I was gonna froe it out!

[Matthew Arnold]

That looks stunning Pat. What oil/varnish/wax did you use?

[MATTMOSS]

Looks good

Are you sure this is your first time?

[Pat Ferrett]

Yep first time probably not got the grain running in the correct direction and a load of other stuff but then Im not worried if it only last a year or 2.

The finish is Briwax Matty:thumbup1:

[Pat Ferrett]

Cant belive you aint got an axe Tone! so send me your address and Ill send you this one, picked it up this morning at the boot sale for 2 quid, head on upside down and the wrong way round so sorted it out in between other jobs.

[s.varty]

Very impressive:thumbup1:

[Pat Ferrett]

Very impressive:thumbup1:

 

Cheers

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Cant belive you aint got an axe Tone! so send me your address and Ill send you this one, picked it up this morning at the boot sale for 2 quid, head on upside down and the wrong way round so sorted it out in between other jobs.

 

thats a thing of Beauty Pat:001_cool:

 

Man of many talents you are, shall look forward to some time in the woods this summer old school style:thumbup1:

 

 

I have the best mates:001_cool:

[agg221]

Nice job on shaping the handle - the grain runs virtually perfectly. I was shown hammer making by a blacksmith on Shetland, one of the last people to have had an industrial forging apprenticeship, and I made a few hammers with him. Handles are usually made in hickory or ash, as they take the regular bending type impact without splitting. Hickory does it almost forever, ash does it for a long time and eventually lets go. Apparently privet is also worth hanging on to for handles if you ever run across a decent bit without knots, say from the base of a hedge.

 

We did all the shaping with a horse rasp, and having done it, I bought one for myself (available from a farrier's suppliers) for the same job and have rehandled axes, adzes, froe, hammers etc, either that I've made or came originally from my grandfather's shed. It's a really good tool for rapid freehand shaping of this type, used diagonally across the grain. It has a coarse side and a fine side so it can leave a reasonable finish. Hickory, and coincidentally cherry and other prunus species, have a high sugar content, so one option for finishing is to flash them through a fire, then give a quick rub with wire wool. This singes off all the rasped fibre ends which rub away as charcoal, and caramelizes the sugars, leaving a rich, dark finish.

 

Alec

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Nice job on shaping the handle - the grain runs virtually perfectly. I was shown hammer making by a blacksmith on Shetland, one of the last people to have had an industrial forging apprenticeship, and I made a few hammers with him. Handles are usually made in hickory or ash, as they take the regular bending type impact without splitting. Hickory does it almost forever, ash does it for a long time and eventually lets go. Apparently privet is also worth hanging on to for handles if you ever run across a decent bit without knots, say from the base of a hedge.

 

We did all the shaping with a horse rasp, and having done it, I bought one for myself (available from a farrier's suppliers) for the same job and have rehandled axes, adzes, froe, hammers etc, either that I've made or came originally from my grandfather's shed. It's a really good tool for rapid freehand shaping of this type, used diagonally across the grain. It has a coarse side and a fine side so it can leave a reasonable finish. Hickory, and coincidentally cherry and other prunus species, have a high sugar content, so one option for finishing is to flash them through a fire, then give a quick rub with wire wool. This singes off all the rasped fibre ends which rub away as charcoal, and caramelizes the sugars, leaving a rich, dark finish.

 

Alec

 

 

awesome post, some old skills given there:thumbup1:

[lyons e]

I decided today to try and make a handle for one of the small axe heads I have laying around in the shed. I split a piece of cherry with the froe I made and fitted the head, then formed the shape of the handle with a billhook and a sanding disc on the grinder.

Going to do another tomorrow this time Im going to try a piece of Yew wood, Ill post a few pics in the hope it inspires some of you that maybe have'nt had a go to do so.

BTW this was the first handl I have made from scratch and it took about 45 mins.

 

Think that looks really good ,

 

 

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