axe handle

[breffni]

How did the handle making go seven?

[se7enthdevil]

right, after leaving the handle to dry out over the summer i've turned it in to something i'm really pleased with...

 

pic to follow.

[se7enthdevil]

i made mine a bit longer than the original to let physics do more of the work.

 

 

 

what is the best way to fix it to the head???

 

i know you can get wedges but this one was resin bonded to the handle. do i re resin it or go for a tight fit and wedge the hell out of it?

 

 

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[nepia]

When I've bought handles I've kept them in a warm house for a few days to dry and shrink them, planed/chiselled/sanded them to a tight fit, then wedged them. Being kept in a shed re-swells the wood once fitted I believe!

 

Jon

[Gus McWilliam]

As above, but with both wooden and metal wedges. Also once fitted never keep the axe in the house. It doesn't like the change in humidity and temperature.

[se7enthdevil]

well i've got it to a real tight fit and finish sanded it and given the shaft a coat of danish.

 

i may need to resin it as well as wedge it as the difference between the hole one side of the axe head to another is bigger than i would like.

 

 

where can you buy quality wedges for this job then???

[Gus McWilliam]

well i've got it to a real tight fit and finish sanded it and given the shaft a coat of danish.

 

i may need to resin it as well as wedge it as the difference between the hole one side of the axe head to another is bigger than i would like.

 

 

where can you buy quality wedges for this job then???

 

Cut your own wooden wedge and you can get metal wedges from 32 x 32 x 6mm No 5 Axe Wedge - £1.51 - Ray Grahams DIY Store

[agg221]

I wouldn't resin it - a wedge will work fine.

 

If you use a wooden wedge, split a piece off of a nice straight-grained dry piece of oak. It's hard to describe, but you want the sort which is stringy and fibrous, not the sort that snaps off on you. Once it's split, trim it down to a good wedge but leave the surface rough, and drive home and saw off slightly over-length. You can then use it, but try driving it home further in a few weeks - if it won't trim off flush.

 

Metal wedges want to have serrations on them to grip well. Some people also dip them in salt water before fitting to make sure they rust in solid. It's slightly trickier to guess the slot size as you can't trim the wedge off if it's too tight.

 

Be careful about swelling the handle too much - if you swell it, then dry it, it will go loose, so keeping it outside in a shed is the best bet to maintain the same general conditions as it will be used in.

 

Alec

[se7enthdevil]

robinia glows really bright under blacklight

 

 

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[se7enthdevil]

just an update on the handles performance.

 

i've put it through it's paces and i've been given no trouble whatsoever. it's kept outside and just brushes off any weather conditions as well as holding up to the shock of plenty of high speed impacts and not giving me any probs when i embed the axe in the wood and swing axe and lump up and over to use the back of the axe as an impact point letting the weight of the lump split it's self.

 

 

use robinia as it's great stuff...