a little advise is needed please (did I ruin my handle?)

Joined
May 24, 2008
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745
Hello,
I am new to axes and have very little experience with them, but recently my interests with knives kind of spilled over into the axe side of things.
I decided that due to the lack of options out there for new American made axes that I would find some old axe heads and put handles on them.

I found some axe heads and purchased them, but had very poor luck with the handles that were available locally, so I ponied up and bought a council velvicut handle for this particular axe. Everything went fine until I put the metal wedge In. The pictures should explain what happened. I am wondering if this is going to be a huge issue and If I should get a new handle and not chance anything going bad when I go to use this axe. Is there a fix? Am I worried about nothing?

I would also like to know what this pattern is called. I believe it is a "zeke" pattern, but am not certain. What is it best suited to be used for?

Thanks for any info


 
1. drill a hole on the exposed flat side of the metal wedge with a drillbit, you can also cut the protruding wood of the handle with a coping saw.
2. place a small wood block or scrap of wood near the back of the eye and inserrt the tip of a square screwdriver (solid one) into the drilled metal wedge to lever it out. pliers and visegrips might help, brute force will be required.
3. carefully drill out the wood wedge with a small drillbit, avoid touching the handle. use screwdriver to lever out wood fragment out of kerf.
4. once the head has been removed and the handle saved, lower the head onto the handle about an inch and resecure it with a fatter wood wedge, making sure it bottom out. Id suggest not using a metal wedge again unless you are certain the wood wedge is bottomed out against the bottom of the kerf. also next time you use a metal wedge, id suggest cutting the fibers diagonaly, alongside the growth rings, ive had less splitting this way.

good luck!
 
Is there a fix? Am I worried about nothing?

This is why many of us refrain from using metal wedges. Good wood wedging rarely needs a metal wedge added.

There's a chance that the crack will run down through the eye and weaken the haft. If that happens then replace the haft. But for now just forget about it and use it.



I would also like to know what this pattern is called. I believe it is a "zeke" pattern, but am not certain. What is it best suited to be used for?

Looks like a rafting axe. Many rafting axes have a hardened poll but I'm guessing that one doesn't based on the mushrooming that was ground off. Chipping of the poll indicates a hardened poll.
 
Remzy is correct, and he does excellent work. You can very likely save that handle. Definitely don't use a metal wedge. You have lots of room on the shoulder of the handle to refit. With a good wooden wedge in there that is nicely bottomed out, leave about 1/4 - 3/8 of an inch sticking out of the eye. When that has all been done, put the axe - head down - into a container with 1/2' of Boiled Linseed Oil and let it soak for about 48 hours. The portion of the haft that is sticking out of the eye will swell. This is better than a metal wedge. Good luck. REMEMBER - IF YOU USE BOILED LINSEED OIL WITH RAGS, BE SURE TO DISPOSE OF THE RAGS SAFELY. THEY CAN SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST. I thoroughly rinse them out and then let them dry on the grill of my barbeque (not lit of course.)
 
Great information from the guys above but for my 2c worth, I would never use a metal wedge across the grain like that due to the possibility of cracking. One thing though and directed to Curt, what odour mean for the wedge to be "bottomed out"? Do you mean in the kerf? I would never bottom a wedge out due to the fact that if anything did come loose, you could not drive it in any further. One sure way of making everything stay exactly where it should be is to drill through the head,wedge and handle, 3/4 of an inch back from the eye and insert a 3/16 roll pin.
 
ICS, some good ideas there, one thing to keep in mind, he isn't going to see near the humidity swings that you or I would. When I was growing up on the prairies, the only time an ax ever had trouble was if it was brought inside, or the ones kept in the furnace shed (outdoor wood-fired boiler) the ones left to exist in the open cabs of tractors and other places never had trouble, as (as far as I can tell) the wood had time to expand or contract slowly. I had a "hatchet" which I think was a fairly heavy but small eye'd axe head on a straight mallet handle, and the only thing that moved that handle was many years of outdoor exposure finally dry-rotted the handle.
 
. . . I would never bottom a wedge out due to the fact that if anything did come loose, you could not drive it in any further. . .

How do you determine how much of the wedge to drive in the kerf? thanks
 
This is why many of us refrain from using metal wedges. Good wood wedging rarely needs a metal wedge added.

There's a chance that the crack will run down through the eye and weaken the haft. If that happens then replace the haft. But for now just forget about it and use it.

+1 This is the advice I'd give too.

I just don't think metal wedges have any particular value and no matter how much angle you put on them, eventually, maybe 50 years I dunno, but eventually it will crack the handle. The reason I say it may take a long time is, every axe you purchase today, or virtually every one, will have a metal wedge and there will be cracks on either side of it from the start. And those axes probably stay together just fine, generally speaking. So, since the crack hasn't already come out the bottom of the head, you're probably fine.
 
How do you determine how much of the wedge to drive in the kerf? thanks

I forgot who originally posted this, but I read on this forum, that you can cut off the bottom of the wedge so it is the same thickness as the kerf. Also, prior to hafting, you could also put such a cut-off wedge on the outside of the top of the haft next to the kerf and align the bottom of the wedge with the bottom of the kerf and then use a pencil and mark the wedge where the top of the haft would be when you drive the wedge home. Theoretically, this would prevent a pointed kerf from potentially splitting the haft and would ensure that the haft has completely filled the kerf.
 
I forgot who originally posted this, but I read on this forum, that you can cut off the bottom of the wedge so it is the same thickness as the kerf. Also, prior to hafting, you could also put such a cut-off wedge on the outside of the top of the haft next to the kerf and align the bottom of the wedge with the bottom of the kerf and then use a pencil and mark the wedge where the top of the haft would be when you drive the wedge home. Theoretically, this would prevent a pointed kerf from potentially splitting the haft and would ensure that the haft has completely filled the kerf.

Someone else probably did it before, but that is one way I've done it, so I think it must be right :)!
 
Someone else probably did it before, but that is one way I've done it, so I think it must be right :)!

Thanks BG. I would have given you credit for that bit of advice, but I couldn't remember who originally posted that one.

I think I might also mention that a large wooden mallet of some sort that has a face wider than the kerf, would do a better job of avoiding splits in the wedge when driving the wedge home. A hammer is probably not the best implement to use for this. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Thanks BG. I would have given you credit for that bit of advice, but I couldn't remember who originally posted that one.

I think I might also mention that a large wooden mallet of some sort that has a face wider than the kerf, would do a better job of avoiding splits in the wedge when driving the wedge home. A hammer is probably not the best implement to use for this. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I wasn't claiming credit for the idea or even the post you read, but it is one "trick" I wrote about using on my sons Hudson bay. I probably read it here before also, truth be told. It does fill/wedge as well as possible and probably minimizes splitting.

Definitely wood is best way to drive wedge or any thing else that can be marred by hammer. I usually have hard maple scraps that serve well.
 
rjdankert, I really don't think it matters if the wedge does not get to the bottom of the kerf in the eye. The reason I say this is if the handle fits in the eye properly, the resultant forces of the chopping motion ie. "the direction of the shock" created by repeated blows, is from the edge up through the back of the axe, not sideways. So, if the handle fits well right through the eye and the wedge fits tightly within the kerf for greater than three quarters of the depth of the kerf, all will be sweet. Further, with the literally hundreds of handles I have replaced in racing axes, not one has broken within the area of the eye, other than a handle that was already split.
 
. . . and the wedge fits tightly within the kerf for greater than three quarters of the depth of the kerf, all will be sweet.
. . .

Thanks for the reply. I am going to do this the next time I hang an axe.

What depth of kerf do you use? Just as an example in "An Axe to Grind" by Bernie Weisgerber, he recommends a kerf depth "...approximately two-thirds the depth of the ax eye". But he drives the wedge in until it "...has been driven to the point of refusal". It seems to me that in not driving the wedge to the full depth of the kerf that a little deeper kerf might have some value. Thanks again.:)
 
rjdankert, 2/3 of the depth of the eye would be perfect but don't be confused about the point of refusal. It can happen in two ways. Firstly, the wedge is long enough to bottom out in the kerf, secondly the wedge is thick and hard enough that it closes in the kerf so tight sideways that it cannot be driven any further. Try to avoid this at all costs as you might just break the eye out. I have done this once or twice and it is a costly mistake in an $800.00 racing axe.
 
I stand corrected on the "bottoming out" of the wedge. I wasn't thinking of the wedge hitting the bottom of the kerf, but can see how it looked that way. I meant until the wedge wouldn't go in any further. When I first got started with this axe addiction, I thought it was good to get the haft as tightly into the eye as possible, but then couldn't figure out how to get the wedge to go in. Once I watched the US Forestry videos and some others, I learned how to do it properly so that there was good wedge penetration.

I have also heard that the kerf should comprise 2/3 of the eye.

One question: Given the relative densities of the woods used on a haft (ash or hickory) could a wedge actually split the haft?
 
I forgot who originally posted this, but I read on this forum, that you can cut off the bottom of the wedge so it is the same thickness as the kerf. Also, prior to hafting, you could also put such a cut-off wedge on the outside of the top of the haft next to the kerf and align the bottom of the wedge with the bottom of the kerf and then use a pencil and mark the wedge where the top of the haft would be when you drive the wedge home. Theoretically, this would prevent a pointed kerf from potentially splitting the haft and would ensure that the haft has completely filled the kerf.

That's the way I have learned to do it. I also make the wedge about twice as long than is needed and chamfer the top on each side to help prevent splitting it when I drive it home.
 
Curt, if you consider that the bottom of the kerf is usually made by a saw cut, you could reasonably assume there is the possibility of two 90 degree angles which the wedge is being driven in to. If the handle does not fit the eye very closely, then the action of the bottom of the wedge could create a crack by forcing the sides out wards against the wall of the eye. In really straight grained timber like hickory and although it is dense, it may cause a crack down into the handle proper. That's why I like to stay away from that point, being the bottom of the kerf.
 
Another fail safe idea that I use in all my axes, is to taper the kerf in the eye. It is really easy to do. Start by cutting the kerf to the depth you like with your hand saw, then drop the handle in your vice so that only about an inch and a half is proud of the vice jaws. Tighten the vice so the kerf just closes, do the hand saw thing again, repeat the procedure one more time and you should end up with a nicely tapered kerf and it's easy to get your wedge in and out also.
 
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