modded up my old estwing axe

[Liam Ryan]

Came out better than I expected. The shaft is welded into a thick tube, not exactly one piece construction, seems pretty tough though.
Need something good for a handle grip though.
Bandsaw and a dremel did most of the work. Really need to thin out the bit on it.
The hole at the end is clean, the leftover paint and shadows make it look mangled.

 

[Liam Ryan]

Figured I would post a stock photo of what it looked like before. The handle was bulkier and clunkier, just molded rubber. I like the current handles a lot though, may have even kept it stock if it had one like this.

 

[Square_peg]

Do you have a photo of the modded axe? It's hard to imagine from just your description.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Yeah I seem to remember the older handles being pretty fat. Glad they've slimmed them down a little.

Interesting mod--can you see inside the hollow haft and see if there's any sort of tang in there? Makes me curious if anything projects past the weld.

 

[DJG097]

Yeah I seem to remember the older handles being pretty fat. Glad they've slimmed them down a little.

Interesting mod--can you see inside the hollow haft and see if there's any sort of tang in there? Makes me curious if anything projects past the weld.

I have an older estwing in the shed from the early 90's. I actually like a thicker handle but without gloves mine gives me blisters if used for a long period of time.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Having small hands probably gives me a bias against fat handles.

 

[Liam Ryan]

Do you have a photo of the modded axe? It's hard to imagine from just your description.

You can't see the pics? I have this issue sometimes when I use my cel phone pics, I have to go through like 6 steps to get them posted so maybe something along the way gets messed up, but it works for others? I am confused.

Forty Two Blades, just checked and there's about 2.5 inches of material going past the weld, and the tube itself is pretty beefy too.

This thing is still rather heavy, I may remove some more material from the head. I think a full flat grind would be pretty cool, it's pretty close to a perfect wedge as it is.

 

[BobSig]

I like that, looks good.

 

[high desert]

You might be able to use spray adhesive / contact cement and leather or rubber wrap it like a tennis racket.