Did this guy do anything correctly?

Hahaha ugh that's painful.

I bet this is how a lot of people get their information about axes.

Your first hang is always slow. Don't worry, it'll be faster and easier with each new axe.
 
Why is it only 1 in every 10 handles I've ever replaced over the years has not required extensive rasping and filing? The video is rather simple but the technique of seating the head via pounding the handle on a solid surface is one that I've used for 40 years. Works great for me but does require careful dimensioning of the handle beforehand. If you blindly knife-carve just the handle eye entry in order to start the seating process you can make one heck of a mess and then have to buy another handle and start all over!
 
Ok, for everyone who doesn't know, what did he do wrong? I'm asking not only for myself, but for others who may not know. I'm a knife and tomahawk guy, I'm no expert at rehanging axes. Can someone explain?
 
Vegas Blade said:
Ok, for everyone who doesn't know, what did he do wrong? I'm asking not only for myself, but for others who may not know. I'm a knife and tomahawk guy, I'm no expert at rehanging axes. Can someone explain?
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I didn't watch to the end only because the fella seemed to presume that any old handle will fit any old head. You can get fussy to the extreme in selecting and fitting but essense of the business is to have the handle shaped and the head seated to a snug shoulder as close tolerance as possible before driving in a wedge that locks everything in place. Commercial guys use a hydraulic press and special clamps to install heads on handles but an ordinary guy with a rasp, saw and set of calipers can do this in the driveway or out in the bush.
 
I admit I've done it like in the video my first couple axes. There are better techniques. I'm not any expert, just a guy that likes axes and has a lot of them. I like to sand down the handle and get the head closer to the shoulder. Bottom within 1/2" of the shoulder on a chopping axe but I leave a lot more shoulder on a splitting axe. I test fit dozens of times. When I get it down to within a half inch of where I want it, I push the head on. Then I hold on to the handle head down, and pound with a rubber mallet on the foot. The handle gets less banged up this way. Sometimes I have to pound the head back off because I couldn't get it on completely or straight. Then just a full length wood wedge, not metal for me. An ideal hang is straight with no gaps. The bit should be touching between the middle and up 1/3 of the way when laid on a bench even with the foot on a single bit.
 
Square_peg said:
Thanks for the video link. I am now dumber then when I woke up this morning.
:D
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How's that? There is no single standard way for doing things providing the one you use works. In the case of that fellow's video the simple technique worked for him (on that particular install) and likely the head won't fly off for awhile nor will it not chop wood. But certainly you nor I nor many others here will mistake that re-haft as having been done by an expert.
 
That man rehafted that axe in the same way that you can use a bowie knife to cut down a 50 year old oak- without expertise, the proper tools, and no understanding of the affect of time on the exercise.

As I've said in another thread, when you post a video on the internet, especially on a site dedicated to showing people the proper way to do something, you kind of have a responsibility to get it right. It's not rocket science, and it doesn't take expensive tools.

John
 
Thanks for attach the link.
Its reality,At that point I clutch the handle head down, and pound with an elastic hammer on the foot. The handle gets less abused thusly. Now and then I need to pound the head again off on the grounds that I couldn't get it on totally or straight.
 
Man, that was painful to watch.

The guy needs to take more time, energy, and effort with his work.
A rasp to prevent that peeling, multiple cycles of fitting the axe head, seeing where it is tight, rasping it a little to make it fit better, then re-fitting it.
It shouldent be so tight as to NOT take a wooden wedge. Everything needs a wooden wedge. That is how things go together. It is the Metal wedge that is optional.
If you do a good job you don't need a metal wedge.

As far as his first statement. "I've been making firewood for a long time." That says a lot.
You use a maul to make firewood.
You use a Axe to do all kinds of other work.

And what is the deal with the dried up axe handle on the rusted out axe head?
It looks as if he has never sharpened it and leaves it outside.

A few coats of linseed oil a year, and storing it in the garage will prevent the dry rot.

Not a very handy handy-man.
Kinda scary if you ask me.

Edited to add: and how straight can that axe be? Carved half hazardly with only a rough fit?
 
Wow I am the first person to admit I am no expert but holy crap. The dang thing wouldn't hold up to much if any use and will probably hurt someone. Too bad they just let anyone post that crap.
 
Let me know if something I say isn't correct, because I'm still learning. (How's that for a preamble.)
That said, here's what I remember about the problems with this rehafting video (some of my points have been stated already):

1. The fit should not be so tight that the kerf closes. (The tight areas can be rasped to allow the head to go on without too much difficulty.)

2. The wedge should be sized to be the full length of the eye, and thick enough and deep enough to fill all the gaps.

3. The kerf should be checked to insure that there's enough depth for the wedge (ideally with some extra depth for retightening later.)

4. Bit alignment and angle should be checked and corrected if necessary.

5. I would prefer to put the head lower on the handle, but I guess that the higher position leaves more room for tightening or reusing the haft later.

6. Existing instructions, like those in the booklet "An Ax to Grind", are much better, and can be referred to for more details.
 
I agree with what's been posted already and would add two things. Seating a head by pounding the butt on the ground is a bit too aggressive for me. It might make for more force but it could also split the butt end of the handle, then you gotta start all over. I've even split (poor) quality handles by hanging the conventional way with a wooden mallet. I learned my lesson and only use a deadblow now. Second, not seating the head far enough down the haft will leave the bottom of the kerf too far down in relation to the eye, which I think makes for a weaker joint. I always eyeball the bottom of the kerf to be about 2/3 of the way down the eye. That way there's plenty of solid wood at the bottom of eye. If I want to seat the head further down towards the shoulder of the handle (which is most times) I may need to saw the kerf down a bit more.

I'm sure that guy's method works for him, and we may not agree with it, but it sure makes for a good discussion.
 
Wow! That wasn't even half-ass effort there. I was waiting for him to reach for ducktape

other thought was he doesn't use axes, someone just handed him that stuff and said make a video putting a handle on
 
OutdoorEnvy said:
Wow! That wasn't even half-ass effort there. I was waiting for him to reach for ducktape

other thought was he doesn't use axes, someone just handed him that stuff and said make a video putting a handle on
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Haha, OutdoorEnvy, I was thinking the same thing about the duct-tape.
 
I am reminded of my early, unsupervised efforts in my grandpas shop with an old rusty head I found under the workbench. Good times. Although he missed the step where he sees the head is still a bit loose and then starts pounding finishing nails in around the wedge.
 
nickzdon said:
I agree with what's been posted already and would add two things. Seating a head by pounding the butt on the ground is a bit too aggressive for me. It might make for more force but it could also split the butt end of the handle, then you gotta start all over.
I'm sure that guy's method works for him, and we may not agree with it, but it sure makes for a good discussion.
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Had the fellow seated the head nearer to the shoulder (ie another inch or so) he might have got away with being considered an expert but in reality he only managed to seat the head until it ran out of saw kerf to pinch.

You will notice that virtually all commercial axe handles have a perpendicular flat at the butt. Tapping (not pounding) the butt on a hard surface (ground is no good, but a tree stump or flat smooth rock works fine) is wonderfully simple for seating heads but you cannot make the mistake of believing that this (ie pounding) is a substitute for adequately rasping and filing to fit before hand. The supervisor I had with Ontario Dept. of Lands & Forests in 1970 did it that way as did the district carpenter with B.C. Parks Branch, who re-hafted dozens of shovels, axes and sledges every month, when I worked there 35 years ago. Up until now I had never given any of this much thought but it certainly helps explain why axe polls are 'beefy' as a counterweight for the blade.
It has also dawned on me, in retrospect, that trimming a handle flush with the head does not make for as strong a lock as does leaving 1/8 - 1/4 inch showing. The exposed and unrestrained wood will never compress and can be made to swell too.

Thanks for posting this Geoff. I must say that video clip is an excellent eye-opener for critique and a worthy discussion piece for anyone looking to learn to do things like this themselves.
 
Before I started reading this forum, I probably would have done just what the guy in the video did. You can sure learn a lot by listening to others who know more than you do. My next rehang will be a much more presentable job.
 
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