Mattock Handles. Why?

[sea2summit]

Here is a picture of the head. As you can see it is about 12" long. I'm assuming this is a little mattock and not some sort of wood working tool. The edges are not sharp like an adze or something like that. I will probably turn an 18" handle so it can be used with one or two hands. I think it will be handy in the truck tool box or my wife may be able to use it in the garden.

I do not have any hickory but I do have several freshly cut ash logs waiting to be cut on the saw mill. I think ash would work okay. I'll cut out a rough blank but I'm not sure how long the blank will need to dry before I put it on the lathe?

View attachment 734833

Round handle? Uncommon, pretty cool looking tool.

 

[ultrarunner]

The military surplus pick mattock is a great tool and forged for superior strength... at least the ones I have.

One came with the canvas holder for when it is broken down...

One of my favorite tools for irrigation repair digging

Some of the old timers would soak the end in water to tighten by swelling ..

 

[N80]

Way I was taught, can't say I've had one slip since I was a kid and handed a pick which I promptly had slip down on my small hands. I may be dumb, but I ain't stupid...I think

I'm not saying that a full swing from over the shoulder is wrong. I just don't very often find myself in a situation where that is possible the whole time. There's always branches over head, someone else nearby, the wall of a ditch behind me, etc etc etc.

 

[etpm]

I have never seen a mattock like yours. I have a couple pick mattocks and I have seen others with the pick end being blade like and 90 degrees to the mattock end. Anyway, I had to replace the handle on one of my pick mattocks years ago. It was hard to get the handle to lock in place. What I did to remedy the situation was to spray paint the handle head, fit it into the mattock, and look to see where the paint was rubbed off by the mattock. Then I removed a little material where the paint was rubbed off, painted the area, and then tried fitting again. I only used paint because I wanted the extra visibility. After a few fittings the handle started to really stick into the mattock. The hole in your mattock looks quite round to me, and is unlike the ones I have where the hole is quite oval shaped. But I think the method I used would work well for you too.
Eric

 

[Jstpssng]

With no taper in the eye, I don't think that the OP's head was designed for what we consider to be a standard maddock handle. I think that he's right; he needs to build it like an axe handle. By making the handle himself, he can build it with the grain rather than cross grained the way that so many handles seem to be made now.

 

[Hay Dude]

My wood Mattocks all have the oblong heads. We broke one recently and bought a replacement from HD. Fiberglass/plastic handle. I had my doubts about a “synthetic” handle, but nope, shes still doing well. Just used it last week to dig out some rock around a tank.
If youre still using a Mattock, youre in a unique club. You still got the will to work hard.

 

[N80]

With no taper in the eye, I don't think that the OP's head was designed for what we consider to be a standard maddock handle. I think that he's right; he needs to build it like an axe handle. By making the handle himself, he can build it with the grain rather than cross grained the way that so many handles seem to be made now.

It is hard to see but there is a taper in the eye. Very gradual. I will try to duplicate it on the lathe and can use the method @etpm mentioned to get it really snug. At that point I may add a wedge like an axe. My son-in-law (who is into axes and such) soaks his axe handles in some sort of oil rather than water to keep them swollen and tight in the eye of the axe. I'll ask him about that.

 

[Jstpssng]

I’ve heard of people using anti freeze.
I use a different approach for axe handles; get the handle as tight as I can, leave it near the wood stove to dry, then drive it on a bit farther.

 

[JJT]

Here is a picture of the head. As you can see it is about 12" long. I'm assuming this is a little mattock and not some sort of wood working tool. The edges are not sharp like an adze or something like that. I will probably turn an 18" handle so it can be used with one or two hands. I think it will be handy in the truck tool box or my wife may be able to use it in the garden.

I do not have any hickory but I do have several freshly cut ash logs waiting to be cut on the saw mill. I think ash would work okay. I'll cut out a rough blank but I'm not sure how long the blank will need to dry before I put it on the lathe?

View attachment 734833

Ash will work fine, there's no need for it to be dry. If you were closer I'd give you a stick of hickory. The ash will be significantly lighter....

 

[Jstpssng]

Ash will work fine, there's no need for it to be dry.

If he doesn’t dry it first, more shrinkage will occur and the handle will loosen up. I thought the purpose of this thread was to decide the best way to keep that from happening.