Repairing tools

When you use hand tools as frequently as we do, you will find they often break or wear out despite the user being careful with them.

This is particularly the case with wooden-handled tools used for hammering, driving and digging.

Today, we had three break in quick succession - the 14lb maul using for driving posts, the 8lb sledgehammer and the 6lb mattock.

The maul’s handle split lengthways, while the hot weather saw the handles of the sledgehammer and mattock dry out, loosening the heads as they had not been properly secured in the factory.

The first task was to decide whether to keep or replace the handles. The maul’s was clearly beyond salvaging but those of the sledgehammer and mattock were of good hickory with no splits or breaks, so they were kept.

Our local hardware shop stocks good quality hickory handles and, fortunately, even had a long sledgehammer handle in stock for use on the maul.

When I got the handle home, I was pleased to discover it was oversized as this meant I could get a good tight fit. After securing the handle upright in the vice, I dug out the essential tools for shaping the handle to fit the head of the maul - block plane, spokeshave, wood rasp, sandpaper, tenon saw and a large pen with water based ink.

I inked the hole in the mole head and then pushed it down onto the handle, leaving a mark showing the required shape. I then turned the handle so it lay horizontally and began paring away the wood with the spokeshave and blockplane, roating the handle every few strokes.

When the maul head almost went on the handle, I changed to the rasp and further shaped the handle, before changing to sandpaper and smoothing it. It’s important not to take off too much at the very end of the handle (to about half the depth of the head) as this should be about 2mm oversized.

With the handle shaped, I stood it upright in the vice and cut a slot in it with the tenon saw. The slot must run along the longest axis of the handle and should be half as deep as the head of the tool.

Next, I took a piece of 5mm thick hardwood and carefully planed it into a wedge, then cut the wedge to fit in the slot in the handle.

The handle was then fitted into the socket in the maul hand and driven in with a wooden mallet. (If the handle has been shaped correctly, you shouldn’t get a banana peel effect.)

The wooden wedge is then driven into the slot in the handle, sawn flush and sanded smooth. One or two steel hammer wedges are then driven it at right angles to the wooden wedge.

The new handle is then sanded smooth to remove any splinters, before being rubbed down with a rag and a little boiled linseed oil.

The same process used on the maul was followed with both the sledgehammer and mattock, but re-using the old handles.

It does take some time to do properly, but it’s worth doing it properly as it makes the tools safer, helps them last longer and it’s alway satisfying to do things the right way.

The factory that made the mattock had simply used two steel hammer wedges to hold the head in place, but this was never going to be sufficient. The sides of the handle have to be driven wide apart to give a firm grip inside the socket, and only a wooden wedge driven into a sawn slot is going to achieve this.

With care, we should get another year’s hard work out of all three tools before we have to consider replacing or repairing the handles again.