Handle making?

[mlanghornes]

I'm looking for any advice/guides on how to make a wooden handle for a hatchet/axe/tomahawk directly from a branch, no lumber store shortcuts for me. Anyone have any advice, or know of any guides online? Any tricks to it that I should know, beyond finding a piece of hardwood with straight grain, curing it in a warm, dry place, and shaping it to fit?

 

[vector001]

do more than one at a time, for contingency, if ya hose up the first one, brother.

vec