory handles are tough but they can hide defects from the factory. I always check the grain alignment on a new handle before I even fit it, if the grain runs out the side near the eye it's gonna fail eventually. You probably got a bad batch or the head was a little loose and worked the wood too much. That same thing happened to me with a 4 pound sledge a few years back, had to drive a cold chisel in from the top to break the wedge loose. Next time try keeping a spare handle and wedge set on the shelf so you can swap it out quicker. Hickory is good but I have started using ash handles for heavier striking tools, they seem to flex better and last longer in my experience.

nathan_foster6020d ago

Man that's a great point about ash handles for heavier tools! I've been using ash on my splitting mauls and it really does feel different in a good way. The flex takes some of the shock out of your wrists. I still use hickory for lighter stuff like hammers but for anything over 3 pounds I'm switching over. Just wish ash was as easy to find locally as hickory is.

sagey693d ago

Honestly, I gotta disagree with both of you. Ash handles are fine for things like splitting wood, but for forging and shop work, hickory has proven itself for a reason. @nathan_foster60 says ash has more flex, but that flex means the handle will bend and wear out faster under the repeated high-force hits you get at an anvil. I'd rather have a handle that's stiff enough to transfer all that energy into the work and snaps clean than one that's going to start feeling mushy after a few months and then let go at some random moment. Ngl, I've had hickory handles last me years in heavy use as long as I keep a tight wedge in them and I'm not torquing the head sideways.