Help me hang my hatchet!

[pinnah]

Ok, I'm working on hanging my first hatchet and I have several questions. I'm hoping you might be able to give me specific guidance.

SHOULD I BRING THE HEAD FURTHER DOWN?

I've gotten the head down onto the neck to the point where the curve of the neck now contacts the slightly wider shoulder of the eye. I might be able to bring it a schooch lower but to bring it significantly lower, I will need to rasp the neck to the point where I'm essentially creating a squared off 'L' shaped shoulder. Here are some pictures..

This shows that the bottom of eye is pretty well filled and supported.

Untitled by Pinnah, on Flickr

This shows the view from the back. I'll have to start squaring off the transition to the neck to go lower.


Untitled by Pinnah, on Flickr

This shows the view from the side. Again, I'll need to square off the transition in this aspect as well, to go lower.


Untitled by Pinnah, on Flickr

Central to this first question, is it better to make a square transition to better support the head but possibly create stress at the square transition or is it better to leave the transition more rounded but not support the head as much?

SHOULD I REDUCE THE SHOULDER SWELL?
As the pictures show, with the head where it is currently, the handle has a really big swell just under the head. Is there any reason one way or the other about removing or leaving the large swell. It looks sort of odd in person. Should I work it down more in line with the handle? Or does the extra material strengthen the handle there?


SWEL-LOCK or ALTERNATIVE?
I understand Swel-lock is the preferred material but is there anything that can be used instead?

DRILLED KERF
The kerf came pre-drilled for one of those round, hollow wedges but the handle didn't come with one. It did come with a metal wedge along with the larger wood wedge. In my reading, I understand that it's best to just use the wooden wedge only and to avoid the use of any metal wedge. If I do this, it will leave a bit of a unfilled hole half-hole on either side of the kerf/wood wedge. Is this OK, or should it get filled somehow?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Tymowens]

Use a half round rasp to take the shoulder of the handle down slightly. Be careful. You want it really tight so don't remove too much wood. You want it to be a little concave as the head will seat down tighter. I would take down some of that swell so that the head is wider then the handle. This will help avoid hitting the handle when you split/cut.

As for the drilled hole: when you drive the wedge into the kerf, in my limited experience, the hole will disappear as the cheeks are compressed by the wedge. Metal wedges are all personal preference. Some love them, some hate them. I'd go with no metal wedge and if the head comes loose you can always add the metal wedge to tighten it up.

 

[pinnah]

Concave but not so much as to be 'L' shaped, correct?

Do you use anything like Swel-lock or some sort of glue?

 

[Square_peg]

I'd drop it a little lower.
Don't square off the shoulder. The head should be supported from inside the eye. And a taper is stronger than a square seat under the head.
Yes, reduce the shoulder swell down to about 1/8" larger than where it leaves the eye, unless you want it larger to grip when choking up.
Is the top of the haft actually drilled for a round wedge or does it just have a dimple left over from the lathe? Dropping the head should get you past most of a dimple. Then don't worry about whatever remains. If it's really drilled for a round wedge then either use one or fill the hole with construction adhesive.
I use a generic form of Swel-lock called DPG - dipropylene glycol - NOT ethylene glycol - antifreeze. But you could also set the wedge with construction adhesive.