Wrapping and Axe Handle

[transmaster]

 

[sharp image]

 

[gregm32768]

Straight hafts like those shown are much easier to wrap than an axe handle. I found using grapevine and west country rope service helps keep the loops together better- they tend to slip away from the larger portion of the haft's shoulder and become loose. Using a tabby weave around tensioning loops on the leading and trailing edges of the haft keeps the loops together and not slipping over one another. Since axe heads tend to be only slightly larger than the haft thickness, using smaller paracord vs larger is helpful. The wrap shown on the OP's video uses fairly thick paracord which works on a maul but will tear quickly when used on an thinner profile axe.

I find wrapping the haft reduces damage to the haft from abrasion and a degree of impact when the wood splits oddly and leaves splinters and/or bark/wood for the haft to strike. Overstrike is what it is.. wrapping isn't a fix for that alas.



Here is a wrap on a maul with straight-haft. The tensioning loops on the leading and trailing faces of the haft help keeps the loops together and not slipping over one another as they are damaged. The lower image shows "west country" service (as per ABOK) which tends to keep the loops from separating. It also has the advantage that the wrap proceeds from the haft up to the head, both ends wrapping around the haft for the overhand knot. On a straight haft the wrapping tends to stay in place, particularly after painting it a few times with BOL.

Here is a michigan pattern axe I just redid recently, not used enough for damage. This is an experiment to use a simple spiral wrap from head, up over the shoulder, down to the terminating point and secured by the tensioning loops which are woven in, then pulled tight and knotted up near the head. The goal being to pull the loops on both sides of the shoulder up onto it, so they stay tight.

Here is my Council Tool 5lb splitting axe, with damage showing. This is also a simple spiral wrap done like the michigan axe above. As can be seen the front face is taking damage, which is pushing one side of the tensioning loop back around the haft, but the loops are still tight and not slipping over one another or moving down the shoulder. I think the next time I do it, the tensioning loop should swap sides, perhaps with an overhand knot, every few loops. Every other loop would probably add too much bulk.

As damage accumulates the paracord starts to fray but tends to not break until its really bad. I had experimented with surveyors twine but that frayed and parted very quickly.

 

[Blue Sky]

I have started using bank line as a wrap on sticks and hawks. My impression fwiw is that it seems pretty durable, more so I expect than paracord. It is also is very sticky/grippy and less prove to sliding around. On my maul I just just use several layers of the heaviest duct tape I have and replace as needed. It takes a beating at times, so being easier to replace is better imo and it works well enough. I don’t miss that much…

 

[transmaster]

Here is what to use. It holds up my amateur radio antennas and makes for permanent boot strings.

https://thewireman.com/product-category/antenna-materials/rope/

 

[Brent Halverson]

I don't have to wrap my axe handles because I am good enough at using the axe that I do the chopping and splitting with the steel part of the axe, not the wood part.

 

[gregm32768]

The win with wrapping is to protect the haft when the split goes weird and leaves wood underneath or alongside which the haft strikes and/or scrapes against. Unless you're good enough that you never let the head of the axe go further further than the length of its bit past the edge of the wood. I've overstruck a few times where the bit wasn't significantly further into the round past the bark, but when it split the bark didn't, leaving a ring under for the haft to strike.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

The win with wrapping is to protect the haft when the split goes weird and leaves wood underneath or alongside which the haft strikes and/or scrapes against. Unless you're good enough that you never let the head of the axe go further further than the length of its bit past the edge of the wood. I've overstruck a few times where the bit wasn't significantly further into the round past the bark, but when it split the bark didn't, leaving a ring under for the haft to strike.

I refer to those as "karate chops" -- where the split makes a little crossways ledge sticking out right in the way of the haft. I suspect that the extremely wide bit on Eastern European "all purpose" axes, with their VERY thick splitting geometry, was intended to help prevent this, though care would have to be taken to land the blows on the part supported by the eye because they're not very deep.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I don't have to wrap my axe handles because I am good enough at using the axe that I do the chopping and splitting with the steel part of the axe, not the wood part.

But shit happens, and I doubt you're as perfect as you think you are or claim to be.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

But shit happens, and I doubt you're as perfect as you think you are or claim to be.

Or not splitting much wood. Power of numbers and all that. Any person doing much splitting and not putting wear on their handles is either going very slowly to meticulously get every swing perfect or just isn't splitting very often. Either way, not much work is getting done.

 

[Square_peg]

I don't have to wrap my axe handles because I am good enough at using the axe that I do the chopping and splitting with the steel part of the axe, not the wood part.

This is possible if you make it your practice to always strike the near side of the round. Your splitting block should be set out in the open where it's easy to move around the work as you go. And you should only work with axes and mauls that are adequately thick at the eye.

 

[Steely_Gunz]

I don't have to wrap my axe handles because I am good enough at using the axe that I do the chopping and splitting with the steel part of the axe, not the wood part.

Ironically, I find the much smaller axes that are put to less full power strikes more apt to warrant a protective wrap/guard at the handle junction.

A small axe used to baton through a piece of wood is more likely to suffer drag/friction at the handle/head junction. Sometimes it's prudent to protect what we can when we can.

On my larger axes, I hope that in another 35 years of swinging a larger blade I can get to the point where I don't make a mistake and wang my handle into a piece wood from time to time. It seems like no matter what I do, given enough time, stress, and fatigue, I tend to make a boo-boo.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

This is possible if you make it your practice to always strike the near side of the round. Your splitting block should be set out in the open where it's easy to move around the work as you go. And you should only work with axes and mauls that are adequately thick at the eye.

Even when striking the near side of the log, if you don't have a bit of edge extending off the side of the log at the striking point you can still get "karate chops". I've found it often happens on pine and spruce, of all things.

 

[Brent Halverson]

But shit happens, and I doubt you're as perfect as you think you are or claim to be.

The first handle on my splitting maul lasted 45 years and split countless cords of firewood. I don't even remember why I put a new handle on it, I may have gotten bored. I may make another handle for it this year that is more thin in cross section. It is very easy for me to hit a target with it, and I can hit the same spot more than once if I have to, and I can fold dimes in half if you lay one on a log. We used firewood we cut and split through the energy crisis of the 70s, and sold extra cords for money. Growing up splitting wood, we did tricks for entertainment, splitting two pieces of firewood at once stacked on one another, splitting them with a golf-club style swing, splitting firewood just where it lay without standing it on end in different ways. I am not a hipster who just picked up an axe after they became trendy and fashonable thanks to the internet. I still have my first splitting maul, it is over 50 years old, my father bought it for me to use as I was the oldest son, so I was the splitter, we never had any gas powered splitter. I would split wood for eight hour days for months on end. Good times. My brother has my father's woods now, and he and I will surely be felling trees, limbing and cutting them up and we will be splitting them up by hand. And we save some wood as blanks for axe handles, I have about a hundred old axe, hatchet and maul heads laying around to make handles for.

 

[Steely_Gunz]

Well OK then. Barring literally having to split wood for money and growing up in a family where using an axe is serious business, I guess the rest of us will either have to wrap our handles or "get good, scrub"

I applaud skill but I don't think there is a fair dichotomy between splitting wood as a way of life and wanting to protect ones handle from over strikes in case said person was not doing circus tricks with an axe to get through the gas shortage of the Carter administration.

Personally, I'm a mortal, and I screw up and get tired when I swing an axe. Sometimes I wrap my handle to protect it against that. Sometimes I realize that my mis-swings are going to cost me a handle and some time refitting it down the road. I'm not skilled enough hanging a head to want to do it often, so axes that get hard use while I'm tired get a bit of protection sometimes.

 

[Mick Boardman]

I used a thick piece of buffalo for cover and wrap.

 

[gregm32768]

Sadly that leather wont last unless you're so good that its not needed. Even if you are that good stray splinters or even a tough split you have to work for will tend to cut it up.

 

[Mick Boardman]

Sadly that leather wont last unless you're so good that its not needed. Even if you are that good stray splinters or even a tough split you have to work for will tend to cut it up.

I have had it for a few years and never used it, and I probably won’t. I have some butt ugly axes in the garage I use for whatever work needs done with an axe here. I put the collar on for looks and protection, also provided a nice snugging up grip and should hold up long enough to convince the user that if they continue to swing it, handle damage is just a few more licks away. , and the edge cover for safety, this hunter;s axe is very sharp.

 

[snarkingturtle]

I agree, shit happens. 'Shrapnel' is the term I like (don't remember who gave it to me) for the shards and ledges in the split that intercept and damage the handle. Flipping a stuck axe and log to strike the poll and drive the log onto the blade is something I do a lot, especially with axe cut wood. It is such a handy trick that I can't help myself but it does expose the handle to damage. People have been dealing with this a long time. In an 1865 issue of Canada Farmer there's advice about afixing a tin can lid to protect the handle. I've had good results with rawhide collars. I plan to experiment with ABS or Kydex and I have tried sheet metal guard attached with screws on one axe, which is working so far. I see a few old axes with wire wraps. I've tried using a heat gun to shrink PET pop bottles like shrink tubing but they end up brittle and don't last.

 

[Old Axeman]

While "flipping a stuck axe and log to strike the poll and drive the log onto the blade" does work, it can be a safety risk. 50 years ago in Harrisonburg Va. I was teaching a class at the local University on hand tools and their use in building historic log cabins. One student, who was a know -it-all, was showing this method of splitting to another student while I was distracted helping 2 college girls with their axe holding technique. When he hit the block with the poll of his axe a piece of wood split off of the billet being split and smashed him smack in the middle of his face, breaking his nose and lacerating his face. Another student took him to the hospital. I went back to my hands on instruction with the college girls.