A molded plastic replacement handle for a tool, such as a sledge hammer, which includes an opening tapered from both ends so that the narrower part is located close to the center of the tool. A plastic adapter element is dimensioned to fit over one end of the handle and includes a tapered area in the same general direction as the bottom taper in the opening in the tool. After placement of the adapter element on the handle, the tool is placed on the adapter element. A metal insert having an opening therein is dimensioned to fit over to enter space between the top tapered area of the tool and the handle. The metal insert includes bottom sections disposed to bend inwardly into the space when the insert is forced downwardly to secure the tool to the top of the handle.

The handle of a maul is attached to the head of the tool within an eye in the head. A U-shaped retaining member straddles a connecting portion of the handle within the eye. The space within the eye between the handle and the head is filled with epoxy cement in which the retaining member is embedded. The retaining member coacts with the handle and the head to increase retaining force therebetween when pull-off force is applied to separate the handle from the head.

An adapter for connecting a tool head to a fiberglass tool handle or shaft. The adapter includes a cap having greater compressive strength than the handle. The cap fits over the end of the handle to prevent damage during assembly, use or storage of the tool. A pair of adapter sections fit around the cap and the adjacent end of the handle. The adapter sections have recesses which receive the ends of the cap. A pair of pins carried by the adapter sections extend into openings in the handle. The cap also acts as a guide to provide proper alignment of the adapter sections and tool head with respect to the handle.

A bushing for connecting a tool head with a tapered eye to a fiberglass tool handle. The bushing, formed in two sections, is mounted around and over a tongue on the distal end of the handle and is configured externally to be wedged by driving the bushing and handle in proximal direction to the eye of the tool head. Complementary double tapers on the tongue and the corresponding interior surface of the bushing are pressed into engagement when the bushing is driven into place in the tool head. The tapers on the tongue hold the bushing longitudinally in place on the handle. Spacers having the double tapered shape and/or flexible shims are provided for expanding the bushing to adapt it to fit larger eyes and to accommodate manufacturing tolerances of the tool eye hole. The cross sections of the eye and bushing are ovate with the major axis of such oval shape perpendicular to a striking face on said head.

An all-metal hammer, in which the head is joined to a lightweight, high-strength handle constructed of a suitable metal alloy such as high-strength aluminum by a metal adapter doweled to the handle end and secured to the hammer head by a mating taper, with a shoulder at one end of the adapter and a locking ring secured to the handle at the other end producing a very secure retention of the hammer head. Two different forms of the adapter are used, one consisting of adapter sleeve halves pinned to each other and to the hammer handle end by a dowel extending through both adapter halves and the handle end. In the second version, the adapter is of one-piece construction, with the handle being threadably received into a threaded bore formed in the adapter, a dowel extending through the handle end and the adapter to prevent the handle from being rotated out of the threaded bore.