What did you rehang today?

I don't know who made the axe for Craftsman or even the time frame for the single oval axes. My hunch is that they're post WWII just because of the condition I see them in.

Fulton was Sears Roebuck's house brand going back to the turn of the century and continuing into the 1940s.
 
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Those both look like work-ready choppers!

The handle on the new one is nice. The flats look deliberate and clean.
 
I finished this one up today..old tassy pattern kelly dandenong

found a nice handle
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grain is in correct direction and runs uninterrupted the whole length of the handle.
this started life as a link 32" handle. I would not buy one without viewing / picking my own, but there are good ones to be had.
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I gave the bottom of the handle a "fawns foot" I think its called?
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after i finished shaping the handle I put one coat of "teak" stain on it and sanded off the parts of the grain that raised up, which left many of the imperfections leftover from shaping the handle visible. I then put on a couple coats of BLO.

I could have removed the marks but I thought it gave it a little bit more character and more of a hand fitted / old world quality look. it is smooth to the touch. I think its more fitting of how the head looks anyway.
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cheers
 
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That looks great! I like how you took it all the way down to the shoulder. Did you also have to reduce the size of the shoulder? I think axes always look so much cleaner and nicer when they don't have a huge unnecessary shoulder. It's best to take them down to just big enough to do their job.

That whole axe just says, "LET ME CHOP!"
 
Thanks :) Yea there was quite a lot of work involved in getting it seated right down on the shoulder. I needed to seat it right down there in order for there to be no gaps around the bottom rear corners of the eye. Plus the head is really deep. I didn't chop anything off the top of the handle.
I like a smooth transition from the lines of the haft up into the eye. I don't like a bulge there :) I think i left just enough meat on the shoulder that it could be moved down / re seated if ever needed. yes I reduced the size of the shoulder though.
handle started out as a normal "link" branded 32" handled which i think may be fairly common in the US.
edit; heres a pic pre fitting
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DeadboxHero said:






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Finally a nice vintage axe, I have a feeling that you are going to love that DB. Took me a bit to warm up to mine, but boy does that axe do work. The profiles on them are nothing like a SB and there is something about swinging such a semetrical tool. Looking forward to a review.
 
hey, i dont have any better pictures of it but i have a small fire axe, it wont stay on the handle, http://imgur.com/JZE4YI7 as you can see, there isnt much shoulder left and this was last month, since then i rehung it down another quarter inch so there's barely ANY shoulder. i really dont want to pin this, even it it's the only way to fix it, i might soak it in some linseed and see if it helps, but what if that squeezes out too? by the way its about a sixteenth proud of the eye
 
looks to me like its still got a substantial "hump" on the shoulder below the head. id say it could be moved down more
 
keep in mind that i'v worked on it since then, and its a 2 and a half pound head so you know the scale, there's about 1/4 of shoulder left before the curve starts, i guess i only have about half of that to work with. it also has a metal wedge to give you an idea of how stubborn it is. im so hesitant because it has the original handle
 
Hard to say without seeing what you are currently working with. Any chance of an updated pic?
I would say that if its slipping upwards then you need a bigger/ more wedge though.
Even if the bottom is seated perfectly with 99% fitment/contact around the bottom of the eye; if above that is too loose then its never going to be a good job. The only way to tighten up the top part would be to wedge it more.
You are saying its slipping upwards, not downwards, correct?
 
Try some Swel-lock on the wedge. There are some other tricks but they require more than 1/16" of protruding haft.
 
maybe, if i see some i'll be sure to pick it up, i know you guys arent gonna like this, but i used a door shim for my wedge, they'v worked out on bigger axes, i guess they dont work too well on small axes, they dont slip out, they just compress, thanks for all the suggestions
 
Agent_H--I really like the shape of the top haft in your last post. Both of these hangs are going to be very clean, with minimal haft swell below the eye (the way all axes should be hung).
 
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