Axe handles

[se7enthdevil]

I shape with a draw knife

 

perhaps whittling is the wrong word in this instance. rather than use it for splitting logs by hammering it in the end i'll be using it to slice off chunks of timber that are in the way either for use on the lathe or flattening a surface so that rough bits can sit flatter on the ripsaw so they can be cut without rocking back and forth.

 

what word can i use for that description?

[bolla]

Heres a nice guide to making an axe handle https://www.bodgers.org.uk/bb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=825

[hedgesparrow]

Very much agree with Graham. Only things to add - if you want something UK grown then ash is the toughest and has a natural spring which takes the sting out of your hands. One day though the fibres will just snap off after enough punishment, not because they are rotten but just due to there being a limit to how many impacts they can take. It takes a long time though.

 

Hickory has similar properties to ash but lasts longer.

 

Privet is apparently similar to hickory if you ever find a suitable bit.

 

Making it, as per Graham but rather than whittling I do what I was shown by Bruce Wilcock who is a smith who makes tools for a living. He works at a vice and uses a horse rasp, first to round up the eye, then once fitted to shape the haft. The eye won't always be perfectly straight but you can correct for this by the side you rasp down, periodically looking down the handle to check by eye and also checking the swing. This can also correct any slight twist between head and handle. Finishing is with the fine side of the rasp, then wire wool and wax, applied with the handle warm. With hickory you can warm it over the forge which singes off the fibres, making it easy to rub off the charcoal. It also crystallises the sugars, turning the surface a uniform satin black as the wax is rubbed in to the warm surface with the wire wool. The same trick works with cherry and other prunus species; ash just goes a muddy brown.

 

Alec

+1 when i fited handles for british rail we used to burn the end that went into the head tapping it on taken a bit off burning a bit more untill it fitted snug. then put in a wedge. and tap in and then soak in a water but for 24hrs for it to swell good as new. have a number of tools i need to rehandle need to find some decent ash.

[hedgesparrow]

Heres a nice guide to making an axe handle https://www.bodgers.org.uk/bb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=825

 

thanks for link need to find some nice ash think i know of some need to speak to log man

[peatff]

I made a little hatchet handle from some Beech which was the frame of an old sofa someone had dumped. An axe is something big that needs two hands to wield, a hatchet is for chopping a few sticks or shaping wood before I whittle something.

 

[jamesd]

Is it best to make the handle out of a log that has been split into quarters or from a sapling tree that is about the right diameter?

[se7enthdevil]

in theory that's how it should be done.

 

bodgers always used to split trees that were only 8-12" for use in the chair industry as that wood had superior strength. i would have thought the same would apply to handles.

[H-A]

Have bought a few heads and re-handled them, boot sales for a couple of quid.

 

I used a nice straight bit of ash, also changed the shape of the heads a little.

 

Made leather guards like Gransfors Bruks.

 

H-A

[jamesd]

Have bought a few heads and re-handled them, boot sales for a couple of quid.

 

I used a nice straight bit of ash, also changed the shape of the heads a little.

 

Made leather guards like Gransfors Bruks.

 

H-A

 

They look great, did you use a thin bit of ash, roughly the same thickness you wanted or split a larger piece?

 

How did you make the leather guards as well please?

[White Noise]

Anything larger than the above then I will weld a solid metal shaft to the axe head .