Help! Head wont hang straight

F

FLINT77

Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
838
Hey guys,

I'm trying to hang a head on a handle and from the very start it wants to go on tilted - so that one side is further down the haft than the other side. I tried taking more from the other side, but that doesn't seem to help. I'm getting pretty far down the tongue now, so I'm going to have to correct it pretty quick or I'll have wasted a nice handle. How can I get it to straighten out.

Seems like it shouldn't be too complicated - there are only two sides and I have to take material from one or the other. Seems like I should take more from the side that the head is sitting higher up on.

Its like the head is going to do what it wants to do, regardless of where I remove wood.

Sorry, I was holding the axe crooked here so its hard to see, but the head is tilting to the right - sitting further down on the right side of the handle.



and here is looking down the bit - so you can see it tilts to the right so that the bottom of the bit tips to the left.
 
FLINT77 said:
Hey guys,

I'm trying to hang a head on a handle and from the very start it wants to go on tilted - so that one side is further down the haft than the other side. I tried taking more from the other side, but that doesn't seem to help. I'm getting pretty far down the tongue now, so I'm going to have to correct it pretty quick or I'll have wasted a nice handle. How can I get it to straighten out.

Seems like it shouldn't be too complicated - there are only two sides and I have to take material from one or the other. Seems like I should take more from the side that the head is sitting higher up on.

Its like the head is going to do what it wants to do, regardless of where I remove wood.

Sorry, I was holding the axe crooked here so its hard to see, but the head is tilting to the right - sitting further down on the right side of the handle.



and here is looking down the bit - so you can see it tilts to the right so that the bottom of the bit tips to the left.
Click to expand...
I feel your pain brother! Some of them are just a pain in the ass! What I've found to help, besides doing what you are already doing and taking more of the "high" side, is placing the axe sideways on a board on the ground with the tilt up and actually stepping on the axe with my foot and pulling the helve towards me as I hit it. I use a chunk of 4"x6" so the protruding tongue is clear of the board. You can also wedge the the top over to thr desired direction as well. I have several axes that just will not hang straight. I've found however, even though perfectly centered is ideal, that as long as when sighting along the bit it points somewhere on the swell it doesn't make a big difference when falling. You just adjust your hold to compensate. Good luck with it!
 
Yankee Josh said:
I feel your pain brother! Some of them are just a pain in the ass! What I've found to help, besides doing what you are already doing and taking more of the "high" side, is placing the axe sideways on a board on the ground with the tilt up and actually stepping on the axe with my foot and pulling the helve towards me as I hit it. I use a chunk of 4"x6" so the protruding tongue is clear of the board. You can also wedge the the top over to thr desired direction as well. I have several axes that just will not hang straight. I've found however, even though perfectly centered is ideal, that as long as when sighting along the bit it points somewhere on the swell it doesn't make a big difference when falling. You just adjust your hold to compensate. Good luck with it!
Click to expand...

Thanks!! I'll try both of those things tomorrow!!!
 
A couple things might be going on there. First, straightneing a hang means carving away from 2 areas on opposite sides of the haft. Imagine trying to twist the head straight on the haft. Are you sure you're carving wood away from the right places?

The other thing is that some axes have eyes that don't align with the bit. Here you have to shave the haft on 2 different axes(plural of axis) to twist the head both top to bottom and radially around the haft. This is tough.

If your restoration includes a major reshaping of the bit then you can take out some of the twist in the way you shape the bit. This involves fitting the head to the haft before you reshape the bit. Then you file to re-align the bit to the eye and the haft. It's a pro move. But it can help a little.
 
I'm glad i waited to say anything,Josh and Square_peg had covered the subject Way better than i ever could put it.
In addition i can only say that some axes are just crooked from the get-go.I myself have forged an axe for a friend that was twisted way out of any possible alignment.As a result he's had to re-forge it to take that twist out,and of course re-HT and on and on,quite a hassle...:(
(I've also bought a Council Hudson bay a few years back that i myself had to go through all the above b.s. to get it in Any way straight).

So there's only so much you can do,in some cases,and the blame for these difficult to align heads lies wholly with the smith.
Best of luck,i hope it can balance out for you some way.
 
Yeah, I was gonna' say that sometimes there's a sharp (or sharper) edge to the interior of one side of the eye underneath and when driving the handle in the sharp side will bite into the wood more and cause it to move down a little more on that side, twisting the head.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
when driving the handle in the sharp side will bite into the wood
Click to expand...

I'd really recommend filing any sharp edges on the bottom of eye smoothly radiused to a chamfer.
The idea in hafting any tool is to gather and compress the wood fibers within the eye.
Obviously,given any sharpness of the edge that is not possible;and any degree of close fit cannot then be achieved.
Also if left sharp those edges will damage wood fibers when using the tool,thus reducing the potential load-able dia. of haft by significant percentage.
The broken ends of outer fibers then in turn act to damage the underlying ones,in effect transfering the damage deeper.
Such damage,in a form of darkened crack lines,is often visible upon replacing of an old handle,and it can run pretty deep.
 
jake pogg said:
I'd really recommend filing any sharp edges on the bottom of eye smoothly radiused to a chamfer.
The idea in hafting any tool is to gather and compress the wood fibers within the eye.
Obviously,given any sharpness of the edge that is not possible;and any degree of close fit cannot then be achieved.
Also if left sharp those edges will damage wood fibers when using the tool,thus reducing the potential load-able dia. of haft by significant percentage.
The broken ends of outer fibers then in turn act to damage the underlying ones,in effect transfering the damage deeper.
Such damage,in a form of darkened crack lines,is often visible upon replacing of an old handle,and it can run pretty deep.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Gotta' deburr that eye thoroughly.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Yeah, I was gonna' say that sometimes there's a sharp (or sharper) edge to the interior of one side of the eye underneath and when driving the handle in the sharp side will bite into the wood more and cause it to move down a little more on that side, twisting the head.
Click to expand...

I think this is exactly what is happening. one side of the eye looks thinner and sharper.

Yankee Josh Yankee Josh 's suggestion of wedging the tongue over worked great though! I feel like I just advanced a level! Thanks guys!

I'll post some pics when I finish up in a bit
 
again, I didn't get the camera straight on the axe, but I was able to get the head much straighter on the handle - totally acceptable now.

The wedge trick really works - I tapped a wedge into the side that wasn't seating as far which tipped the head back straight and made it seat straight as I tapped the bottom of the handle.
The eye of the axe head must have been drifted crooked, here you can see that this side is thicker

and this side is thinner

Got it wedged in really well

Here it is


and next to my Flint edge connecticut. they are buddies now :)


Should be a real handy little axe. Total length is 25.5" which is exactly one inch shorter than the Flint edge connie which I've used a bunch and like the length. The total weight is exactly 4lbs.
 
FLINT77 said:
again, I didn't get the camera straight on the axe, but I was able to get the head much straighter on the handle - totally acceptable now.

The wedge trick really works - I tapped a wedge into the side that wasn't seating as far which tipped the head back straight and made it seat straight as I tapped the bottom of the handle.
The eye of the axe head must have been drifted crooked, here you can see that this side is thicker

and this side is thinner

Got it wedged in really well

Here it is


and next to my Flint edge connecticut. they are buddies now :)


Should be a real handy little axe. Total length is 25.5" which is exactly one inch shorter than the Flint edge connie which I've used a bunch and like the length. The total weight is exactly 4lbs.
Click to expand...
Well done man! You triumphed! Looks awesome too... I can see you now, sipping a beer, with a self satisfied maybe even smug look on your face... You kicked its ass!
 
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