Axe restoration thread

[rarefish383]

Almost stopped a while ago, Now the snow flakes look like snowballs. All the ground is white, pavement is just wet.

 

[dancan]

Here's a pic from the 50's showing a double bit with a thin handle and a big palm swell .

 

[dancan]

Doesn't show , here's the link

http://www.novastory.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/digphotos/id/3359/rec/397

 

[Talus]

Jeff Page, those are some pretty axes. I am wondering on those that have such pretty wood, if you concern yourself with grain orientation, or do you figure they won't be used for much chopping? Or are all those woods good for axe work?

Depends on the job. Some pieces are display only, with grain not a factor. For hard use axes parallel grained hickory is great, although one can get the best of both worlds by laminating a wood like mesquite or acacia.

 

[Talus]

I agree, hardware store hickory handles are fat and a crapshoot. But most folks don't care. Here are a couple just out of the shop. The degree of polish and shine is up to the customer; I do what they want. For my own display pieces, I experiment constantly.

 

[svk]

I'm still alive. We narrowly missed the major accidents along I-78 in Pennsylvania. Luckily my map app dumped us off the freeway before the traffic backed up. We're running quite late but so far we are in one piece.

 

[Multifaceted]

We'll keep pressing on. I'm about an hour south of you and it's still rain here!

That was because I flipped it with each coat so I would get the bottom done evenly without dripping stuff in my eyes. A couple picks up it's on correct. That's actually a sacrificial handle for using the torch. I was planning on trying my hand at making an Ash haft from scratch, with octagonal grip. My friend that owns the Gunshack is an accomplished wood worker and stock maker. He said if I could find some Dogwood to try it. He said it's flexible and strong. He used it for wooden mallet handles. I just cut up a big Dogwood into turning blanks for my BIL. What do you think of the Dogwood for a short throwing handle? It wouldn't get much striking force.

I got ya, wasn't doubting you, just thought it was odd. The grain on that piece of ash looks like a winner, and the rough shaping has me excited. How do you plan to sculpt it, do you have a draw knife? No input on dogwood for striking handles, I know it's dense, but I'd have to take someone else word for it on its flexibility. For a short thrower it probably wouldn't matter much anyway.

@svk - glad you made it back down south safely. We got about 2" of wet snow, luckily we made it home from dad's just as it started to stick, then didn't leave the house after that.

 

[Multifaceted]

I agree, hardware store hickory handles are fat and a crapshoot. But most folks don't care. Here are a couple just out of the shop. The degree of polish and shine is up to the customer; I do what they want. For my own display pieces, I experiment constantly.

Nice looking work, again! And yes, I agree, while I still rely on pre-made handles for now, they are always too thick. I've got a Link brand handle that I hand selected for straightness and grain orientation, but it's about 1.5" thick, it's like they started with 6/4 blanks and turned it just long enough round it out. I typically spend about an hour using a drawknife, spokeshave, and rasp thinning them out to an acceptable and usable contour.

 

[dancan]

When you blow up the pics you'll see that the they've whipped the helve shoulder to protect against overstrike , snare wire and mechanics wire were commonly used in my area .

 

[svk]

I got ya, wasn't doubting you, just thought it was odd. The grain on that piece of ash looks like a winner, and the rough shaping has me excited. How do you plan to sculpt it, do you have a draw knife? No input on dogwood for striking handles, I know it's dense, but I'd have to take someone else word for it on its flexibility. For a short thrower it probably wouldn't matter much anyway.

@svk - glad you made it back down south safely. We got about 2" of wet snow, luckily we made it home from dad's just as it started to stick, then didn't leave the house after that.

I was on my way up. We got here around 1:20 this morning. Did sleep well after that white knuckle drive though.

 

[rarefish383]

I got ya, wasn't doubting you, just thought it was odd. The grain on that piece of ash looks like a winner, and the rough shaping has me excited. How do you plan to sculpt it, do you have a draw knife? No input on dogwood for striking handles, I know it's dense, but I'd have to take someone else word for it on its flexibility. For a short thrower it probably wouldn't matter much anyway.

@svk - glad you made it back down south safely. We got about 2" of wet snow, luckily we made it home from dad's just as it started to stick, then didn't leave the house after that.

Small hand plane and rasp. Keep whittling till it feels good. Got plenty more if I goof this one up.

 

[Talus]

I'm thinking standard replacement handles have evolved so as to require less and less finishing, and to be as easy as possible on tooling. Personally, I'm all about chunky, but not in an axe handle

As my hands get older, they hurt more, and pain is the factor most determining of haft-shaping technique. Enter the BFG.

 

[rarefish383]

Jeff and Clarence, thanks for inspiring me to make my own handle. It's turning out OK. I'll have pics tonight. I'm covered in saw dust so I can't get to the computer. I got my head a little off center to the haft, but had plenty wood to get it straight. Rasping by hand I kept keeping it even but off center. I took it out on the band saw and think I got it straight. We will see?

 

[Multifaceted]

Inspiration, motivation, perspiration. That's how things get done!

 

[rarefish383]

Up date. That piece of Ash firewood didn't look big till I started to whittle it down.

I still have to thin it ALOT, but I kind of like the profile. Going to try and put the octagonal touch on it. That's the Plumb head that I polished then browned. When I polished it I got the eye a little thin on one side, so it was hard trying to match the wood up tight. The two sides of the eye were a little different. Should be able to finish it tomorrow, Joe.

 

[svk]

http://tennhickory.com/index.shtml

These guys look promising but I couldn't find any prices.

 

[rarefish383]

Put a couple hours worth of rasp work on the haft, still has a ways to go, Joe.

 

[Multifaceted]

That looks nice, Joe! It looks more black than brown in the photo. I think if you wedge that sucker on there from the top good enough, the flat shoulders might not be an issue.

 

[Multifaceted]

Thanks again to, Joe @rarefish383 for giving me this old no-name Michigan head. It's about 3.8 lb, so I decided to make it into a proper fallers axe. I've posted some progress before, but here are the finished results:

 

[svk]

Excellent as always. Is that a homemade handle too?