axe handle

[se7enthdevil]

hi all, at the weekend i snapped my axe handle and wish to make my own replacement so it is less weedy and a bit chunkier for my big hands and hopefully i won't snap it as easily.

 

i don't have any spare ash and wish to know what is the best timber to use out of the options i have.

 

i have some canadian hard maple, greenheart, oak, beech, hornbeam and sycamore.

 

 

it's a large sandvik axe by the way 36" handle.

 

any suggestions???

[Stubby]

Hickory is supposed to be good but you don't have any .....So I would go with the hard rock maple ( rightly or wrongly )

[se7enthdevil]

yes hickory or ash are my first choices but as i say, i have none.

 

if people think maple is good then i'll use that.

[Stubby]

yes hickory or ash are my first choices but as i say, i have none.

 

if people think maple is good then i'll use that.

 

Well all my Fender guitar necks are made from Canadian hard rock maple , quarter sawn to make them very stable . To be very honest I dont know if it would be good for impact stuff but then again I don't have areason why it would not . Try a bit ( see how easily I said Try a bit ! )

[Graham]

I'd cut a piece of willow in preference to your options. Aren't they all a bit short in the grain? Maybe the oak would do.

[H-A]

How big is your axe ?

 

I have just re-handled an Elwell 2 1/2 ib using a "Gransfors Bruk" small forest axe replacement handle, cost about £9.

 

very similar to the original, and made from a nice bit of Hickory.

 

 

 

H-A

[se7enthdevil]

its only a 5lb sandvik with a 32" handle

 

 

i would like the satisfaction of making it myself and can then make it that bit stockier and longer.

[agg221]

The problem with making your own handle out of something which isn't shock resistant is that you end up putting a lot of time and effort into something only for it to break very quickly.

 

Sycamore, beech, maple and hornbeam are definitely short grain and hence not suitable. Oak was always available, but not used which suggests it doesn't hold up very well. That leaves greenheart as previously unavailable and hence probably untried, so if it has to be one of these I would go with greenheart for that reason.

 

If I had the option though I would go for hickory first (lasts longest), then ash, then privet.

 

Alec

[se7enthdevil]

thinking about it i don't think i'll be using sycamore or oak as the "modulus of rupture" or "m.o.r" are a bit low, only 14,000,000+

 

beech and maple actually have more m.o.r. than ash but i don't know the resistance to shock loads.

 

acacia might be obtainable, that would be ok wouldn't it???

[Gus McWilliam]

Iv made some cracking handles out of oak, defo shouldn't be ruled out