The fad of using exotic Hardwood wedges.

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Oct 2, 2018
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I wanted to bring up another fad right now (and probably one that will last the age of time I feel).. that is using exotic hardwoods to wedge for aesthetic reasons.

It seems that the general consensus on this forum is that using wood which is softer then the handle is the way to go. Softwood will compress and fill the gaps in the grain and bined together with the harder wood more harmoniously. Makes perfect sense!

I was looking through a post on a facebook axe page where someone asked what type of wood you should use to wedge and shockingly very few people mentioned this. I mean less then 20% held this opinion. I don't know if people are more interested in an axe looking cool opposed to working well or perhaps it is ignorance.

Flicking through the collection of photos it seems people are using all sorts of hardwoods, especially bloodwood being very popular right now which comes in on the janka scale 2,900 lbf (12,900 N), absolutely blowing Hickory out of the water.

I am curious if the ratio stays the same (but the component flipped obviously) will it create a similar effect? Say something like the Walnut hardness to Hickory hardness being similar ratio to the hardness of Hickory to bloodwood. Perhaps they will mate in a similar fashion?

Also, In regards to advice I have seen before along the lines of "If it's an old head I would be careful using hardwood wedges because you will likely blow out the sides." Can someone explain what blow out looks like, even better does anyone have a picture of what it looks like? If this happens is the axe still functional or is it gone? Are we talking cracking the eye or stretching the steel a little?
 
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plumb_jersey_crack by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

So obviously it's not finished but here it is hung. I can only guess that the beating it had taken may have induced the crack and my wedging finished the job. I'm going out to pull it off the handle now and see if I can get it welded. I HAVE welded, it doesn't mean I am a welder.
plumb_jersey_hung by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr
I hope this answers your last question. In regards to super hard wedges, I've never had luck with them. My few attempts at Ipe wedges were spat out time and time again. Now I just use fatwood and black walnut.
 
You mostly want there to be a decent amount of difference in hardness so that one of the two undergoes some compression, but with thin-walled eyes you want that compression going inward, so a soft wedge being ideal. This is because too much pressure on the walls of the eye can cause them to split/tear. I've used black locust for wedges an not had trouble, and that's roughly equal hardness to hickory, depending on the species. But usually I'll use poplar or birch.
 
I fell victim to this trend while trying to get some contrast between the handle wood and wedge, mainly for aesthetic reasons, although it wasn't a very exotic hardwood (black locust from my backyard). It kept backing out even when driven down below the top. I rewedged it with cherry and now it's solid. I think the hop hornbeam handle and black locust wedge were lacking in friction because the wedge did not squeeze and conform to the inside of the kerf. Some of this may be because I didn't cut the top of the wedge quite wide enough, but so far the cherry is holding up much better.

I would like to see some pictures of a head which has been "blown out" from wedging with too hard a wood. I've also heard of this, but I don't recall ever seeing one or a picture of one and I would like to.

Edit: I now see A17's post with the picture of a cracked eye from a hardwood wedge. Very interesting.
 
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If your axe has a very thin walled eye, and you drive the wedge in, is the situation that it will either crack or it won't, in which case if it doesn't the only issue you now may have is in the near future the hardwood wedge could start backing out? Does that sound right?? ... The hanger would know instantly if they have ruined the head by using an ultra hardwood wedge? It isn't something you would find out after the axe sees some use?
 
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When I wedge axes I'll usually leave 'em proud for a few weeks to see if it loosens up at all or the wedge weakens its hold as the wood in the eye slowly compresses. If you let it "rest" you can often end up driving the wedge a little deeper before cutting it off. I always mark the depth of the kerf on the wedge so I know how far I have to go before bottoming out. I think in cases where the wedge backs out it's due to that slow, delayed compression and/or the wedge isn't deep enough so there's not enough contact surface. These days I like using a shop press for wedging because the slow and steady push doesn't split the wedge and I can drive a slightly thicker wedge deeper than I could with a mallet while keeping a careful eye on the pressure. An old trick I read recently was to cut your kerf, squeeze it shut in a vise, then cut it again, about 2/3 the depth of the original cut. When unclamped it becomes a slightly wedge-shaped kerf. Makes it easier to get good surface contact between the wedge and the tongue.
 
I believe it's the compressability factor as has been mentioned. I tried to use a white ash wedge with hickory and it backed out immediately. Couldn't drive it in! And then once I tried a red oak wedge with a white ash haft and it backed out after use. I have as yet to try black walnut. As I've mentioned before though I'm having such spectacular results with white(paper) birch that I believe that's my ideal wedge material. The birch is significantly tougher than pine or poplar but soft enough to confirm to imperfections. Here is white birch with hickory; (very good conformity)
15529576803013171695853193847231.jpg
And with green(my green ash trial) ash; 15529577805193838991885752782942.jpg


It's very satisfying to drive the white birch. I don't know if that makes sense to any of you but i can just feel it driving in hard, holding its shape and just doing a great job overall. I may try black walnut once just because I'm curious. I'm interested to hear what other folks have tried!
 
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Im a big fan of fatwood, and only a couple times used walnut but really liked it too. All pretty soft.

Heres a cracked head, the trail crew blew out. TT Flint Edge. I'm not sure what the wedge was, but I'm positive it wasnt anything too exotic. Just whatever came with the handle. I've since welded it back up, but that's for another thread. I think overly hard wood could add to the likelihood but it can happen anyway on a thinner eye.

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I believe it's the compressability factor as has been mentioned. I tried to use a white ash wedge with hickory and it backed out immediately. Couldn't drive it in! And then once I tried a red oak wedge with a white ash haft and it backed out after use. I have as yet to try black walnut. As I've mentioned before though I'm having such spectacular results with white(paper) birch that I believe that's my ideal wedge material. The birch is significantly tougher than pine or poplar but soft enough to confirm to imperfections. Here is white birch with hickory; (very good conformity)
View attachment 1094157
And with white ash; View attachment 1094158


It's very satisfying to drive the white birch. I don't know if that makes sense to any of you but i can just feel it driving in hard, holding its shape and just doing a great job overall. I may try black walnut once just because I'm curious. I'm interested to hear what other folks have tried!

Birch is pretty much perfect for wedges, for reasons similar to why it's the traditional wood for the nibs (side grips) of scythe snaths. Twist-to-tighten nibs are under compression when fully cinched down, and birch does a lovely job of handling it without cracking/splitting. It simply crushes instead.
 
Birch is pretty much perfect for wedges, for reasons similar to why it's the traditional wood for the nibs (side grips) of scythe snaths. Twist-to-tighten nibs are under compression when fully cinched down, and birch does a lovely job of handling it without cracking/splitting. It simply crushes instead.
That's interesting to know about the nibs. It makes perfect sense. I need a few things for my snath, nibs being one of them.

I'm really quite surprised, with as good as birch is for wedges, that nobody mentioned it much(at least not that i saw) . I mean you can't even find white birch wedges anywhere online either. I tried it on a hunch and have been yelling about it ever since! It's incredible! I ripped up some yellow birch the other day and I'm looking forward to trying that out next. If memory serves it's slightly harder than white so maybe it'll be a tad too hard. Anyway I hope everyone tries it because I don't think you'll ever go back once you do. I'll make some more up and mail them to a few people to try if you can't source it locally. If anyone is interested i mean.
 
I've cracked a broad hatchet eye with the poplar wedge that came with the handle. I was driving it hard but I think the eye was harder than it should have been (True Temper).

Lately I've been using elm wedges. The wood has a coarse grain and I think that might help prevent them from backing out.
 
I made some paduk wedges for 2 recent hangs, looked awesome, but they both started backing out. It didn't feel right banging them in either. I Rehung them both with poplar wedges and couldnt be happier.
 
I use poplar more than anything because it's the easiest to get and it works very well. I bought a fat oak wedge years back and it would not go in. I would go in so far, then shoot out like a bullet. I've used mahogany which can work but is easy to shatter while driving it in. I don't use it anymore. I have had good luck with black locust with fresh kerfs, but would not use it if I had gaps to fill. Probably most fruit woods would serve. I think that the choices need to be tough enough to survive the wedging process and softer than the handle material in general. Being somewhat compressible is always better.
 
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