Vintage Axe Handle Templates

[Glenn Bailey]

Hey, we can do this! We all have our favorite old original hafts, and many of us have created templates so we can replicate them. We need a way to share! For example, one of my favorites is holding a 44 Rixford Michigan 3lber, at 29". Its the perfect stick for that weight and pattern.

Here is the vision;
we standardize a process to document digitally vintage hafts
establish a way to process that document to a scaled pdf (with details about the head it came on)
find a place on Internet Archive to store the pdfs

For me, the hardest part is translating a picture, for example, to a scaled pdf. I'm not super techie, so I open this up to others who may have more experience. The technology must exist to put a scale onto a photo, then produce a scaled document.

BTW, I hope this generates more attention than my code writing thread (https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/axe-geeks-writing-code.1733484/). Zero replies on that one.

 

[Glenn Bailey]

OK, here is a start.

First, lay down white copy paper on a smooth floor (enough paper to cover the length of the handle).
Next, lay the handle down so the all of the handle has a white background.
Next, position a tape measure along the handle.
Next, click a picture.

Above is a Rixford R48, 4 pounds. If this works, I would probably put those details in the picture so they don't get lost.

Next, crop the picture so it's slightly thinner than the paper in the picture.

Next, (and I haven't done this successfully yet), put the cropped picture in a word processing document.
Next, adjust the size of the picture so 1" on the ruler in the word document equals 1" in the picture.
Next, print!

You should have a life sized picture of the handle, in this case, across 4 pieces of paper.
Tape the paper together in a way that keeps everything square and the tape measure is lined up from page to page.
Cut out your template and you're good to go!!

I'm currently stuck on getting the word processor to spread the picture over 4 pages when printing, so if anyone has any tips, please contribute.

If this works, then someone would only need to take a picture like about (white background with tape measure) to share a template of any handle. Thoughts? Improvements?

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

I make templates by importing the original image into Inkscape, tracing the design, and then using a known measurement on the original as a frame of reference, measure the size of that part in the vector image tracing and do the math to figure how much it needs to scale in which direction to be at 1:1 scale. Then I export the vector as a PNG, convert that to JPG in GIMP (Inkscape doesn't export as JPG), then run the JPG through PosteRazor to get a printable PDF that's 1:1 scale and has a set overlap of my specification between sheets. Then tape together and cut the template out.

 

[Glenn Bailey]

I make templates by importing the original image into Inkscape, tracing the design, and then using a known measurement on the original as a frame of reference, measure the size of that part in the vector image tracing and do the math to figure how much it needs to scale in which direction to be at 1:1 scale. Then I export the vector as a PNG, convert that to JPG in GIMP (Inkscape doesn't export as JPG), then run the JPG through PosteRazor to get a printable PDF that's 1:1 scale and has a set overlap of my specification between sheets. Then tape together and cut the template out.

It's great to know that I'm not the only one thinking that this can happen!

As I think about this more, I see three stages:

A person has a handle that they want to record. I picture all of the amazing pieces that pass through
jblyttle's hands. Is there a simple process he can go through to record the handle before he turns the piece over. That's where I was thinking 'a few pieces of copy paper, a tape measure and a camera' might work. It's all about accessibility for those that have the gold.

The second stage is processing. This is where Gimp comes in. I messed around with Gimp a bit and I think it will work (I run primarily Linux machines, so I don't really know what the other OSs have to offer). I can figure this out for now, but if this becomes a thing, something better can be put in place.

Third stage is transmitting all of these wonderful resources to the everyone. The ideal state is that there is a pdf (or whatever file format makes the most sense to be accessible for most people) that anyone can download, print, and all of the scaling is embedded in the output.

Thanks for your response, Ben. Bladeforums has become desert-like with responses as of late. I'm trying to figure out if this really is as valuable as I think it is, or people just aren't replying to posts overall. I'm happy to put the work in if it's valuable to folks.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

The only thing you need is a good clear, square image of the relevant profile with a ruler in frame for scale, and then the person doing the digital conversion can take it from there.

 

[Glenn Bailey]

The only thing you need is a good clear, square image of the relevant profile with a ruler in frame for scale, and then the person doing the digital conversion can take it from there.

Do you think it's worth the effort to develop a protocol, and then a space for people to access the templates?

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

I mean, it'd be worth it just for your own purposes, even. Ultimately, though, the nicest thing about having templates like that is that you can then digitally alter them to tune them to different heads.

 

[Marcmarc]

First time poster. I'd love to find templates. I have my dad's old Walters. He bought it around the time I was born, so it's about 50 years old. This one is for hanging because of sentimental value.

I just love the shape and size of the handle on this boys axe, especially the knob at the end. I picked a Garant Chainsaw off the shelf at Canadian Tire, and put it back, the handle was the size of a baseball bat and almost as heavy as the head. I have other heads I could hang, but I can't find any handles that rival the Walters.

 

[cityofthesouth]

Not saying I have infinite time but if you guys can get photographs of the tracings of the handle and provide some dimensions I can easily create pdf line art at the correct size. I use adobe products every day and have been using them off and on for 20 years now. It's pretty easy to make those pdfs available through google or something then you can just download and keep for posterity. By the same token, the dimensions are kind of known so it's really a matter of "shape" I think, but it's still an interesting idea.


ETA: Really, I could just create these without pictures. I've been thinking about it for awhile anyway. If someone has a really spectacular vintage example then yeah, post good pics of it.

 

[cityofthesouth]

I did this a long time ago based on some surviving document. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3GS_AgEBpS6RUxnLWNldlV4SFU/view?usp=sharing

These are pretty typical "dimensions" for vintage handles. Minor tweaks here and there can be made to your preference and the length of a handle is pretty easy to adjust. You really only need the bottom third or so of the handle and then adjust the bends to fit. Essentially, you take a box, 2-3/4 inches wide (or 3" if you want a super bendy handle) and however long you want the handle to be and you fit the curves inside that box. I have a few rules that I abide by to create those curves, but they aren't hard to sort out. There was a recent thread where I posted my approach to creating the grip and swell curves. https://bladeforums.com/threads/axe-handle-knob-thread.1750104/page-2

 

[Glenn Bailey]

That's really f-ing cool, thanks for sharing!! I got the impression that this wasn't something folks would be interested in, so I moved on. When you and I were posting about the knobs I started to see subtle differences in my extremely limited vintage handles I had never seen before (thanks for that as well). I have some blanks (from an old, loved tree) for hatchet handles I want to make and I don't have a decent pattern available to me. Also, my wife sews, and in the sewing world, there are patterns for absolutely everything, everywhere! Why not handles?

 

[cityofthesouth]

That's really f-ing cool, thanks for sharing!! I got the impression that this wasn't something folks would be interested in, so I moved on. When you and I were posting about the knobs I started to see subtle differences in my extremely limited vintage handles I had never seen before (thanks for that as well). I have some blanks (from an old, loved tree) for hatchet handles I want to make and I don't have a decent pattern available to me. Also, my wife sews, and in the sewing world, there are patterns for absolutely everything, everywhere! Why not handles?

Somehow I just missed this thread I guess. You're right, why not handles? I suspect they might have been common at one point, I also think there is something sort of organic about an axe handle so preferences and styles were the result of free form. I actually don't really use a pattern when I make mine - just kind of a few rules of thumb and go for it. It's not really an axe handle thing, that's just how I do a lot of things.


Aaaaaanyway. I will work on a couple patterns. I have 4 blanks sitting at home mocking me from the corner while I remodel a bathroom (finally finished!!!) and I've been wanting to use those to really iron out my preferences for a couple handle patterns.

 

[Glenn Bailey]

Somehow I just missed this thread I guess. You're right, why not handles? I suspect they might have been common at one point, I also think there is something sort of organic about an axe handle so preferences and styles were the result of free form. I actually don't really use a pattern when I make mine - just kind of a few rules of thumb and go for it. It's not really an axe handle thing, that's just how I do a lot of things.


Aaaaaanyway. I will work on a couple patterns. I have 4 blanks sitting at home mocking me from the corner while I remodel a bathroom (finally finished!!!) and I've been wanting to use those to really iron out my preferences for a couple handle patterns.

I'm sure you're right regarding patterns not being useful beyond a certain point. Having done some, but not a ton, of work with wood, I know you follow piece you're working with. Maybe this all comes back to the knob for me when I think of the hatchet handles I'm envisioning. Thanks COTS, this is really helpful to think about.

 

[cityofthesouth]

OK here ya go. A couple points here.
-I just traced a picture of my handle so it may not be the final thickness, however this pdf is 30x2.75" to show how the handle fits within a 2.75" box and so it will print out life size. I suspect many vintage handles would have fit into something even smaller. I kinda go for the curves though, you know.
-Second, the person using the template has to adjust the tongue to the axe they are working on. This Old Yank has a HUGE, but relatively shallow eye.
-If you compare this to the Rail Road specs you can see that you keep the tongue flat to the bottom if you want a straighter handle with a harsher hook to the grip/swell, you raise the tongue upward toward the back of the handle and let the belly sag down if you want more curve. Mine is sorta in the middle. That makes it curvy but lets the top half of the handle be fairly straight. Hopefully this makes sense. I'll make versions of each and maybe then it will be more obvious.
-Clearly, I make the swell a little larger than historical. Just make it smaller if you want it smaller.
-I don't go crazy like the Rail Road specs. I make my handle ROUGHLY 1 inch wide by 1-1/2 inches deep and basically egg shape in profile. If you want to get down to 32nds, be my guest. However, the handle should grow slightly in both dimensions toward the swell.

PDF Link https://drive.google.com/file/d/11kWO3iaWgME6v8StgtDV0A0VIX2fsoMQ/view?usp=sharing hopefully someone finds it useful. Of course if you do, POST THEM PICS!