I recently acquired a few axe heads that either had no handles or ones that needed to be replaced. I was wondering if anyone has any helpful techniques to offer on hanging a new handle to both a felling axe and also to a broad axe or broad hatchet? Specifically which types of wood: hickory, oak, hornbeam, etc.. are suitable? is it better the wood be dried or green? to cut a slit or not in the top of the handle to help the wedges expand within the head? wood or steel wedges are better or both? Or even some more experimental techniques like Jim Rogers talks of by submerging the end in red hot sand and then slipping it into the head so the wood will expand within the head as the moisture seeps back into the end of the handle.Many questions come to mind as I prepare to try to fit a new handle to my vintage axe heads. Any insights are a great help as I know literally nothing about this technique. Also would adze heads be fitted similarly? Thanks tb

TB - sounds like you already know so much about this...

But the topic reminded me of a story I once heard...

There was an old man in Gander, Newfoundland, who was having all the items on his farm appraised so to be sold at auction. The appraiser was given a list of the items with a description of each, and was quite shocked to come across an axe which the old man claimed to have been in his family for five generations. The appraiser asked to see it, and when shown he said "Why, this axe looks allmost new! How can it be as old as you say?" The old man gave the appraiser a knowing smile and said, "Young man, the key to keeping a good tool is maintenance. Why, this axe has been through four heads and sixteen handles!"

Actually ,I only know what I have read or heard and have never even replaced a single handle. Being a perfectionist ,I always like to get as much info from as many sources before I make a physical effort. Besides I love using axes and plan to use them often , which means eventual broken handles, so I need to be able to hang a new handle and do it with excellence. tb

timber brained,

The best handles are split from a log rather than sawn, for the same reason the best pegs are split rather than sawn. Continuous grain.

It's easier to shape the handle with the wood green or semi green, but make sure the wood is dry before you fit it to the head. Because I am not terribly patient, I prefer to just use dry wood rather than wait to finish a handle until it dries.

I like hickory for felling axes and hatchets and virtually any hardwood with the appropriate shape for a broad axe. Hickory is very resilient and strong, and it doesn't transmit vibration as bad as other woods.

Saw a kerf in the head end of the handle for a softwood wedge (hardwood will work loose). I also drive a metal wedge or two nearly perpendicular, but not quite, to the wooden wedge. Don't glue the wedge.

For felling axes and hatchets, when you sight down the bit like a gun sight, your eye should fall somewhere within the fawn's foot at the other end of the handle.

As far as the shape goes, find one you like that is comfortable and copy it.

I don't make my own felling axe handles as the local hardware store has pretty good ones for $15. They have decently straight grain and a full, well shaped fawn's foot. Of course, I always look through all of them and pick the best.

And don't forget-- there's more than one way to hang an axe and this is just mine.

Have fun and good luck,

Gabel

gabel has it... dry wood. I use ash as that's what my area does best.
take the axe head to the handle, figure out which end is up and down, measure for any difference in the size of the hole.
place the hole on top of the handle and reach inside and trace the hole onto the handle. take a rip saw and cut down just outside the line(this is the time to shoot for the other end of the handle). then take a drawknife and get closer to the lines. finally bring the top(the very end-1/4") of the handle just under the line, and begin fitting the head. rub some lumber crayon inside the axe head to show the tight spots quickly. there is no substitute for patience at this point. work the head on(I use a file here), keeping the bit pointed toward the other end of the handle. A scoring axe, when set on a flat surface with the bit pointing straight down and the end of the handle touching the same flat surface, should have the center of the bit on the surface. THis means that the section of handle that passes through the head is tipped a bit in relation to the rest of the handle. Then when you swing the axe, the center of the bit is hitting the wood first.
The adze is the same, in reverse. the whole handle goes through the head, and then gets fitted.... but you can still trace the profile that you need to end with onto the end of the handle.

You're assuming again.......that these are "experimental techniques".
Just cause you've never heard of them before doesn't make them experimental...........

Jim Rogers

Sorry Jim. Did not mean to use your name in a wrong way. You are right I did assume that it was experimental just because I had not heard directly from somebody that did it and had it work out well. I apologize for misquoting you, as I definitely did not want to upset you. You have been particularly helpful to me in the past few months. I guess I have a bad habit of infusing my attitude and opinions into my postings that are better left out. Sorry. Sincerely tb

Hi all:

In our family it was the tradition to hand down the handle style in the form of a flat board that holds the historic shape and can be traced to a new rough blank.

Our handles had a quite a bit of swing in the belly of the handle as it exits the head of the axe, and then curved prominently at the end with a carved hand grip or fawn's foot as mentioned.

I use white ash, but really like wild cherry if it can be obtained.

It sounds like all the information from those ahead of my post is good and can not be improved upon in my opinion, I just thought that I would add my little touch on the blade of the handle for your interest.

The turn at the end gives the handle(r) good control of the axe as you swing it, and once you have used an axe with this feature you will not want to return to the boughten straighter axe handles
NH

NH

NH, is it possible you can post a picture of the handle you described, as I have recently acquired a 13" axe head from Canada and was going to attempt to cut my own handle for it. What do you think of the broad axe handles that are on the market(ebay-from arkansas)? Have you seen them? tb

I'd like to jump in and say that I prefer straight handles. I used to buy handles with bellies and carved ends similar to what NH is describing from the hardware stores when I was younger. Then I started making my own handles and gradually moved to a straight handle(I still make a handle with a carved end). The main advantage of the straight handle is that you can hold the handle any distance from the axehead and the handle is consistent... I personally feel more accurate with a straight handle, but that is what I'm used to now.
Just my 2 cents.

Hi TB and Mark:

TB--I do not have any right now that is accessible for cut and pasting, but will strive to do that in the very near future.

It sounds like the subject of handle styles could be a good conversation piece.

Mark:--I believe that you use a style of working with your tools ie; (higher than I do) so in that case I believe that your straighter handles might work better because you need to shorten up your grasp of the handle for control and safety reasons.

All the old texts, and other research material that i have studied over the years always seem to show workmen working on timbers lying on bed pieces, not on tressels.

I had one fellow relate to me the following story--- during the second world war he landed on the beaches in the south Pacific where the Japanese had been working on flattening round timber, they had left their sites empty but their timbers were still where they were working on them. They were working alongside the timbers with one end up on a support.

You can see that various ways of doing things were tried and used depending on where you are from.

The immigrants that originally settled the US and Canada came from many different ethnic origins, and their style of using tools and building timberframe buildings varied widely.

We sometimes refer to a style as German, Dutch, Swedish, English or what have you. one thing is for sure that after 15 or 20 generations everything seems to meld together including people!!

NH

I've read a couple different books that touch on the topic, and the best publication I've found is an older Forest Service manual called "An Axe to Grind." It's available in pdf format from several places on the web, though the pictures were not complete in the first one I found. I have a copy of the whole thing, but all I can find links to now is this chapter by chapter page:
http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/php/library_card.php?p_num=9923%202823P

I have yet to enter the world of handle making, but I've got an excellent source for handles nearby, so I concentrate on mating the heads and the handles as well as I can... I like the idea of using hot sand. Will have to try that sometime.
Cheers,
Bill

Just another comment on this thread:

I have just noticed an old cut of loggers working out in California in 1880, they were making railroad ties by hand , what was very interesting to me was the one lad was flattening the sides of the split squares with a broadaxe, and he was working with the rough split squares resting on bed pieces, just above the ground level. He was hewing left handed standing at the side of the piece he was working on.
The broadaxe appears to be about 12" wide on the cutting edge, and has an offset handle. He seemed to be doing a finishing pass with no scoring, the shaving just coming off nicely as he worked and when the picture was taken.
I hope this is interesting to those on this thread.
NH

Here are a couple pictures of an Adz handle I made a few days ago. Beside the new handle is the old one that I used as a template. I think it came out ok for my first attempt. It was made from a small crooked Ash and took around 5hrs to make. I prefer the more pronounced curve to the original. TB perfection is rarely achieved on the first attempt. Give it a try and good luck.
kfhines.

Just a cautionary note in reference to the new made adze handle, it appears to me to have excessive sweep in the handle to say the least.
Just imagine trying to use the adze head to do work between your feet, you would have to move the handle's top toward your body making the adze head enter the surface of the wood at too sharp of an angle.
In all my years of working with historic tools and examining those in many famous collections, I have never seen this much of an excessive curve. If anything the handles in lots of cases were straighter.
It seems to me that if excessive curves were better then I am sure during the centuries that adzes were used this feature would have came to light.
This is just my opinion for what it is worth,

NH

Hello NH.
Thanks for the caution. I have not tried to use this adz with the new handle, I was waiting for it to dry and shrink a little before I finish fitting the head. Admittedly I have not read a single article on handle making and have a bit to learn yet. The sweep may be excessive but very similar to one I've used (limited) in the past. It was easy to use, made nice curves on the under side of floor joist and pared to the line nicely. It may straighten in self out a little yet, in following the grain as much as possible I removed a most of the reaction wood on the out side of the curve. If I don't like the way it works it will go into the kindling pile and I'll try again, and again.
Thanks.
kfhines