Jersey axe help!

[blueaxeflhtcu]

I recently purchased what I believe to be a Kelly woodlasher jersey bit with no handle. I am making this assumption based on the shaping, red paint, ribbing inside the eye and the remnants of a sticker on the cheek that looks very similar based images of Kellys I have found online.

Anyways, I have now wasted $40 on very poor handles from Ace hardware. I have had one split after I got it shaped and was pressing the bit onto it. And another was so poorly shaped from the mill that after I shaved the cheeks of the handle down enough to begin pressing into the eye, I discovered that it was milled down too far from front to back. Leaving a gap in the front of the eye. And I know that's not at all going to work. Ever. No, I did not remove any material from the front or back of the handle, only the cheeks.

My question is where can I find a handle that is either uncut eye I can shape myself, or one that's actually cut decently enough to be able to fit the eye properly? Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[Hickory n steel]

You can order one from Tennessee hickory or house handles, though I do not like the shape of the house brand handles myself.
House does sell partially shaped handles if I'm not mistaken, you'll have a lot of work to do but it's the next best thing to completely starting from scratch.
Another option is to just use a larger wedge to fill up that space at the front and back of the eye, your wedge should be cut to the length of the eye not handle tongue anyways.

 

[blueaxeflhtcu]

You can order one from Tennessee hickory or house handles, though I do not like the shape of the house brand handles myself.
House does sell partially shaped handles if I'm not mistaken, you'll have a lot of work to do but it's the next best thing to completely starting from scratch.
Another option is to just use a larger wedge to fill up that space at the front and back of the eye, your wedge should be cut to the length of the eye not handle tongue anyways.

Awesome, thanks for the advice. Those ones definitely look nice. Have you ever used whiskey river trading handles? That is another website I just found while doing research. And those handles look pretty nice. I'll do a little more research and get one ordered up soon once I decide on one. Hopefully it'll work a lot better this time.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I have not used their handles before.

 

[Miller '72]

Awesome, thanks for the advice. Those ones definitely look nice. Have you ever used whiskey river trading handles? That is another website I just found while doing research. And those handles look pretty nice. I'll do a little more research and get one ordered up soon once I decide on one. Hopefully it'll work a lot better this time.

Just reading thru and i can say i have purchased and used handles from Whisky River Trading and they have been great.
The stock handles allow for you the shape and thin.
The heritage Series are ready to go, based and copied from vintage handles, they come thin and feeling very right.
Get on their email list for the announcements of when the heritage Series handles are back in stock. They go fast.

 

[Square_peg]

And another was so poorly shaped from the mill that after I shaved the cheeks of the handle down enough to begin pressing into the eye, I discovered that it was milled down too far from front to back. Leaving a gap in the front of the eye. And I know that's not at all going to work. Ever.

It sounds like the haft was slightly undersized to begin with. But it may still have worked. The wedge can fill a little bit of the front of the eye.

You mentioned that your axe has eye ridges. These are much more difficult to hang. The kerf gets pinched by the ridges and becomes 'spring loaded', binding the haft in the eye during test fits. It can be very frustrating. I discover that it's much easier to fit an unkerfed haft to an eye-ridged head. But unkerfed hafts generally aren't available. The next best thing is to lightly wedge the kerf so if doesn't become compressed during test fits.

Lay the head on the haft and mark the top and bottom of the eye ridges onto the haft. Remove the haft and connect the marks. Now cut shallow V-grooves along these lines with the corner of a rasp or even with a utility knife. Cut these grooves shallower than the actual ridges.

As you slim the haft for the eye you will need to re-draw the groove lines and you may need to deepen them. The nice thing is that test fits become much easier now with the eye wedged so it isn't getting compressed.

Once you're certain that you will be able to drive the haft clear through the eye +1/4" without creating a 'ninja shelf' or ridge below the eye then its almost time to remove the temporary wedge from the kerf and drive the haft home. But before you do that you need to test fit your wedge into the eye. The wedge may need to be shaped to fit the front of the eye. It may need to taper on its ends to fit inside the eye. Once your satisfied that both the haft and wedge will fit the eye then it's time drive the haft home.

Just before wedging I recommend dousing the kerf and wedge with Swel-Lock* or generically an 80:20 blend of dipropylene glycol and water. This will cause the wood to swell after the wedge has been driven, wedging it even tighter.

Test fitting the wedge:

 

[Square_peg]

For an even sturdier hang stop diving the wedge just a moment before it would have been stopped by the tightness of the fit. Your haft should be protruding 1/4" or more above the eye. Cut your wedge off now, flush with the haft, and then drive the wedge the last 1/8" with a flat metal punch like the scrap of leaf spring shown in my previous image. Now your wedge should still be 1/8" above the eye but 1/8" below the haft. Now coat the wedge and top of the haft again with Swel-Lock. This will cause the haft to swell over the top of the wedge, locking it in.

This is the look you're after.

 

[garry3]

I recently purchased what I believe to be a Kelly woodlasher jersey bit with no handle. I am making this assumption based on the shaping, red paint, ribbing inside the eye and the remnants of a sticker on the cheek that looks very similar based images of Kellys I have found online.

Anyways, I have now wasted $40 on very poor handles from Ace hardware. I have had one split after I got it shaped and was pressing the bit onto it. And another was so poorly shaped from the mill that after I shaved the cheeks of the handle down enough to begin pressing into the eye, I discovered that it was milled down too far from front to back. Leaving a gap in the front of the eye. And I know that's not at all going to work. Ever. No, I did not remove any material from the front or back of the handle, only the cheeks.

My question is where can I find a handle that is either uncut eye I can shape myself, or one that's actually cut decently enough to be able to fit the eye properly? Thank you in advance for your help.

On some axe eyes there will be a small gap at the front of the bottom eye, it is usually of no consequence. The top of the eye is filled in by the wedge, as axe eyes are tapered.

It could be that you have either a oversized eye or hafts that have been over milled. I don't see either one very often.

Up loading pictures might help.