[Bholden201]

greetings. I'm trying to find the right hardware for attaching the horse hame handle to the stick. i can't seem to find the right size/style. i use the largest handles ('favorite'), and the smaller ('minto?'). i typically buy chrome, but i have a variety of brass also. does anybody have the info/supplier for the proper fit. i need them flush and sturdy. thanks

 

[CV3]

I am not sure what you looking for. Most of large or regular size hames have about 1" opening. They can very some do to the casting. the back of the hames is pretty straight it the front the has the curves back. I tapper and shape the top of the shank to match and go up into curve of the hames, as you push the shank in to the hames the rough inside of the cast will mark the stick indicating what needs to be removed. Once I have about 2" + into the hames and a snug fit I will put epoxy on the top inch or so. Then put on the hames and snug it down with a rubber mallet. I will put a 1/2 " # 8 oval head wood screw,brass or stainless on chrome, in the bottom hole and a eyelet screw in the hole in the back. Stick size can be almost any thing you want. It is a matter of just how much work you want to put in to fitting if to the hames. You need at least 1". Fitting the top of the shank to the hames a carving and slot for the front tang of the hames cane be difficult on lager sticks.

 

[mehig]

All of the hames I've seen were pretty much the same size. Here's one I just finished for a friend who has and shows draft horses at events. It matches his harness.

 

[LilysDad]

It is hard to see in this photo, but the hame knob is actually inlet flush into the surface of the wood.

 

[Rodney]

It is hard to see in this photo, but the hame knob is actually inlet flush into the surface of the wood.

103_9970.JPG

Nice looking job fitting it. With only a few exceptions I prefer hardware to fit flush too. Given the shape of the end of a hame it's not an easy thing to do right.

Did that stick start out as a tool handle of some sort?

Rodney

 

[LilysDad]

It started out as raw stock. I've converted one of those Router- Crafters they used to sell to make a tapered shaft of however many sides I want. That Ash handle is 8-sided and tapers from 1 1/8" to 7/8".

 

[norson]

Some wonderful friends purchased my hame cane for me in the Amish area of Indiana not too far from South Bend. I used it - kept it in my car - for a long time, but discovered it was a brass coating, not solid brass. It kept discoloring from use - my palm sweat - and I kept polishing until the brass began wearing off.

Here's my solution.

 

[LilysDad]

That's too bad, Norson. It's a good tip for the rest of us, though. Before I buy a new hame knob, I will certainly check if it is solid brass. I have some old knobs that I picked up at flea markets. They're scratched and dented and they are really brass.