AXE-HANGING: A Learning Process

[the-accumulator]

Hanging a no-name faller's axe has been a bit frustrating, or, rather, let me say educational.

My goal was to use only wood wedges to rehang this 3 1/2 lb head on the 28 inch haft (on which it was loosely hung when I acquired it). After disassembly, I reshaped the haft to accept the head mounted snuggly further down on the shoulder than before. There was a significant gap left from the metal wedge (that had been installed in the previous hang), so I employed a cross wedge to fill the void and tighten things up. I used Swell-Lock and trimmed the haft a bit proud of the top of the head. It looked real pretty and felt great, but, unfortunately, promptly worked loose as soon as I put it to task.
So, I added a barrel wedge and crossed my fingers, but this didn't solve the problem. Adding the second barrel wedge gave me reason for hope, and on my first test run produced no signs of loosening. The second time I swung it, however, a tiny gap less than the thickness of my fingernail appeared where the haft met the head at the bit side of the eye. I have since applied several treatments of BLO where the head and haft make contact.


How concerned should I be? Should I just keep using it and see if it gets worse? I think it's rather ugly right now and might look better it i trimmed it flush, but I believe the haft mushrooming out of the top of the head can only help to hold the head on. Any thoughts? T-A

 

[Mike Pierson]

I'd make that more stable myself. Do you ever watch the Buckin Billy Ray YouTube channel?
he just did a great video on re-hanging an axe-

 

[the-accumulator]

Do you ever watch the Buckin Billy Ray YouTube channel?

Yes, I've watched his and probably a dozen other youtuber's how-to videos and learned a lot from them. I even watched one that taught me how to install the wooden wedge while only hammering on the opposite end of the haft from the head, thereby not driving the haft back out of the eye as you drive in the wedge. I've successfully adapted my own version of that technique.
I think my circumstances are a bit different from most of the videos I've watched for several reasons. My reuse of the old, dry haft (with nearly perfect grain) reduced the amount I was able to compress the wood as I installed the wedge. Also, I made my own wedges from a very pretty reddish piece of mystery lumber that might be too hard for this situation. And maybe the contours of this no-name head are not ideal for a tight fit. I have more questions than answers. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. T-A

 

[Mike Pierson]

Good luck Sir! You may be right about the "too hard" wedge, it can crack easily.
Keep trying you'll get it right!
I'm watching Billy right now, livestream on YouTube.

 

[HeavyHanded]

Y
I think my circumstances are a bit different from most of the videos I've watched for several reasons. My reuse of the old, dry haft (with nearly perfect grain) reduced the amount I was able to compress the wood as I installed the wedge. Also, I made my own wedges from a very pretty reddish piece of mystery lumber that might be too hard for this situation. And maybe the contours of this no-name head are not ideal for a tight fit. I have more questions than answers. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. T-A

I am no expert, but if there isn't/wasn't enough wood left for a VERY snug fit initially I would get a new haft or make one from scratch. I don't think there is any problems with the wedge being too hard, just that the tongue wasn't large enough to start and you're trying to take up too much space with the wedge.

If it fit better you probably would need nothing but the wood wedge and some BLO or similar.

 

[the-accumulator]

the tongue wasn't large enough to start and you're trying to take up too much space with the wedge.

I think you're on to something, but it's a little more complicated. In the photos you can see that the side-to-side fit is tight. Where the tongue is lacking is in the front-to-back dimension. I tried to make up for this with my wedge material, but my supply is 1/8 to 1/4 inch less than I would have liked to have used. That explains why the head isn't pulling straight off but, rather, rocking forward and back a tiny little bit. I've got to think about this some more. Thanks for your input. T-A

 

[garry3]

Perhaps you could have lowered the head a little more had you removed the sharp shoulders on the side of the haft? Sharp shoulder don't belong on wooden hafts anyway.

 

[DMG]

I expect a bit of hate from the purists but I have cheated by using JB Weld to take up space when I wanted to reuse a haft. Slop it in there then do what you would normally do with the wedges.

 

[garry3]

I expect a bit of hate from the purists but I have cheated by using JB Weld to take up space when I wanted to reuse a haft. Slop it in there then do what you would normally do with the wedges.

I'm trying to hate but Plumb did pretty well with Perma Bond and no wedges.

 

[DMG]

I rehandled a fairly large ballpeen hammer with a fiberglass handle using JB Weld a long time ago. A couple of my friends called it the jb weld hammer because they thought it was a bad idea. After about 5 years i was using it to hammer the ball latch on my trailer and dropped it in the trailer box. My friends son borrowed the trailer and stole the hammer.

Hopefully the head flew off shortly thereafter and lodged in his eye socket. But more likely it is still fine.

 

[A17]

I rehandled a fairly large ballpeen hammer with a fiberglass handle using JB Weld a long time ago. A couple of my friends called it the jb weld hammer because they thought it was a bad idea. After about 5 years i was using it to hammer the ball latch on my trailer and dropped it in the trailer box. My friends son borrowed the trailer and stole the hammer.

Hopefully the head flew off shortly thereafter and lodged in his eye socket. But more likely it is still fine.

2-3lb ball pein hammers are the cat's meow for me. I love 'em, they feel so well balanced and lighter than a sledge while they still have plenty of mass for heavier work. I've yet to pass up on one.

 

[Andrew Mishler]

When you repositioned the head on the handle, did you cut the slot down any lower to match the difference in head height on the handle?

 

[the-accumulator]

did you cut the slot down any lower

Yes. I always aim for the kerf to be 2/3 the height of the head. I put this axe to the test once again a few days ago on some frozen oak. The head shifted upward a very tiny bit on the haft creating a gap about the thickness of a business card. I'm not sure what to do next. I might force a skinny hickory wedge between the haft and the corner of the eye (toward the bit), or I might inject a little Swell Lock in the gap, or I might do nothing and call it good the way it is. We'll see. Thanks for all the input I've received. T-A