I've replaced a number of axe, hatchet, claw hammer and sledge hammer
handles over the past twenty or so years (a bunch before I heard of this
method). Heat the end of the handle to dry it. Slather the entire
thing with epoxy. Handle, wooden wedge, socket in the head of the
whatever and the steel splitting wedges. Whack the whole thing
together. Twenty years later it will look the same and it won't be
loose. Not the only way but quick and dirty and it works.

bob g.

Unquestionably Confused wrote:

Duane Bozarth wrote:

robo hippy wrote:

Wood hammer handles will always loosen over time. Wood is not a stable
material, and changes/moves with changes in humidity. Soaking in a
water bucket helps. ...



That's what the wedge is for..soaking doesn't help for long and will
simply exacerbate the problem more than likely...


Vaughn & Bushnell's plant is located just north of me in Hebron,
Illinois. A friend had a chance to walk through with one of the
mucky's there at least 25 years ago.

The procedure they use is a close tolerance wood handle that gets
REALLY dried out with the end stuck in a bucket of heated sand. They
set it, wedge it and chances are that hammer/handle never again sees a
relative humidity that dry.

I've got a couple of their hammers, both are about 27-28 years old.
Original handles and tight as a ... well, you know.