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The sledge handle that flew off and hit my truck window, twice
Was reheading a cross peen on Tuesday up in Flagstaff and the hickory handle I'd hung just three days earlier decided to exit stage left mid-swing. It cracked right at the eye, no warning, and the head went sailing about 15 feet into my Ford's rear window. After I patched the glass with tape and a trash bag, I tried again with a new handle and same exact thing happened on the first hard strike. Turned out I'd bought a bad batch from a mill that kiln dries too fast, the fibers were all brittle inside. Anyone else had a handle fail like that and switched to something like ash or a fiberglass core for good?
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paulw878d ago
Bought a whole box of handles from one of those big box stores a few years back and had three fail in a week, all right at the eye like yours. Ran into an old timer at the hardware store who told me to look at the end grain before buying, if the growth rings run parallel to the wedge slot instead of across it, that handle is gonna split every time. Started checking every handle in the bin before I buy one and haven't had a failure since. I also quit swinging when it's below freezing because that cold makes hickory brittle as all get out. Ash is decent but honestly harder to find good stuff these days, and the fiberglass ones feel dead in your hands but they sure don't break. If you go fiberglass get one with a rubber over-grip, the bare ones will rattle your teeth loose.
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