Recommendation? Carving blade guard trench for Marbles #6

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PoeTayder

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Need some help on a hatchet i'm putting a new handle on. The old handle had a crack that started where the blade guard had a rivet went through the old handle.


New vs old, I've thinned it down a bit before fitting the hatchet to it, but I'm struggling with how to remake the "trench" for the guard. I also wanted the new handle to be slightly longer, as I'd like to avoid having the trench terminate at the end of the handle, weakening the wood further.


This old handle was cut from a cracked 22" handle from a Michigan axe I got from my grandpa, I figured I would save what I could from it. Thinking of thinning down the swell a bit, but not too much.


So the real question, does anyone have any experience carving one of these before? I've thought of drilling some holes and doing it with a chisel, or using my miter saw to carve most of the trench out first before resorting to a chisel. The difficulty will be in stopping the saw from making trench from going through the swell, as I've measured it out so that the bottom of the blade guard will be just above it. This hatchet is a wedding present for my older brother, and I'd like to incorporate the guard in, but let me know if someone with little experience shouldn't ruin the handle by trying!
 
PoeTayder said:
Need some help on a hatchet i'm putting a new handle on. The old handle had a crack that started where the blade guard had a rivet went through the old handle.


New vs old, I've thinned it down a bit before fitting the hatchet to it, but I'm struggling with how to remake the "trench" for the guard. I also wanted the new handle to be slightly longer, as I'd like to avoid having the trench terminate at the end of the handle, weakening the wood further.


This old handle was cut from a cracked 22" handle from a Michigan axe I got from my grandpa, I figured I would save what I could from it. Thinking of thinning down the swell a bit, but not too much.


So the real question, does anyone have any experience carving one of these before? I've thought of drilling some holes and doing it with a chisel, or using my miter saw to carve most of the trench out first before resorting to a chisel. The difficulty will be in stopping the saw from making trench from going through the swell, as I've measured it out so that the bottom of the blade guard will be just above it. This hatchet is a wedding present for my older brother, and I'd like to incorporate the guard in, but let me know if someone with little experience shouldn't ruin the handle by trying!
Click to expand...
Combination of Drill Press and Milling Vise would probably give you the best result
Piece of plywood and two 1x3 and you can create channel for milling vise to slide along straight line
vintage-stanley-machinist-drill-press_1_796b240fd7a78a6922731f335d078e31.jpg
 
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Well my suggestion requires "knowing people " as in a handy woodworker with a router. He will have to make a fixture to hold the handle.
Or a machinist with access to a milling machine.
If you don't have friends like that then disregard my suggestion.
 
Or a similar jig could be made for a skill saw if you don't have a router

survivor45 said:
Well my suggestion requires "knowing people " as in a handy woodworker with a router. He will have to make a fixture to hold the handle.
Or a machinist with access to a milling machine.
If you don't have friends like that then disregard my suggestion.
Click to expand...
 
Clamp it between to 2x6s. Add a filler block at the top of the 2x6s that is the same thickness as the haft. Then run screws thru the 2x6s above the haft and below block - creating the clamping action. Maybe secure the block to one of the 2x6s.

Then take your whole jig with the haft in it to your table saw or router shaping table.
 
The problem with using a table saw for it is the end of the cut would be radiused instead of square. Router would be a lot better.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The problem with using a table saw for it is the end of the cut would be radiused instead of square. Router would be a lot better.
Click to expand...

That's no big deal. You just stop short (transfer a mark out to the 2x6) and clean out the end of the cut with a 1/4" wood chisel. Make multiple passes on the table saw to create a 1/4" dado if you don't have a dado set..
 

Going with the jig idea, I used what I had around to be able to make a channel with my miter saw. I realized putting the guard up to it that the bottom will have to have some extra taken out so you can get a finger under the actual guard to pull it out, so I figured this would work. Sadly Survivor45 I don't have friends (that live close with equipment) that can help, but I do have some chisels and a dremel that I will be using to finish the process.


The miter saw and 10 minutes with a chisel got me more than halfway there, will continue later this week!
 
PoeTayder said:

Going with the jig idea, I used what I had around to be able to make a channel with my miter saw. I realized putting the guard up to it that the bottom will have to have some extra taken out so you can get a finger under the actual guard to pull it out, so I figured this would work. Sadly Survivor45 I don't have friends (that live close with equipment) that can help, but I do have some chisels and a dremel that I will be using to finish the process.


The miter saw and 10 minutes with a chisel got me more than halfway there, will continue later this week!
Click to expand...

Hey ! Good Job
Not knowing your skills or willingness to screw up.
Was the reason for my recommendation.
It's soooo much more rewarding to do it yourself. Looks like you've got the right idea.
I look forward to seeing the end results.
 
I have finished carving the channel, and my next step is fixing the guard into the handle. It was fastened in there originally with a small bolt/nut at the top, and riveted with a small piece of brass at the bottom, both of which went completely through the handle. I would like to avoid that, so I am thinking of using epoxy to set it in, with maybe some half inch screws. My #6 screws are too large, so I may have to find some other option.

Any objections to these ideas or other suggestions? I can post pictures tomorrow of the guard if needed.
 
PoeTayder said:
...or other suggestions?
Click to expand...

Without seeing the original bolt and rivet arrangement, my suggestion is to not use screws but instead use tight-fitting pieces of brass rod that go through a hole in the handle, and are not peened like a rivet, but are instead epoxied (epoxy put in the hole before lightly hammering in the brass pin) if you want the guard to be held in place by more than epoxy alone.

Or just try the epoxy by itself, and if it starts to fail in the future, then you can add the brass rods.
 
Steve said exactly what I was going to suggest. Brass rod. And if you don't like epoxy you can peen each end with a center punch to flair it out. Or use both epoxy and peening.
 
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