I just got a Sater Banko 2 3/4 lb head to refurbish. I was trying it out on some of the handles I have. Of all of them it best fit this 28” straight handle that I got from HH. It was one of their standard handles; not hand picked. The axe head slid on there like they were made for each other. With a couple of mallet whacks and a wedge, it’ll be done. The only problem is the grain on the handle is exactly at right angles to what it should be. I have no experience with this kind of grain alignment, but the physics and everything I’ve read say it’s not ideal. Would you take a pass on this handle or give it a go?
I would give it a go! I think that the 2 3/4 Sater Banko on a 28" straight haft would make a great "fallers axe" for trail work, especially when accompanying a crosscut saw......
In my experience so far grain orientation such as your handle has performed the same as perfectly orientated ones. I've found them to be a little more flexible. I don't think that's advantageous because it'll absorb energy that should be expended in the cut. I of course prefer the inline orientation but it doesn't really matter as far as I can tell. Hang it and share!
Provided there's no runout I haven't had either the "good" or "bad" grain orientation do to terribly better or worse than each other. I say go for it!
All I did was bang it on with a rubber mallet. I’m sure if I bang it on with the baby sledge, it will go on with some nice curl and no gaps. There’s good room for the wedge.
Half of the grain is continuous through the haft. That's probably good enough for a small axe like that.
I guess I'm in the minority here. But I wouldn't buy that handle, and I certainly wouldn't put it on any tool I expected to do any work with. O.B.
