fixing a huge handle crack, maybe

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phantomknives

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Mar 31, 2016
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at a swap meet a few weeks back i picked up a brush axe with its original handle and today i got the handle out of it and hung another head on it. when i went to test it i heard a crack. i took some tape off and lo and behold, a giant crack.
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the crack goes from my finger to the wire, over about 8-9". its right in the belly so its more than a little important. i think i can save this guy.

first off, i put some glue in the cracks and i've put mini tourniquets on to serve as clamps. as soon as a can get some, i'll wrap it with some rawhide as added security.

if you have any ideas on how to save it, i'd love to hear it.
 
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phantomknives said:
i got the handle out of it and hung another head on it.
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Did you hang another brush axe on it or hang a wood axe? I wouldn't trust that handle on a wood axe. The impacts are too much. If your glue job comes out well then consider using the handle on the brush axe again.
 
I'm considering saving it because if it does crack off it'll only take about 1/2 a pencils worth of wood out of the eye. If the glue does crack or come out I think I'll use pine pitch because it's semi-flexible. There's quite a few small checks in the handle too so I'll glue those up too.

I appreciate the advice of sticking back on the brush axe. Hope I don't have to do it though. I bought it because it had a nice handle
 
phantomknives said:
I'm considering saving it because if it does crack off it'll only take about 1/2 a pencils worth of wood out of the eye. If the glue does crack or come out I think I'll use pine pitch because it's semi-flexible. There's quite a few small checks in the handle too so I'll glue those up too.

I appreciate the advice of sticking back on the brush axe. Hope I don't have to do it though. I bought it because it had a nice handle
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Did you use epoxy or just wood glue?
 
Square_peg said:
Did you hang another brush axe on it or hang a wood axe? I wouldn't trust that handle on a wood axe. The impacts are too much. If your glue job comes out well then consider using the handle on the brush axe again.
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I second that. I've never had any luck with structural glue repairs except for cosmetic purposes such as repairing a chipped butt swell. I've seen lots of wire-wound repairs that hold up but those aren't very comfortable and merely buy the user more time.
 
You could wrap it with fiber repair tape. I put that stuff on my splitting mauls up by the head to guard the handle.
 
its a full size 36", if it comes down to it i'll cut the cracking section out and find some way to fill the void
 
phantomknives said:
its a full size 36", if it comes down to it i'll cut the cracking section out and find some way to fill the void
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What caused it to crack? Differential shrinkage, wind or felling shake or maybe internal (hidden) defects. To me excising the crack and filling the void is akin to putting lipstick on a pig. When it comes to striking tools if you really wanna stress a piece of wood a full size head on a full length handle is just the ticket for accomplishing that. Taking chances on a possibly unsound handle ain't worth it.
If you really have your heart set on that particular handle pattern see if you can get hold of a AA wood billet, board or blank to trace it out on and then start whittling out a copy.
 
crbnSteeladdict said:
I just wonder if it could have been prevented by soaking the the axe over 24h in bucket of linseed oil before first use
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No! No mere coat of paint (BLO soak, in this case) is not gonna save an already deteriorated piece of wood. Gussying up wood surfaces is not unlike trying to inflate the value of a tired-out old car via flashy new paint.
 
300Six said:
No! No mere coat of paint (BLO soak, in this case) is not gonna save an already deteriorated piece of wood. Gussying up wood surfaces is not unlike trying to inflate the value of a tired-out old car via flashy new paint.
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I know some people soak(and, I mean literally: soak) new axes in linseed oil. Long time ago I used to soak dried out Old Hickory Handles in mineral oil over many days and they swelled nicely. In this case 24h would be probably too short for oil to travel up the old handle. Another thing BLO has different characteristics comparing to mineral oil. Thanks for the opinion of people wiser than me.
 
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crbnSteeladdict said:
I know some people soak(and, I mean literally: soak) new axes in linseed oil. Long time ago I used to soak dried out Old Hickory Handles in mineral oil over many days and they swelled nicely. In this case 24h would be probably too short for oil to travel up the old handle. Another thing BLO has different characteristics comparing to mineral oil. Thanks for the opinion of people wiser than me.
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Don't ever assume that is the case. I'm no smarter than the next guy. Only, I've done stupid stuff for 50 years longer than most.
 
I've drilled through the crack and countersunk some wood screws after gluing it up. I then filled over the heads with a mix of wood glue and sawdust to hide them. It's not the prettiest fix but it's been effective for me.
 
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