Handle on my cross peen hammer snapped clean off mid swing yesterday

I was working on a knife blade at my forge in the backyard around 4pm, full swing coming down on a hot billet, and the handle just gave out right at the shoulder. Went flying into the cinder block wall and left a good dent. Lucky nobody was near me cause that head could have hit someone easy. Turns out there was a hairline crack running through the hickory from way back that I never caught. Has anyone else had a handle fail on them out of nowhere like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

briancampbell2d ago

Gotta wonder if it was a bad grain run on that piece of wood.

milar462d ago

My last three hammer handles were hickory from the same batch at a hardware store and I never had one crack like that. Were you storing it in a damp area or maybe near your forge where it got heat soaked? Hickory can get brittle if it dries out too fast or sees repeated thermal cycles. I check mine every few weeks by flexing them gently near the head to feel for any give or weirdness.