Anyone else hate fresh handles ?

Hickory n steel

Hickory n steel

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Feb 11, 2016
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Lets see your most used / handled hammer or axe haft .

Why do I hate fresh handles ?

Take a newly hung handle and compare the feel to one you've been handling for a year or more, you'll realize right away that fresh handles suck.
You're hands smooth out and burnish a handle with use and it just feels so much better with age.

 
The old one feels better, but I don't necessarily hate a new one. I'd rather not change an old one, for sure!
 
Moonw said:
The old one feels better, but I don't necessarily hate a new one. I'd rather not change an old one, for sure!
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Here are 3 tools I have worked pretty hard to keep on old handles. They are also part of handful tools that I use regularly for the stuff we talk about here:

GoodHandles by Agent Hierarchy, on Flickr

Hickorynsteel - I thought you might appreciate the "half-hatchet". :)
2lbs 10oz with the handle.
 
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Agent_H said:
Here are 3 tools I have worked pretty hard to keep on old handles. They are also part of handful tools that I use regularly for the stuff we talk about here:

GoodHandles by Agent Hierarchy, on Flickr

Hickorynsteel - I thought you might appreciate the "half-hatchet". :)
2lbs 10oz with the handle.
Click to expand...
Those are nice, but what I had in mind were handles that we're new not too long ago.
I was thinking handles you put on that are no longer fresh, but still the handle on that hatchet is nicely aged.
 
I actually love my handles new. Broken in handles are great too, but the fresh bare wood is my favorite texture.
 
Makes little difference to me but I don't care for real smooth handles and will stop with 60 or 80 grit paper after thinning.
I know some old timers would drill holes in the end of their handles, fill with oil(mineral I think) and plug with bees wax. Supposedly prevented blisters and kept the handles nice. Nothing I would do but it might work for some folks.
 
For me it is shape/finish not age that determines how good it feels in the hand. Some that I've finished with with wiping varnish (Fornby's "tung oil") have an especially nice feel to them. Fine sanded and at least 4 coats. They don't raise blisters at all for me. I'm experimenting with real tung-citrus oil now and I like it but it takes a long time to cure and many coats (6+) to build up the finish.
 
Kevin Houtzager said:
Citrus = acidic. I don't now in what quantities though. But you can disregard my comments. Have looked it up: Tung oil in itself is acidic as well, so shouldn't make any difference. I can buy my tung oil undiluted here (just pure boiled tung oil). Boiling it helps drying but als the wrinkling. I don't know if yours is boiled or not?
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No oil is acidic in the sense of something like vinegar. The confusion usually comes from the use of the term "fatty acids" which are not acids in the way non-chemists think of acids.

Citrus oils are light oils with high turpenes that come from the citrus fruit skin. They are often used in place of other solvents in "green" thinners and such. Citrus does not equal acidic.
 
New handles don't bother me at all. They rarely stay new looking long enough to even worry about it.
 
I just dislike damage to wood handles. I had to sand out a hammer handle last night to rid it of a small gouge right in the sweet spot. Oddly though, old handles can still be useful even though they suffer from much damage or missing chunks.
 
tanglediver said:
I just dislike damage to wood handles. I had to sand out a hammer handle last night to rid it of a small gouge right in the sweet spot. Oddly though, old handles can still be useful even though they suffer from much damage or missing chunks.
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I don't like chips cracks or missing chunks, but small dings and dents just add grip and of course character.
 
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