I used to have problems with broken sledge hammer, axe and mauals
when I would task my sons to do some work with these tools. Seems it
was convienient to just slip up and miss and bust the handle and get
out of the job. I used a piece of pipe to replace the
handles........and solved the problem of broken handles.....ANyway,
there was occassions when I would have to use these tools, and a ipe
handle is far from being confortable or ideal, so I replaced the
handles once again with good wood handles, and cut a couple of donuts
out of some 1" think rubber matting I had. The donuts were
approximately 6" in diameter, with a 1" hole. I slid a few of these
down the handle up to the tools head, so now when the sons miss the
target, the shock is minimized and no more broke handles. They do not
interfere with use of the tool either.....

On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 01:34:26 GMT, Ken Sterling (Ken Sterling) wrote:

===Bob Chilcoat wrote:
===
=== Years ago in Syracuse, I bought a Craftsman Splitting Maul. After using it
=== for a few days, the wooden handle broke (overshot the log I was splitting).
=== I took it back. The guy tried to tell me that it wasn't included in the
=== free replacement warranty, which was just for "Craftsman Hand Tools" as was
=== shown on the poster over the hand tool section. I pointed out that it said
=== "Craftsman" on the broken handle, and that it certainly wasn't a power tool.
=== So he gave me a free replacement. A couple of weeks later, the same thing
=== happened. Same story, same outcome. Over the course of the next year or
=== so, I got three more new mauls (I guess I'm not real accurate with my
=== swing), with gradually escalating hassle. As I was handed the last one, I
=== was told, "No more. This is it." When I finally broke that one, I decided
=== that I was tired of the hassle, and that Sears didn't really owe me
=== anything, so I bought a replacement fiber-glass handle, which is still on
=== the maul. They still haven't put any limitation on axes and splitting
=== mauls, or for broken wooden handles.
===
=== --
=== Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)
===
===
===Try splitting a foot long piece of radiator hose and then cable tying it
===around the handle just back of the head. Should help protect on the
===overshoots. Some of the sledges and mauls come with a similar protector
===these days.
===
===Pete C.
===Also, a metal shield can be made to slip up around the handle, close
===to the head. Thick enough metal to prevent the handle from breaking.
===OR.... he could just cut 6 inches off the end of his arms.... G
===Ken.


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