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Anybody work with Hickory? Couple of questions. - Printable Version

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RE: Anybody work with Hickory? Couple of questions. - Stwood_ - 07-10-2020

Hickory is pretty tough, and I don't care for it much in furniture or cabinets.
Old timers pegged it for hammer handles, wagon tongues, etc, and I'm pretty sure they got that right as to what purpose it best serves.


RE: Anybody work with Hickory? Couple of questions. - MichaelMouse - 07-10-2020

(07-10-2020, 04:23 PM)Stwood_ Wrote: Hickory is pretty tough, and I don't care for it much in furniture or cabinets.
Old timers pegged it for hammer handles, wagon tongues, etc, and I'm pretty sure they got that right as to what purpose it best serves.

Wellll, not necessarily.  A large percentage of the "pecan" furniture which was the craze fifty years ago was one of the hickories (pecan is a Carya sp. too)  with the stain and flyspecking popular then, one piece of furniture might have several species in it.  

Ash was, and is, a better choice for handles, especially handles which will flex a bit in use.  Elm, too.  But folks used what was most available and reasonably suited.  Here folks pay a premium price for axe and maul handles out of hop-hornbeam.  No market for it as furniture wood, and it doesn't make the biggest trees, either.  

Did the OP try water-setting the surface after machining, to see if it wasn't case-hardening?  Didn't see it.  If the knives are getting dull, it's always good to relieve any case-hardening with water, I think.


RE: Anybody work with Hickory? Couple of questions. - Stwood_ - 07-10-2020

(07-10-2020, 05:24 PM)MichaelMouse Wrote: Wellll, not necessarily.  A large percentage of the "pecan" furniture which was the craze fifty years ago was one of the hickories (pecan is a Carya sp. too)  with the stain and flyspecking popular then, one piece of furniture might have several species in it.  

Ash was, and is, a better choice for handles, especially handles which will flex a bit in use.  Elm, too.  But folks used what was most available and reasonably suited.  Here folks pay a premium price for axe and maul handles out of hop-hornbeam.  No market for it as furniture wood, and it doesn't make the biggest trees, either.  

Did the OP try water-setting the surface after machining, to see if it wasn't case-hardening?  Didn't see it.  If the knives are getting dull, it's always good to relieve any case-hardening with water, I think.


Welllll
Laugh , I've found ash to be too brittle in splitting mauls. Hickory takes more punishment.
You probably won't find any ash handles to be bought in this area. Too many hickory handle makers in this state.
https://buyaxesonline.com/axe-buyers-guide/axe-handle-wood-types-impact-bending-data/
Ash is way on down the line.
Pecan.......yes, was another trend back then. I never liked it either.


I think the OP air dried his lumber. OP???