live oak haft

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BigBuddha76

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Jun 3, 2015
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I just ordered a CS spike hawk, and am going to jump right in to mods. I have a plethora of live oak here in the fl panhandle, and would like to make a new handle out of some oak for the hawk. I figure if it was good enough for old ironsides, a tomahawk would be fine. Any one else tried using this wood?
 
thanks , that document is now part of my library.

i have a bunch of live oak that I was saving for walking sticks, for the last 5 years. Looks like I may have a better use for them now.

now if only I still had that medlar tree.
 
You guys have an Oak there that only grows in that area don't you? Is it referred to as "Live" or do you literally mean living?
 
In the panhandle of FL, it's likely he means live oak (Quercus virginiana). It's super tough stuff, and grows throughout the southeastern coastal plain.
 
cityofthesouth said:
You guys have an Oak there that only grows in that area don't you? Is it referred to as "Live" or do you literally mean living?
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There are pointy-tipped leaves on oaks in the 'red oak' category and round-tipped 'whites' and then there are curious 'white' oak versions throughout the sub-tropical south that don't shed their leaves in the autumn. Live oak is an apt name for these.
 
I've never made a haft from White Oak as Hickory is plentiful here, but, I have often thought about it. White Oak heartwood is way more rot resistant than Hickory, and extremely durable.
 
SC T100 said:
In the panhandle of FL, it's likely he means live oak (Quercus virginiana). It's super tough stuff, and grows throughout the southeastern coastal plain.
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yes, in fact we have the naval live oak national park here. working live oak is like working a red oak crossed with rattan. if it works out I'll send any out to anyone who wants to experiment with it.

now if only I still had that medlar tree
 
We have lots of many varieties of Oak here, red and white, hickory too if you look for it. But, these are large healthy trees on public land so they will never be a resource for me. I can contact a tree service though if I want to. No Live Oak though, although I remember seeing it everywhere covered with Spanish moss when I visited Louisiana in 1990.
 
We've got a lot of live oak here in Texas, as well. Can anyone educate me about how to go about making a haft from one? I've got no idea what to look for.
 
BackInKentucky said:
We've got a lot of live oak here in Texas, as well. Can anyone educate me about how to go about making a haft from one? I've got no idea what to look for.
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Find or get yourself a big round of lumber (36" long) that is straight and as much devoid of kinks, voids and knots as possible. Figure out a way to split this into 'staves' (2 x 4 nominal?) and then go to town with bandsaw, drawknives, spokeshaves and rasps until you get what you want. Waiting a year or two for the wood to season (ie shrink and stabilize) after doesn't hurt either, before the hang.
When you figure a lathe-turned House Handle hickory haft costs about $10 it is easy to see why folks don't make their own (regardless of type of wood) anymore. Don't get me wrong; I'd love to see someone make and use a live oak handle. I made one out of Ironwood 30 years ago (which was way too much like work) but I'll betcha it's still out there for the same reason you'd want to play with live oak; durable and tough!
 
ive started making one. tried to get a stave first by splitting. I found you dont just split live oak. now ive got a 28" piece that i cut out of the log. will work on it some more when I get time
 
Does it matter exactly what part of the tree said stave comes from? So, a small branch that's big enough vs a limb vs heartwood. I imagine that since a tomahawk haft is so much simpler than most axe handles I could manage it... It wouldn't be the first time I bit off more than I could chew, though. Would leaving the finished stave in a 'heat box' type thing (ie, a how car. Plenty of those in Texas) for a few days or weeks be sufficient seasoning? And how much can I expect the wood to shrink over this process?

On another note: did you happen to photograph that ironwood haft? It sounds gorgeous. I understand that it was 30 years ago, but I can dream, haha.
 
BigBuddha76 said:
ive started making one. tried to get a stave first by splitting. I found you dont just split live oak. now ive got a 28" piece that i cut out of the log. will work on it some more when I get time
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You'll have to go at this with a bit of patience. Once you have a crack or split started then you start pounding in wedges to further open the split and drive in more wedges all along the length of the round. Easiest is to find a guy with a commercial gas powered hydraulic wood splitter. Typically these machines don't handle long lengths but 30-32" is a possibility.
Limbs (which have circular grain) make good tomahawk and trade axe handles but for a curved axe handle you'll want the flattest grain possible. There are archival posts on this forum on how to select for grain orientation.
 
with the stringiness and twist of the grain on this stuff the power splitter wasnt having it. so I cut a stave out using a chainsaw then circular saw (that was FUN) got great grain orientation on the second stave. the first one was twisted.
 
300Six said:
You'll have to go at this with a bit of patience. Once you have a crack or split started then you start pounding in wedges to further open the split and drive in more wedges all along the length of the round. Easiest is to find a guy with a commercial gas powered hydraulic wood splitter. Typically these machines don't handle long lengths but 30-32" is a possibility.
Limbs (which have circular grain) make good tomahawk and trade axe handles but for a curved axe handle you'll want the flattest grain possible. There are archival posts on this forum on how to select for grain orientation.
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splitting live oak is not an option-- splitting either live or dead live oak to make clean, straight staves is damned near impossible. the grain wanders side to side in very, very tight patterns. even trying with a very sharp froe would be extremely difficult and would likely tax your froe. definitely cut it!
 
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