Sledge Handle- how do I install??

[biscuit141]

Neither of these sledge handles fit my sledge. I had this Hickory handle before and I shaved down the neck to fit the hole, then when I went to use it it broke pretty quickly. The fiberglass handle was found in my barn but not bought specifically for this sledge. It is too narrow so I don’t know if I could get it to fit by putting it lower on the handle? Or should I just buy a fancy new sledge from Lowe’s wih a lifetime warranty? I need to break up a brick mailbox so I need to get this fixed or buy a new one.

 

[ChaseDE]

I think I would buy a new sledge.

 

[48RON54]

I think I would buy a new sledge.

X2..............They don't cost that much. Why bother screwing around..........

 

[RustyJunk]

Weld a piece of pipe on there, it will last forever.

 

[rijndael]

Weld a piece of pipe on there, it will last forever.

Your wrists and elbows won't last forever.

 

[gungatim]

I've fixed a number of smaller sledges and ball pein hammers by shaping by hand a rough fit of other handles Ihad laying around. my method is to tap it on, see where it binds, then repeat til I have a decent fit with a good 1/4" sticking out the top.

then I mix up JB weld epoxy and fill the cavity around the handle. rough the interior of the sledge hole a bit with a file so it bites. then when dry just take to the grinder and grind the mess off the top till flush.

seems to work for me...I've never had luck using the wedges...

edit: btw, a good source of handle material is ash baseball bats from yard sales. you can get them for a buck or two and get a couple handles out of them if you can use a spokeshave (or just an angle grinder if you aren't).

 

[Sloper0204]

Replacement fiberglass handles normally come with epoxy. We would lay the head flat on a piece of cutting board, stand the handle in the head and secure it to a work bench with a clamp, fill the void with epoxy. Let it stand overnight, peel the cutting board off the next morning.

We used to replace sledge handles almost every month for a while, about every week if you count engineer hammers and cross pein blacksmith hammers.

Welded pipe into a few, but the above poster is right that it tears up your arm with extended use. One of the employees was a genius and filled a the pipe on one with silicon and found a piece of air hose the correct ID to fit over the pipe and made one of our big sledges usable again.

 

[bw77]

I'll ask my friend Percy here, maybe he has some ideas.

 

[rick carpenter]

Re-hafting axes/mauls/hammers is a lot of fun. This is edited from an earlier reply of mine....

Go to as close to an old-timey hdwr store you can find, like an Ace or a True Value that has their stuff piled one on top of the other. They're more likely to have replacement handles than a too organized big box store. Bring the head with you so you can match the size and tongue correctly. I would clean the head leaving as much original finish as possible and wax it rather than restore to like new.

I like to find handles with the tongue just a little thicker than the hole. As you're test fitting, make sure the head goes on the handle the same way each time. Start by shaving down the tongue but with a taper at the shoulder til it fits into the head but say 1/4" short. You should see the taper coming out the bottom of the head. You'll want the tongue extending out of the head on top by 1/4" or more when done. As far as how tight to make the tongue at this point, you'll have to consider the wedges you're going to use and size the tongue accordingly. Always sneak up to the right size. You'll want the wedgeless tongue to fit "fairly" snug to the head at the shoulder before it's finally seated, again though, depending on the wedges.

Strip/sand off the factory finish and put your own on. I use a little bit of stain and then a couple of coats of boiled linseed oil. Dunk the tongue into an open container of BLO along with the wedge for a day or so. Assemble by putting the head on as far as you can by hand, hold it upside down, and firmly pound the end of the handle with a mallet which drives the handle tightly into the head. Put the wooden wedge in but don't hammer it in all the way. Let the handle dry/adjust to the BLO for maybe a week then finish driving in the wedge. Cut the protruding tongue so that it extends maybe 1/8+" on top and add a metal wedge.

Fill a metal jar lid to nearly the top with BLO and situate the hammer upside down so that the protruding tongue sits in the oil. Let it soak for several days, making sure to drip a bunch of oil into the eye from the shoulder as often as you think about it. Let dry. Fondle proudly. Use. Add more BLO to the handle a few days later then every so often. Be sure to specify who it goes to in your will.

 

[d.mcfarland]

Buy the new $20 sledge hammer and bash that mailbox.

 

[Kaizen]

You can use that fiberglass one. Clean inside of head and epoxy as instructed above. If you don’t have the epoxy just buy a new sledge. Sad but handles are almost as expensive as the whole unit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Spiffers]

I'll ask my friend Percy here, maybe he has some ideas.

When you do message me what he says......I got a head just like that I found at the old home place I need to fix.

 

[gearhead1]

I’ve used what appears to be the same fiberglass handle. I think I cleaned up the inside with a wire brush on a dremel then wiped with some acetone. There’s a metal clip that goes with it. The directions said to put the metal clip on the white (small) end of the handle and put it through the small end of the sledge. If it won’t go, then put the white part through the small end and then slide the clip on. I think the clip centers it up. Then I wrapped paper towels around the handle side to catch any epoxy that runs out. Then you mix the epoxy and pour it in and let is sit for a day.