Hanging a Kelly Perfect Jersey and two Norlund Hudson Bay's

[WarnerB]

The KP was actually a hang-and-rehang. The first handle was an octagonal 36" that i brought down to 34"

The first hang didn't quite feel right, so i re-hafted it

Removing the first handle

The second handle is a 32" straight octagonal that i brought down to 31"

Reshaped the handle. Took some thickness off the lower end and put a continuous taper from the shoulder to the swell

The Norlund hatchet was also a hang-and-rehang. First one was an octagonal 16"

The second handle was a 14" that i brought down to 12½"

Reshaped it and took some thickness off the swell

Decided to apply some leather binding for the heck of it

Sealed it to the handle with varnish, leaving the top strand dry where it meets the head

Doing some field testing

Messed around with some striping, but ended up sanding it off. Might repaint it some other time

Putting an edge on the large Norlund

Widening the kerf. (the saw bit me for taking the shortcut doing it by hand instead of putting it in the vice. Probably gonna invest in a band saw sooner than later)

The handle was 28" that i brought down to 25"

 

[bearhunter]

Those all turned out really nice

 

[halfaxe]

Looks like you got a lot of practice in on those three axes. Good job.

 

[OutdoorEnvy]

Nice set you have there. They turned out great

 

[Square_peg]

Very impressive! I bet that 32" straight octagon Perfect feels great. Those Jerseys are a little harder to hang, aren't they?

Love all the pics. I wish more guys would post WIPs.


One thing I do differently - when holding an axe head in the vise for filing I clamp it by the top and bottom of the eye and allow the bit to lay down flat. Filing feels more ergonomic for me that way.

 

[liamstrain]

Those came out great! I love that middle weight Norlund (on the 25" handle). Pretty much my perfect camp axe.

Do you have a preferred place that you are you getting new handles? or are you making them?

 

[WarnerB]

Those all turned out really nice

Thanks bear

 

[WarnerB]

Looks like you got a lot of practice in on those three axes. Good job.

I sure did. Thanks

 

[WarnerB]

Nice set you have there. They turned out great

Thanks

 

[WarnerB]

Very impressive! I bet that 32" straight octagon Perfect feels great. Those Jerseys are a little harder to hang, aren't they?

Love all the pics. I wish more guys would post WIPs.


One thing I do differently - when holding an axe head in the vise for filing I clamp it by the top and bottom of the eye and allow the bit to lay down flat. Filing feels more ergonomic for me that way.

Thanks Peg. I'm definitely satisfied with how the Perfect came out. Yep, they sure are. I learned a lot from hanging this Jersey. And yeah, good call. The horizontal way seems to work better. Thanks for the tip. And seeing your vise reminds me that i need to get a better one as well. The current one i'm using is pretty dinky.

 

[WarnerB]

Those came out great! I love that middle weight Norlund (on the 25" handle). Pretty much my perfect camp axe.

Do you have a preferred place that you are you getting new handles? or are you making them?

Thanks. It really is the perfect camp axe. I ordered these handles from Tennessee Hickory, O.P. Link company, House Handle, and Crook-Miller Co. out of Hicksville, Ohio. I get handles from various online sources but my preferred and the one i go through the most is House Handle Co.

 

[newsasquatch]

@WarnerB, How did you get the kelly perfect so black?

 

[Loosearrow]

Nice work. It takes me quite awhile to set a handle. It has to be a tedious labor of love to do it. Beats watching T.V.

 

[300Six]

Eye candy for the small and perverse contingent of us that get our jollies from carefully hafting our own implements! Thanks for the pictures and descriptions.

 

[Square_peg]

@WarnerB, How did you get the kelly perfect so black?

My guess is that he left the existing black on the axe by cleaning it with a wire cup brush instead of a vinegar soak. This is why I prefer cup brushes to vinegar. I like the brass cup brushes best because I think they leave a little more of the patina intact than the steel cup brushes do. But they take longer to remove the rust.

 

[newsasquatch]

hmm, I'll keep that in mind in the future. I think true temper kelly perfects look best black like that.

 

[WarnerB]

Thanks all

 

[WarnerB]

How did you get the kelly perfect so black?

The previous owner of the axe had apparently blue'd it. So the black patina is the result of me going over the gun blue finish with a wire cup brush. (like Peg mentioned.)