mm wrote:
What would you recommend to refinish a hammer handle?

I have an old ball peen hammer whose owner got it very dirty, with oil
even. Although I'm not complaining. He had the hammer for 20 to 50
years, and I got it free after he didn't need it anymore. I cleaned
all that off with a wire wheel. I'm thinking just rubbing in some
linseed oil would make it nice. What do you think?

Your first error was to run a wire wheel across
the wood. You should have simply cleaned it by
spraying Easy-off on the handle, wiping off the
goo, and washing in water. (might have taken 2
time). When dry you should just sand the clean
wood.

Many handles of that era and earlier were never
finished (raw wood). Whatever you use, you want
the finish to remain hard under all conditions
(high moisture, high heat, hand sweat). Linseed
oil doesn't sound like a good choice.