here's a topic that we all can agree on :) hammer handle restoration

[skipskip]

I have quite a few hammers that have  dry, worn handles.

they all  need some sort of treatment

linseed oil?

varnish?

eucalyptus oil?

eye of newt?, ear of bat?

whats the best way?

Skip

[john k]

BLO-Boiled Linseed oil, rub it in by hand, til it feels warm, wipe off the excess, lay the tool down to dry.  Take the rag you rubbed it with OUTSIDE, and lay it on something NON FLAMMABLE to dry, drying linseed oil has been known to cause fires.  In  a few days rub in more linseed oil, when there is a good oil rubbed finish, it can be sealed with varnish.  Same goes for old gunstocks, wooden planes.  Straight linseed oil takes a long time to dry, BLO is much easier to use.

[Wrenchmensch]

Scrub the handle first with Murphy's Oil Soap and 0000 steel wool, rinse soap off, and immediately wipe dry. Wait one hour. Apply boiled linseed oil, using paper towel both to apply, and remove excess, oil. The lignum vitae mallet below was restored using this method

An alternative which I have used is to buy a new handle, apply boiled linseed oil, then 3 coats of polyurethane satin varnish, smoothing each dry coat with 0000 steel wool.  Use paste wax as a final protective coat. The example below is a Berylco hammer that needed a new handle.

[rusty]

Or just use it for 20 years and the oil from your hands and the constant slight rubbing will give it a nice shine ;P

[scottg]

Galoot wax!!
  Mix equal parts wax, boiled linseed oil and paint thinner.
Beeswax, parafin or yard sale junk candles will all work.
 Melt the wax carefully, (watch it like a hawk)
 remove from heat, add the oil
 and then last the thinner.
 Stir well.
  When cool it will be solid but not hard.
 
Take a very small piece of rag and rub the item down very well with the mix, covering all.
 Wipe it back off with a paper towel.   (see how grungy it is?)
 Do it again, same thing. (paper town will be a little lighter this time).
  Keep rubbing with the mixture and wiping after, until the towel comes up clean looking.
 Let dry overnight and rub hard with a rag next day.
   you'll see
      we all do :)
        yours Scott
 

[johnsironsanctuary]

I have a different way to mix wax into Galoot Mix. I shave the wax with a knife into the paint thinner. I use a Mason Jar.  Set the Mason Jar in a container of very hot tap water to melt the wax.  Mix in the Linseed Oil later.  Store the extra mix in the Mason Jar and reheat in hot tap water.

[Branson]

If the wood is dry, it's probably dry deep into the wood.   I'm a big fan of linseed oil, but by itself, it won't penetrate as deeply, and you want to feed that dry wood as deeply as you can.  Making a 50/50 solution of linseed oil and turpentine will thin the linseed and take it more deeply into the wood.  A lot of cracks will simply disappear in this process.  I put on a lot of this mixture, and as it soaks into the wood, I put on more.  And then, usually, still more, until the linseed is as deep as it is going to get.  Last, a coat or two of pure linseed.

If you really like blisters, then varnish the thing.  Old timers never varnished the handles of their tools, in part for this reason, and in part because the varnish wears off anyway.  You will get a nice shine with just the linseed oil, and if it wears a bit, it can be rejuvenated with some more linseed oil.

The Galoot formula uses thinner to get penetration, and penetration is the name of the game.

[mrchuck]

I have found that using a squeeze tube of Walmart's super glue spread on the handle and top will tighten all up and give the handle a nice hard finish. No more splinters are started.
It really does work.
4 tubes on a cardboard cost now days around 1.70 bucks.
Used to be 88 cents.
Give it a try,,, let me know.

[Branson]

Glue, eh?  An old, and now frowned upon, museum practice to put an end to wood deterioration was to mix duco cement with acetone.  Much the same results.  It's been abandoned now because it is not reversible.  At least not reversible without damaging any original paint on the object.