Axe handle making, modifications, repair and more

[Ernest DuBois]

Speaking of delaying our gratification, I've tarred my handle on this kirves of Finland strung up now curing in the hay loft. It might be handleable come spring-time with any luck.

 

[Yankee Josh]

Almost have this one finished;

I was trying to make a slender one and I think I achieved a little too much success! She's a tad thin in the grip. I've got it farther along than this but I ran out of light. Looking forward to getting it finished tomorrow. I'll post it up! Take care!

 

[Yankee Josh]

Got it finished! Quite a few photos with this one. I used scraps that were left from the 41" db haft I made for the plumb Puget sound falling axe.
Here's my first pic;

Here I had hung it and had just cut the excess off the swell.

Here it is finished without oil;

And all done;

I have to say I'm pretty pleased with it. Even thought it's thin the swell is plenty large enough and it feels good to swing it. Also it has a full 2" eye! On a small hatchet like this!? It's awesome that thing is never coming loose! It's a good little chopper. Thanks for checking it out!

 

[Agent_H]

Yankee Josh , that is terrific work on that one!

 

[Yankee Josh]

I've been meaning to try repairing this haft for a long time now. I have need of it so I tackled it. Here's the over- struck haft and the donor below it;

This helve has perfect grain orientation which is perfectly straight grained and an almost perfect fawns foot. So I couldn't scrap it!

Here's some progress.

It was a tight enough fit that friction held it in place so I could sand it to shape prior to gluing. Here's a couple without glue;

And a couple with glue.

I feel really good about this type of repair. A good tight hang will actually help hold this in place. I've got it clamped again now and it seats tighter than it appears in those photos. I'll post er up when it's all finished. Take care!
Edit; I should've done a captive bottom cut. I just thought of it and wish I'd have done that...

 

[FLINT77]

awesome work, and great idea - it seems a shame to scrap a good vintage handle!! reduce, reuse, recycle!

 

[Square_peg]

I think you're asking for trouble with that fix. The wood fibers in that part of a helve are in tension not compression. It will likely fail at the bottom of your 'dutchman'.

 

[Yankee Josh]

I think you're asking for trouble with that fix. The wood fibers in that part of a helve are in tension not compression. It will likely fail at the bottom of your 'dutchman'.

I see your point. It was worth a shot anyhow and I'll let you guys know how it holds up. I was thinking there's enough solid haft behind the repair that it wouldn't be an issue. But I've thought that before and been wrong... I guess if it fails I can always remove a crap ton of wood and hang a Hudson bay pattern on it.

 

[Square_peg]

Or put a front wedge in it.

 

[rjdankert]

translations by Google

Axt selber bauen
----> Build ax yourself

I - Create ax handle

II - ax pierce

III - Sharpen ax

Bob

 

[ithinkverydeeply]

Got it finished! Quite a few photos with this one. I used scraps that were left from the 41" db haft I made for the plumb Puget sound falling axe.
Here's my first pic;

Here I had hung it and had just cut the excess off the swell.

Here it is finished without oil;

And all done;

I have to say I'm pretty pleased with it. Even thought it's thin the swell is plenty large enough and it feels good to swing it. Also it has a full 2" eye! On a small hatchet like this!? It's awesome that thing is never coming loose! It's a good little chopper. Thanks for checking it out!

Beautiful work!

 

[TRfromMT]

Those wedges in the second video looked a little rough!

 

[Yankee Josh]

My procrastination means I have some pretty deep checking. But I can work around I think. I've since roughed out both 31" blanks. Some photos of the first one.

I used my chainsaw to cut that in half this time. It's been seasoning for a year and I wanted it perfectly in half.

I flattened both sides.

And traced out the haft;

And got to work on it!

I knocked the thickness down next;

Then used my large wood rasp.

I then (the horror) switched to my belt sander to smooth it up.

It's still pretty thick and needs a bunch more work. The other one I shaped with just a little more curve but isn't this far along. Anyway been awhile since anyone posted to this thread!

 

[Maine20]

My procrastination means I have some pretty deep checking. But I can work around I think. I've since roughed out both 31" blanks. Some photos of the first one.

I used my chainsaw to cut that in half this time. It's been seasoning for a year and I wanted it perfectly in half.

I flattened both sides.

And traced out the haft;

And got to work on it!

I knocked the thickness down next;

Then used my large wood rasp.

I then (the horror) switched to my belt sander to smooth it up.

It's still pretty thick and needs a bunch more work. The other one I shaped with just a little more curve but isn't this far along. Anyway been awhile since anyone posted to this thread!

Love it! I really want to make a few handles, it’s been a while. Just haven’t hade time lately. Beautiful work!

 

[Yankee Josh]

Love it! I really want to make a few handles, it’s been a while. Just haven’t hade time lately. Beautiful work!

Thank you man! I remember at the start of this thread (I think anyway) you had a bunch of staves drying. You think you'll find some time to make a few?

 

[Maine20]

Still have a bunch of staves. I will definitely make some handles, hopefully soon.

Thank you man! I remember at the start of this thread (I think anyway) you had a bunch of staves drying. You think you'll find some time to make a few?

 

[Zack P]

So is anybody done the 'lightning strike' handle or inlays that are electrically charged so it appears the wood was struck by lightning? Cool af i thought

 

[Malus]

My procrastination means I have some pretty deep checking. But I can work around I think. I've since roughed out both 31" blanks. Some photos of the first one.

I used my chainsaw to cut that in half this time. It's been seasoning for a year and I wanted it perfectly in half.

I flattened both sides.

And traced out the haft;

And got to work on it!

I knocked the thickness down next;

Then used my large wood rasp.

I then (the horror) switched to my belt sander to smooth it up.

It's still pretty thick and needs a bunch more work. The other one I shaped with just a little more curve but isn't this far along. Anyway been awhile since anyone posted to this thread!

That's a beautiful handle! Do you have a head lined up for it? I'm laughing at how similar our handle making processes are, right down to the hewing hatchet. I'll have to post the progress pics of one I just finished. They're eerily like yours (although mostly inside with bad lighting).

 

[VintageAxe]

I see your point. It was worth a shot anyhow and I'll let you guys know how it holds up. I was thinking there's enough solid haft behind the repair that it wouldn't be an issue. But I've thought that before and been wrong... I guess if it fails I can always remove a crap ton of wood and hang a Hudson bay pattern on it.

I'll be curious to see how that holds up. I was thinking about it and (if I read square peg's concerns correctly) can see how it might appear to be under tension, but from a physics standpoint (granted it's been 20 years) by the time the head hits wood, there shouldn't be a lot of force applied to the handle, it should just be inertia driving the head into the wood. Of course end grain gluing isn't as strong as the other way... Yes, very curious to see the report.

 

[VintageAxe]

So on the what did you rehang today thread I posted some pictures of a small competition axe a few days ago and mentioned that I wanted to work on the foot of it with some glue and scrap wood like Josh did a while back. Earlier in the spring I visited a friend who had a Walters axe with the original handle, which unlike most fawn's foot handles is more of a rounded knob. I liked that, tried to do a similar thing with the aforementioned competition axe using some small scraps of cherry I had. I'm super pleased with the results, both visually and the way it feels. It's not perfect (turns out it's tricky doing that much work on a belt sander turned upside down with the throttle lock on) but I'll definitely be doing this kind of thing again.