I was changing the handle on my splitting maul the other day ( again), when I thought " Maybe those Logrite folks got one 'o these mauls with a handle that won't get splintered and break" I looked on the on-line store... nope.
I have a hydrulic splitter, but sometimes it just does the soul some good to pound the DanG bejeepers outta a few chunks of wood!! And it would be nice to have a maul with a handle that would last more than a year or so.
I prefer the 8-10 pounder if you get a hankerin to build one.
Moosehunter
ill take two!
I am first, fellas. :D I have been after Kevin to develop a 24" handle for a 4lb ax head
so that cutters can use them in the woods around here. I have at least 4 of them sold if I can get them built. 8)
Don't be in too much of a hurry for new maul handles just yet.
The aluminum we use for our tools is great for strength and torque. It's not so great for striking tools like mauls and axes. Since our cant hooks and peaveys aren't used for striking objects, (Unless you have a really good reason) aluminum is great. With a maul handle, the reasonance transmitted back through the handle to your hands would be rotten.
I have Kevin in the lab now. He is trying to cook up some new high tech composite handle material. Don't hold you breath, it might take a few years,
Pete
Hey guys - about 5 years ago I had an unfortunate run-in between my left hand and a dado stack on a tablesaw. Ultimately I kept all the fingers although they aren't pretty to look at. A few months after the accident I needed to split some wood and even though I was using a very light grip with my left hand and practically letting go at the moment I struck the wood, the vibration was still causing some .... shall we say.....discomfort. My next splitting day I left home and forget my maul and didn't want to travel all the way back so I dropped into the MalWart and bought one of those yellow plastic handled mauls. The difference was quite noticeable - that handle doesn't transmit the vibration near as much as a wood handle and it can take a beating and hasn't broke yet.
"I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Are you listening?
Plastics." :D
Those yellow ones are fiberglass not plastic, are they not?
I think the one I have is plastic with a fiberglass core, I was going thru one wooden one a year, yellow one has been trere for 10 or better and less vibration.
So the plastic holds up pretty good then?
Has for me, course it's nicked up pretty good now, take a nkife and shave off the burrs when it gets hit where you hold it, so notched up now you about have to wear gloves to use it, but not broke, yet.
if you can spring for the coin, having a composites guy make you one from kevlar and carbon fiber would be the trick :)
it would be quite expensieve, but it would be light and never break as long as you kept it out of the sun (as with any plastic/composite)
now i needs to get something like that for my son :D :D i cant get the wooden ones for him
he just breaks dem for fun and them fiberglass ones might last a day or two if he's real careful
he's one of them shimps jeff takes about 6' 3" 225lbs :D more brawn then sence. one ofs the ifn it wont go just grunt harder.lol it ether goes or more often some thing breaks.
That's what I need, a handle that can't be used in the sun. ;D
or in the cold
I have one of them yellow handled mauls and its been great for my uses. Mind you I'm not using it every day, but comes in handle when walking the corners of the woodlot giving the corner posts a few taps because of the frost heave. I even had to 'confescate' it from father when he was putting in posts for his raspberry canes. ;D
Even those yellow handles have something to be desired. I have a broken one in my garage. I might try to post a photo when I figure out how to get the photos out of my new digital camera.
I wrap the last 4" of handle (next to the head) with iron tie wire. My first handle lasted 15 years and I've got 7 years out of the present handle. Three cords per year. The handle get's a bit crushed under the wire, but it doesn't get torn up when I miss the target.