Making of an axe handle

[isawlogs]

  For those of you who would like to make your own handle(s) out of wood for that axe head that is laying around. I have put together a little how too.

   I use what we call here "Ostryer de Virginie" ( Ostrya virginiana ) Its a hard wood also called ironwood. I saw this 4/4 and let dry for two years. Hickory and white ash are also good wood for handles. I am sure that it is not limited to these type of wood, it is what I use.

We will be needing one of these also. It is a Walter brand axe, these axe's where made in Hull Québec.

I have different templates for different lengths and types of axes. For this axe I will be using a 34 inch fawn's foot axe handle template ( we will get back to the fawn's foot later  ;) )

    

  (  I would appreciate any spelling corrections to be brought to my attention in my learning English thread, Merçi.
    I will make a point to come and edit all corrections here as they are brought up    :P )

[WDH]

Good going, Marcel.  I made a custom axe handle out of hickory m(many eons ago).  It was a lot of work, but satisfying.

[Coon]

By the looks of it you got enough material there for a few axe handles.  I'll be watching this thread cuz I know I gotta make few at some point.  Not going to buy any handles because they want nearly the same price as a whole axe.

[isawlogs]

  
  My templates have been made of old axe handles that have been broken or that I have gotten with axe's aquired by different means. If the handle had a nice fit to the axe head, felt good, looked right, I made a templateof it. I am cheap  :-\  so I make my templates out of cardboard, simple and easily available. Hey it works.

 The axe I am using here is a 3lbs axe head.


  Once I have the handle chosen for the axe at hand, I outline the template by carefuly making sure of grain orientation. You would like to have the straightest grain possible. The board should be flat sawn and have no defects where the handle will be made. So there could be knots in the board, only not where you put the template down.

 

  As you can see here I am able to get a smaller axe handle by using the upper part of the board.

   

   You can use anything you have available at this point to cut the template to lenght, I use one of my chainsaws.

   

  Ya I know it's an old one ... I got this band saw on a trade. I made a guy a canoe paddle for it. It works good for cutting blanks out, that is about all it can really do, precision is not it's biggest feature.  ;)

   

 
    We are getting some where now. Here is the template cut out fresh off the band saw.

[Dan_Shade]

I made many axe handles when I was a youngan...  I found a horse hoof rasp to work very well for rounding everything over after the shape is roughed out.

[isawlogs]

 Yes Coon, I can make a few handles out of this board. From start to finish, if I am not the picture taker, holder of whatever... I can get a handle done in about 40 to 50 minutes. Of course that depends on the finish some too.  ;)  This one took almost 2 1/2 hours from start to finish.

  Geting back to business....  First thing to do to the blank is make a refference mark.  ;)

  Mark the center of the blank all the way around. It is a very important step it will alow you to cut the excess wood evenly from all around and have a straight handle.

   

For ruffing out the blanks I use many things, one of my favorites is the grinder with a chainsaw wheel attachement. This will eat wood and what ever it touches....   Do not ask how I personaly got to have this knowledge , just trust me on it being so. You can use what ever you fancie, I have done some with a chain saw, some with a grinder and 36 grit.. ya it is like having crushed stone to remove wood  ;D I have used an axe to do the ruffing in.. You can use a knife if that is what you are into... as long as you have something that will chew some wood off.

 

 Here you can see the center line. I always leave it till the last minute, that is the only way to make sure of the axis of the head to the handle.  ;)




 

[SwampDonkey]

Good thread Marcel. Looking great. 


What I used to do before I owned any wood working tools, was an ax itself and a bucksaw. I would take a sled into the woods and get a hard maple for my needs. My uncle would use ironwood. He would call it hornbeam, same thing. I would haul my maple home and split it green with the ax and a maul. Then I would carve out the new handle with my sharp ax. It was more work than the saws, but I was in no hurry. I found a spare one I made sitting up on the shop shelf. I still have the first ax handle I made in my old ax. That was at least 20 years ago. 

Mom's uncle make a lot of tool handles, including ax handles, from ironwood. That's all he used. My uncle used to keep him in business making handles, as he would bust up ax handles like no one else I seen. He used to split 4 or 5 cords every April for the kitchen stove.

[isawlogs]

   Now that we have a center line, have used something to ruff out the blank, we need to start and polish it up some.

  

  

   Again many things can be used here, a file, a sander, anyhting that can polish up the mess you just made    I like using these the top one is the one I start with, I set the blade to take a good bite, it takes less pulls to geterdone, then I will use the second one, this one is my great grand fathers spoke shave, it was broke when it got to me, but had both peices in the box. I took it and welded it back together with stainless steel rod. It is my favorite spoke shave.

    

   Shaping of the fawn's foot  ;) ( It gets its name from the shape it will take ,( you can put many shapes to the end of the handle , this is one of many ).  once the handle is all carved and the head is set, I will sometimes carve out the foot of a deer in the handle. )
   First I start with holding on to the handle and tracing the outline of the palm of my hand.

 

   I will use suttle lines and start to carve out the foot.

  

   I will use a draw knife at times near the foot, the grain change of direction here is hair pulling. This particular knife is a push or pull knife, it is short and narrow and is a nice tool for this end of the handle.

[isawlogs]

 The business end of the handle is what we take care of now.

What is needed now is to locate the axe head to the handle in order to carve it out. I will use the center line and then draw out the axe  head hole onto the handle ( look at the pic )

  

    After shaping the head with the grinder, the spoke shave is used to touch it up a bit.  

  I will make a few dry runs and make sure of fit as I work the head in. To remove the handle, do not wack on the axe while having the handle in a vise .... use a punch to drive out the handle from the axe. To put the axe into the handle, use a wooden mallet, tap the axe lightly into the head, then turn the handle and with the mallet wack the foot, the axe will seat itself if the size of the head is correct. We have seated the axe and are satified that it is well seated.

    

    We will be needing a wedge to hold all of this together. In order to do this, we need another reference point. Mark where the axe is on the head of handle, ( red mark on the pic ) rull of thumb is 2/3 of the lenght of axe is the lenght of wedge, here it is give or take 3" so we will need to cut 2" for the wedge, band saw is good for me, any saw with a narrow kerf can do the job.

   

   Not the best looking wedge but will do the job quite well. Once it is cut off and polished up it will look real good. 

[isawlogs]

  The wedge in place, you should have an axe to show  8) 8)

   

  Oh, before putting the Axe into head, clean a spot on the cheek to sign and date your peice of art .  ;)  It will be there for as long as the axe stays on the handle.

[pigman]

 8)  I always wanted to make an axe handle. Now I have an idea of how to do it. Great lesson Marcel.

[metalspinner]

Well done! 8)

What is the best way to get the old bit of wood out of the head?  That has been a pain for me once. :

[Furby]

I drill holes in it and then drive it out Metalspinner.

[jrokusek]

Great tutorial!  Now I have a hankering to make a handle too......

[Bow Saw]

Marcel,
I can see that you enjoy teaching also! :D
It is great that you're willing to share your skills and ideas on how to make an axe handle.  You certainly have put a lot of effort into that project.
Mrs. Bow Saw

[isawlogs]

 

What is the best way to get the old bit of wood out of the head?  That has been a pain for me once. :

   Cut the handle at the axe, then set the axe in a vice upside down, clamp it good , wack the wood out from bottom to top using a punch slightly smaller then the opening that the handle is in . The eye of an axe is larger at the top then at the bottom ( this is for the wedge to expand the head of the handle and lock it in place )
  So you wack below the wedge , not on the wedge to get the wood out . 

[flip]

 smiley_clapping smiley_clapping smiley_clapping

Excellent job!

[woodbowl]

Yea buddy, that's a good looking axe handle Marcel. What about the type of wedges up your way? Do you use hard wood, soft wood and do you use, or even need a lock? (metal wedge)

I've heard different things here in Fla. Some of the old timers like to use softwood wedges, but I don't know why. Then a couple of metal wedges are driven in the end at 45° to lock in the wood wedge and spread it the other direction.

An axe head sucks water quite a bit around here and dries out quick too, next thing you know ya got a loose axe head no matter how tight it was to start with. I've even thought about soaking it in antifreeze for a while to maybe fix this problem. Anybody had any success with something like this?

[isawlogs]

woodbowl,
  I use hardwood for wedges, usualy would be from same board as the handle was cut out of. I cut the wedge on the band saw, that is why the wedge on this axe is in two peices. I could buy them I guess and they would be wide enough. I'm just to cheap for that  ;D
I seldom put locks on my wedges, as far I know it don't help all that much, if you are affraid of the axe head taking flight pin it through the axe into the handle , like the competition axe are.  ;)

  When your head (axe) gets loose and dry have you tried to rewedge it and letting it soak in linseed oil ??? 
I once had an axe that for the life of me I could never get that axe to stay tight on that handle , till I did the above , now don't really know enough about your temps down there to think it might work , but maybe worth the try. 
  I will try the antifreeze next time  :P :P

   

[woodbowl]

Every handle on everything we have is loose, or getting loose. The kids use the rake hoe and shovel a lot and leave them scattered all over the yard. I tried a little motor oil on a hoe handle a few years ago, but can't really tell if it helps. A sledge, axe or pick handle would be a better test bed. We have rot too. The wood stays wet in the ax head, a miss lick is made, hitting the handle and then it breaks. Coppertox is a brush treatment in the can that I have been meaning to try. I'd like to try soaking it in coppertox for rot, let dry for several months, then maybe soak it in oil.

[beenthere]

Tools get rusty leaving them around the yard... : :

When I change a handle out, I burn the year into the handle.  Gives an idea how long they last...have a shovel handle with '71 burned into it. I finally stopped trying to use it as a pry bar to get out rocks.  ;D ;D

For axe handles, keeping them in a cool area during the winter (high humidity), rather than a low humidity area such as a heated building/house will not let the wood dry out, shrink, and loosen up in the axe head. Some anchorseal might help the drying out. 

Also, letting the axe head/handle soak up moisture (left in the rain) will cause the wood to swell, and actually crush the wood fibers because they cannot expand the steel. These crushed fibers will not regain their size, and when the wood dries it will cause the handle to become loose. Fitting the handle and keeping the moisture content as consistent as possible will go a long ways to keeping a tight head.

[SwampDonkey]

For Marcel's benefit, axe is also spelled ax. The spell checker doesn't like axe.  : I'm used to axe, but I type ax to keep the spell checker happy. 

Got it? ;D :D :D

[pigman]

I spelled it  "axe" because Marcel spelled it "axe" and he is a better english speller than I am.  :( ;D

Bob

[isawlogs]

  :  Bob , mon ami , I have two dozen spell checkers a working for me . I can't afford an error no more.

   So I will be using * hache * instead of " axe " in the futur  ;) Most of you already know how to spell it . Drop the  e  and change the  c  to a  s See ya got your first French lesson of the day .

  Une hache , an axe . ax

  Swamp , remind me what brought the debate of the AXE over the AX   ???

[SwampDonkey]

Must have been some old English Lord that got the axe from his vassals.  ;D

[DanG]

Woodbowl, you're lucky to have kids that will even use one of those tools.  Them being left out like that is just a part of Daddyhood.  When they are grown and gone, you'll probably still find tools out at the garden...where YOU left them. :D :D  It happens to me all the time.  I have so many things going on that I flit from one to the other, and forget about that hoe or rake leaning on the garden fence.  That's why I've gone to fiberglass handles on most of them.

Great job on the handle, Marcel!  I'll have to try that someday.

[Dan_Shade]

I left a shovel once at my fishing worm "bed".  while I was away at school, my dad hit it with the bush hog.  I'm glad I wasn't there for that one  :D

[BBTom]

I nominate this thread to reside in the Tool Box. 

Thanks for the time and effort Marcel.

[Tom]

someone has already put it in the knowledge base.  See if you can find it.

[SwampDonkey]

I see it Tom, but ya gotta use html hyperlink code to jump to it.

<p>Marcel's thread on how to make an Axe handle.</p>

[Tom]

Why don't you submit one that will work, Swampdonkey?

That'd be cool. 

[SwampDonkey]

Well, I'll give it a go. I thought maybe you could edit it.  :D :D

[SwampDonkey]

Well I sent it aloft in HTML land, so we'll see if it takes. :D :D

[SwampDonkey]

Looks like she took Tom. Does it need to be more descriptive? I guess not, eh? How else would ya word it? :D ;D

[Tom]

Very good, SwampDonkey.  That's one way to get something on the knowledge base.  Good Job!

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah I tested it out in Dreamweaver before submitting it. If you want to do any formating (hypertext, bulleting, bolding etc) and such I guess you have to use html lingo. But, if it's just unformatted text I guess you can just type it in an editor with spell checker, then copy and paste into the Knowledge Base.

[Tom]

Another easy way is to go to the post, right click and go to source.  Paste the post you want into the update window.  That way you can transfer the type and images both.

[shinnlinger]

Marcel,

Thanks, that is a great thread.  I have been know to soak the wood in water and then heat the metal tool with my torch and then shove the wood in.  It is wet so it wont burn, but it steams and conforms to the steel and then the steel cools and contracts around it.  My handles have not been as nice as yours, but maybe the next one will be thanks to your input.  I agree that it is insane what stores want for replacment handles so I milled up some ash last summer which should be about right when the time comes (told the wife it was for kitchen cabintets)

For a loose head, you can put "CHair Lock" on it.  It is designed to tighten up wooden furniture joints and supposedly doesn't crush the wood fibers the way dropping the tool in a bucket of water at night does.  You should be able to find it at your local hardware store

[jtmccallum]

Thanks, Marcel   I have a sledge hammer with an oddball type of eye that needs a new handle.  I also have an ash log to mill up.

[SwampDonkey]

Was cleaning the shop today and discovered another axe handle I had made back a few years ago. Well this one I have on the axe has been threre about 20 years, so I suppose I have enough handles to do me out. :D

[fitzhugh]

Thanks for posting this!

I know this is an old topic, but you asked for feedback on spelling since you are learning English. Here are a few notes on issues I noticed in your writing... seems only fair to give the requested feedback after I learned from your post. This will be of little-to-no interest to anyone other than the original poster.

Oh, and I'm no expert. I taught English for a few years, but that says more about the low quality of the school I taught at than my capabilities!

how too should be "how-to". That is the noun that refers to a guide on doing something. Otherwise, you would write it without the hyphen: "I will teach you how to make an axe handle in this short how-to I wrote up." This is a tiny point, but what is worth noting is the difference between "to" and "too:"

I'm going to the store. You can come too. You'd better drive, though, as I drank too much!

From some grammar website: "To is a versatile preposition. A few of its many definitions are toward, reaching as far as, and until.1 Too is an adverb meaning additionally, excessively, very, or extremely."

http://grammarist.com/usage/to-too/ says it better than I can. This is a common issue, even for some native English speakers.
"too" means "also" or "as well", or

The other mistakes I noticed occur in the same phrase:
"...these axe's where made in Hull Québec."
should be "these axes were made in Hull Québec."
The apostrophe in "axe's" implies ownership: "This axe's handle needs replaceing." Leave off the apostrophe when it is the plural form, not ownership. You can use an apostrophe for showing plural when it is an acronym or number: "I went to school in the 1970's and learned my ABC's." According to above linked grammar site, that usage is less common now, so you can also just write "1970s" and "ABCs"

"where" should be "were"
"were" is past tense of "to be"
"where" refers to location etc.
"we're" is a contraction of "we are"
Where were the axes' handles made?" (that uses apostrophe after "s" because it is possessive and plural.) "Where was the axe's handle made?" would be possessive and singular.
To make it unnecessarily ugly: "We're going to where those axes' handles were made!"

Hope this helps a bit.

  (  I would appreciate any spelling corrections to be brought to my attention in my learning English thread, Merçi.
    I will make a point to come and edit all corrections here as they are brought up    :P )

[Tree Feller]

Yep, an old thread but what the hey...

I made a hickory handle for my little 2 1/4 pounder last winter.



 

[beenthere]

Fitzhugh
Welcome to the forum.

Good explanation and examples you posted. Thanks for taking the time.

Now, are you going to venture to make an axe handle?

[Shotgun]

Welcome, fitzhugh, and good job.  However, are you sure about the [[axes']] in your quote below?


>>To make it unnecessarily ugly: "We're going to where those[[axes']] handles were made!"<<


Just wondering.

Norm

[Magicman]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum,    fitzhugh.   

[SwampDonkey]

>>To make it unnecessarily ugly: "We're going to where those[[axes']] handles were made!"<<
Norm

I'd have to agree with Norm. Inanimate objects have no ' or 's for possession. Rather it's "axe handles".  ;)

Now since your new, "Welcome Aboard", and we'll over look your first mistake. :D

[beenthere]

SD

and we'll over look your first mistake

I don't see it as a mistake. Although I'd use your choice, and won't point out all your 'mistakes'.   ;D

Maybe it is "overlook" or "look over", but not "over look"..... : :

[Mooseherder]

So a guy walks into a restaurant and axes.
"does anyone here know how to cook"? 
Or,
Duz y'all hear no how cook too?  :D

[SwampDonkey]

Hmm English. Overlook is also a noun.

Listening to the radio one morning this week. And according to a language expert, English grammar-wise is the odd man out. What is proper in a good many languages is not so in English. Then there is Americanized English and Brit English. And Brit English has a lot of words spelled the same as the French word. :D


favour
colour
centre
metre (the measure) meter (the device)

[sandhills]

My mom was an english teacher, therefore (or is it there for?) I'm sure she'd be totally disowning me if she read my posts, but after reading this thread I'm beginning to think we all have entirely too much time on our hands  ;D.  Welcome aboard fitzhugh, it always amazes me what I learn around here  :D

[isawlogs]

 :D :D :D   I so love my French, but I so love getting you guys confused over how one should be writting the English language.  :P 

  Thanks for taking the time and pointing out the minor  ;D miss-haps  and of my typos  ;D , as I do beleave that most errors I make are typos.  :P    Tats how I sees it  ;) .
I would of gotten back to you sooner but I have been making hay for the hayburners here.

  My computer is French, my spell check is also French. You should have a look at my screen when writing this down. 73 words are underlined up to the begining of this sentence.  :D :D :D   

  Tree feller , I like your axe, I am looking for the right 2 1/4lb for myself. 

[Magicman]

I am looking for the right 2 1/4lb for myself.   

Vous avez juste besoin de soumission sur la foresterie Forum Ax.   :D

But it probably is a 3½lb.   ;D

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I am looking for the right 2 1/4lb for myself.   

Vous avez juste besoin de soumission sur la foresterie Forum Ax.   :D

But it probably is a 3½lb.   ;D

The only French I know is EFFIEL TOWER, MONA LISA and WINE.  :D

[WDH]

Wasn't Mona Lisa Italian  ???.

[Magicman]

And it's not "Wine", it's "Vin".   :D

[isawlogs]

 And the axe (hache) needs be just right and of my choosing. Not all axes have the same or right tone when hit with on the cheek.  ;) :P

[isawlogs]

 Oh , to make it correct then it should be , La tour d'Effiel, Mona is/was Italien and Magig got the wine part.     

[Todd]

anyone wanting a 2 1/4 lb axe head should let me sharpen their 3 1/2 pounder on a grinding wheel...after removing the overheated areas I think 2 1/4 might be optimistic! :D

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

And it's not "Wine", it's "Vin".   :D

Magic, Magic, Magic..... I love it when I have to help you out. "VIN" is the number stamped on your trucks body to identify the vehicle.  8)

[WDH]

Does each wine bottle have a VIN # too  ???.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Does each wine bottle have a VIN # too  ???.

No, but it has a "BIN".   :D :D :D