Seeking Advice Hanging Double Bit Axe

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Godfree515

Joined
Feb 28, 2020
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Hello Everyone!
First time poster, wasn't sure where to ask something like this but this seemed like an appropriate place. It is my first time hanging an axe so I am a complete novice in this but I wanted to try to undertake it myself. I am working on re-hanging my grandfathers True Temper double bit cruiser axe by Kelly Works and had a few questions!

I purchased the handle from House Handles, and while it fit okay I definitely had a bit of adjusting to do. I've got the axe mostly seated all the way but there is the tiniest gap on the bottom of the head.

1) Is this much of a gap enough to warrant removing the head again and shaving off a little bit more? It's so close I'm almost worried if I take any more off it would be too loose.






2) Also, I've seen people leave handles "proud" of the head, is there a reason for this or should it be cut flush? Also what looks right rust is actually just some dirt from use.



Someone definitely bashed on the top of it as it's a little mushroomed and I had to file the inside of the eye.

3) The wedge that house handles provided also seems a bit on the small side to me, shouldn't this fill out more of the top of the eye of the axe than this?

This would definitely leave a gap on either side, not sure how important that is but I would much prefer less/no gap. Any suggestions?



4) They provided both a wooden and metal step wedge, should both be used? Just the wood one? Does it not matter?

Thanks all for the time and looking! Can't wait to get this re-hung so I can use it again.
 
Hello, and welcome to the board!

Looks like you are doing a great job so far on hanging your grandfathers axe!!!!

1. I don't see too much of a gap in your first picture - in fact, I don't see a gap at all - and also, there is definitely no risk of the tongue being too loose in your eye there as you still have quite a bit of shoulder left, so you have tons of meat there if you ever need to hang it lower.

2. mostly personal preference probably. I've heard the argument that if you leave it a little proud - and the the wedge really pounded in there so that the tongue proud of the eye flares out - that it helps lock the head in - and I've also heard that it doesn't matter. I usually cut it down to about a 1/2" proud and then belt sander it down to about 1/4" and call it good.

3. That wedge is a little small for that eye. Hmmm, I usually do like to fill the top of the eye. it probably would be fine - or you could a) make a new wedge that's full length, b) use that wedge plus one or two new pieces that you wedge into the sides to fill the gaps.

4. if you get the wood wedge in there real good and snug, you probably don't need the metal wedge, so it's up to you. You could always add it later as needed.
 
Hello Flint! Thanks for the reply! I appreciate the kind words, I would much rather use his axe than buying one off the shelf, the steel is probably much better than your garden variety axe these days, unless you fork out some $$.

A few comments:

1) There's a bit of light coming through in the top down views so it's not quite 100% seated on the shoulders, wasn't sure if I should shave a bit more to really close that up.

2) I like your style on that! I think I'll do something similar, though I don't own a belt sander so I'll have to improvise. I do think having a little bit proud and flared would help.

3) Not sure if this is a good/bad idea, but I actually have two of those wedges, I could cut both kind of in half measuring so they take up all the space? Perhaps wood glue them together in the middle first? Not sure if that would be better/worse than one solid wedge in the middle and two smaller on either side.

4) I personally like the look of all wood better so I was hoping to avoid it, is it recommended to put a bit of wood glue on the wedge before driving it in?

Thanks so much!
 
1. I guess it depends on how you are getting the head on there. If you are simply sitting the head onto the tongue and it's almost falling down into position, then it might not be seated well enough. Usually you should have to rap on the bottom of the handle pretty good to get the head seated to the point you want it before you put a wedge in it. I'm not sure if you are familiar with this process, but what I usually do, is set the head on the tongue, and then with the head up, tap the bottom of the handle on the ground to get the head started down onto the tongue tighter than you could by hand. then turn the axe over, so the head is now pointing down and with the bottom of the handle up smack the bottom with a mallet - you are supposed to use a wooden mallet, but I use a very big ball pein hammer that works very well for this and hasn't split a handle yet. I usually give it a couple raps, then turn it over and look to see where wood needs to be removed, then and use a drift to tap the handle back out of the head and remove material from wherever it seems to be digging in the most, and then repeat this probably a half dozen times until I'm getting the head down where I want it. Then I make sure the kerf is deep enough to get the wedge down where I want it, and do one final drive and then wedge. if you do that, you should get it seated on there pretty darn close and tight all the way around.
Now, having said that - I did completely fail on my double bit hang attempt last week, so its not always as easy as it sounds.

3. yes, if you had two wedges, I'd cut them both to an equal size so that they meet in the middle and together fill the eye. I would not worry about gluing them together. often when you drive a wedge in it will split in half anyways, so you just drive each half down independently - not one at a time, but alternate hits on them to drive them down evenly.
 
Hello Again Flint,
That is basically exactly how I am doing it! Originally the tongue was very tight from the get go, I could only get about 1/4 of the way through the eye, so I would turn it handle side up and give it a few wacks with my dead blow hammer (soft face) then remove the head and remove where I saw rust rubbing onto the tongue since the inside of the eye had some rust on it. I repeated this probably 7 or 8 times so far to get it to where it is. Now when I slide it on It goes about 3/4 through the eye before I have to hammer the rest. Just wasn't sure if it was worth doing it once more time, or if it's "close enough". Just trying to avoid doing more harm than good as I had to whack it pretty good to get it where it's sitting now.

Awesome! That's exactly what I'll do then for the wedge, I'll forgo the metal wedge all together, I plan on tapping them in with a rubber mallet, possibly my little 1.5lb deadblow. Do you suggest putting any wood glue near the tip before driving it in?
 
Great, sounds like you got the process down.

I personally have never used wood glue and probably will not. I just got done rehanging some of my first axe hangs which I looked back on and wanted to improve upon, so you never know when you might want to pull a head off, and wood glue will make that a huge pain. Some people use glue, but many don't. I don't think you need it.
 
I agree with flint on everything he said. The little bit of a gap at the bottom won’t hurt but there is plenty of wood at the shoulder to take it down farther. As far as cutting flush or leaving proud for me it depends on my plans for an axe. If I will be doing mostly splitting I don’t want much if any sticking up proud for fear of it getting damaged coming through the piece of firewood. I have glued wedges, put them in dry, and put them in with blo. I don’t worry much about the soft wedges like what house provides but when I make my own hardwood wedges I glue them in because they will back out.
 
Sounds like you're on the right track so far! After you finish this one up you'll be searching for the next project, and the next, and the next! That's awesome it was your grandfather's axe!

I am still a novice myself, but for what's it's worth a couple tips from my experience; the metal step wedges should not be needed. If anything they do more damage than good. Glue should not be needed. I usually give my wedges a couple light coats of BLO and let them dry before final install. I also try to get some BLO inside/outside the tongue before final assembly as well. Not sure if everyone does this, but in my mind it will help preserve the wood inside the head longer. You can keep applying BLO to the handle time and again after you've started using it, but can't go back and apply to the wedge or tongue, so do it while you can in my opinion.

As for the wedge itself, a 2 piece wedge would work just fine. You'll want it to fill the top/length of the eye completely to minimize any potential movement when you start using it. I learned to spend the time shaping the ends of my wedges to contour to the curves of the eye. I found it works well to shape the wedge to the eye of the head with the head off so you can see how it's going to fit. Also the depth the wedge is going to go into the kerf is important. I believe 2/3 of the way down the head is what most folks seem to go by. This part can get tricky, as you have to take into consideration the thickness of your wedge as it relates to the thickness of the kerf slot, and how much gap needs soaked up between the tongue and head when you start driving the wedge in. If you have too thick of a wedge, it's not going to go in as far as you'd like. This is why I believe it's important to spend the time to shape the wedge to the eye, and also test fitting it into the kerf. I found that the wedges provided with handles are sometimes just not going to work out. I started making my own out of pre cut 3' long pieces of poplar available at Home Depot. They are 1/4" thick, and can be had in 1,2,3,4" wide pieces. They work great for making your own wedges, as the ones provided just aren't long enough in my opinion alot of the time. Hope my suggestions help, sorry for the lengthy post! Post pics up when you get it done!
 
I want to thank every for their time helping me with this, I took a little bit of everything into consideration. The 2x wedges worked out really well and I cut them just larger than the eye so they're pretty snug. Definitely probably not as accurate as what you seem to do TJLyon! I'm definitely going to skip the metal wedge, but I have 2 of them just in case. I really like the 2-tone look of the wedge and tongue on top as well. I left it a little proud but chamfered the edges of the tongue and wedges.

The Kerf is right around the 2/3 mark in the eye, give or take. I didn't get any BLO on the wedges or tongue before installation, but there is a little gap between the eye and tongue so I made sure to get some down in there. I'm probably going to keep oiling it once a week for a month, once a month for a year, and then yearly, the wood really soaked it up quick. Of course the BLO brought out the imperfections where I could have sanded the handle better... but adds character!

I took 4 or 5 test whacks on an old log I had outside and there was no wiggle so I think mission accomplished! Not too bad for my first time!

And now... pictures!

These were after my test swings but before I put on the BLO, they really show the chamfering well on the top and the fit though





Just some post-BLO pictures of the fitment.








Thank you all again!
 
Nice fit. I like to thin out the handle taper so there is a very gradual shoulder. I want my head to be wider than my handle otherwise the handle will abrade when going through wood.
 
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