Chuck and Galoots,

I work for a railroad track contractor and have a never ending supply of raw
material for chisel handles.  Depending on exactly what we are doing we may go
through 2-3 dozen hickory spike maul (10 lb. sledge hammer) handles a week.
They aren't really big enough for anything else but yield 2-3 chisel handle per
broken handle.

If there are any track contractors in your area, I'd guess they would be willing
to give you as many broken handles as you'd want.  I'm not sure they are worth
the postage but I would be happy to ship some to anyone who wants them if you
will cover the postage.


Jim Crammond in Monroe, Michigan



On Thursday, August 28, 2014 8:33 AM, Chuck Ramsey  wrote:
 




Mike- I, too, use ash for chisel handles.  Broken shovel handles provide my
source for raw material.I wish that youth baseball teams still used wooden bats.
But aluminum seems to be the bat of choice in the 21st century.  I wish that
hickory was available to me from a common broken household item.  I've also
heard that hornbeam was a good wood for handles but I've never seen a piece here
in the desert.  Recently I've come across a large supply of mesquite and have
been using that wood for handles.  I like working with the mesquite.  The dark
color makes it easy to tell one group/set from another.For chisels or carving
tools that I know won't get struck then pretty is the wood choice.  I'll
usewhatever scrap I have handy and want to use up.chuck
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