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Eye Fit Question
- Thread starter Geoff
- Start date
Square_peg
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2012
- Messages
- 13,859
That sucks. 
Well, now you have an excuse to head out to the shop and start whittling. I know there's nothing implicitly wrong with hardware store hickory, so long as you sort through the pile for the right grain, but there is a separate and distinct pleasure to be had in winnowing down your own stave into a unique handle.
I second this. It's the fit at the bottom that is important.
Square_peg
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2012
- Messages
- 13,859
That's a bit loose for my liking. You'll get contact points at the top and bottom with little contact in between. Not as durable of hang as a proper fitting haft.
Myself, would be out looking for another handle! A thick wedge does not impart strength to a hang but rather locks the head in place but at the same time it's also gonna want to split the handle where it enters the eye. What's weird with you finding an under-size handle is that 9 times out of 10 any handles I bring home are horribly over-sized and only that occasional 1 in 10 is a immediate fit.
I've never done this, but if that handle is otherwise a "beauty", perhaps seating in onto the shoulder and then bedding it in epoxy or Fiberglas resin before driving in the wedge might hold it all together for you. I'd be lightly rubbing Vaseline or grease on the inside of the eye though to keep the compound from thoroughly bonding with the steel.
I've never done this, but if that handle is otherwise a "beauty", perhaps seating in onto the shoulder and then bedding it in epoxy or Fiberglas resin before driving in the wedge might hold it all together for you. I'd be lightly rubbing Vaseline or grease on the inside of the eye though to keep the compound from thoroughly bonding with the steel.
There are exceptions to the "common" eye sizes. I've got a pre-1965 Vaughan Pulaski, a full size 3 3/4 lb. Pulaski, that has an almost comically small eye.
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I'm going to disagree with the majority here, because I think that's about perfect. As far as I've heard, one third of the space at the top of the eye should be taken up with the wedge. (Or am I wrong?) Just make your wedge thicker, but not longer. Test the wedge in the eye first, measuring how far you want it to go into the kerf, then touch up the wedge, making it either narrower, thinner, blunter, etc.
If the head is going on the handle straight, i.e. both edges are aligned with the length of the handle and the knob (important!), I would recommend rasping a little bit of wood off the left and left lower side of the handle inside of the eye. This will keep the wedge from altering the alignment as you drive it in. (My point here is to try to keep the wood inside the eye evenly spaced from both sides.)
Am I making any sense here? if not, please bring it to my attention.
The wedge shouldn't alter the hang because the fit at the bottom of the eye should be very tight. If you just drop the head on and assume that that is where the head is supposed to be and then wedge it, you might alter the hang. More likely you could risk splitting the handle parralel to the wedge kerf. And the head slide up the handle easier. The tight fit is important to keep the handle put, keep it from splitting when you pound a wedge in (and really pound it, as you have to to keep it well behaved and in place for the long haul).
The important things is keeping it from splitting when you drive a serious wedge it-- that means sawing the wedge kerf about 7/8ths of the depth. You can leave a little extra wood protruding from the top too, for extra spread. That way the splay will happen with the wedge kerf, and the tight fit at the bottom of the eye will stifle any split that tries to start.
Lowes handles are made from sawn stock (I.E. boards) hence the thinness.
The important things is keeping it from splitting when you drive a serious wedge it-- that means sawing the wedge kerf about 7/8ths of the depth. You can leave a little extra wood protruding from the top too, for extra spread. That way the splay will happen with the wedge kerf, and the tight fit at the bottom of the eye will stifle any split that tries to start.
Lowes handles are made from sawn stock (I.E. boards) hence the thinness.
Without seeing the bottom though, that is irrelevant. The wedging action is across the short axis. Even a small gap on each side (assuming it's not like an eighth or a quarter of an inch) is often not a problem at all. I have dozens of examples, with no failures from it.
As it is in the photo, yes shifting is possible. But once fitted with a proper wedge, we need to bear in mind that the eye is oval shaped. Once it's expanded by the wedge, force from either direction is not going to move the head, since the eye is symmetrical and tapered. The opposite side from the force, the taper of the eye will but against the wood and nothing will budge (given a tight fit).
But do you think the tongue of the handle would angle that much in? If I was going to go ahead with it, I would add extra pieces of wedge to fill up the front and back gaps. If it's just empty space, the handle might lever out one day.
The thing is, you might not be able to find a handle with a big enough tongue. So either you make your own from scratch or you work with what you got and hope for the best.
The thing is, you might not be able to find a handle with a big enough tongue. So either you make your own from scratch or you work with what you got and hope for the best.
Have you ever tried re-cutting the kerf? That is, make your first cut as normal, than clamp the wood together in a vise and re-cut that same kerf to two thirds of the depth of the first cut. Then clamp again, and cut again, this time one third of the depth. What do you think of the idea?
It's safer to add pieces after than to try to make one long wedge. If you do that, you can compromise the depth of the wedge and subsequently the wedging action across the short axis. Heads can fly off that way.
It works-- I've done it before. Sometimes it's worth using. IT's not usually necessary though, I guess.
Also, the eye is often tapered both across the short axis and the long axis. So again, the length of the eye at the top is going to be longer than at the bottom. That can create more illusion and confusion.
So the tongue of the handle as you call it could be straight and flare out at the bottom only slightly, but this is compounded by the top of the eye being longer than the bottom.