Park's Project Thread, heads and handles

[cityofthesouth]

Man, solid work - really glad to see another project thread too! Keep it up.

 

[Park Swan]

Nice work Park! I really like that cross peen.

Thanks! I'm having fun playing with the extra swell in the handles. This one offers even a more comfortable grip by the head than by the swell, I think.

 

[Park Swan]

Man, solid work - really glad to see another project thread too! Keep it up.

:thumbup: Thanks.

 

[aikonen]

Stunning work Sir, very good looking handles. Thanks for sharing it with us

 

[rjdankert]

. . .Comments always welcome and encouraged, I do a lot of stuff wrong, even more I do the dumb way so feel free to let me know. . .

Bottom of handle:

Top of handle:

The end grain (growth rings) on both ends is in the same direction. To me that is a good indication of straight grain. I consider straight grain as the grain running straight through the entire length of the handle.

Here is an example of a handle that just looking at both ends could not have straight grain:

Note that I'm not including the above as some kind of an insult to the person who hung that axe. IMO that is an excellent piece of workmanship.
​

Here is a picture dear to my heart:

The obvious ray flect indicates to me that the blank was essentially quarter sawn stock. That is the most stable wood in the log. From what I see, that is as nice of a handle as they come from sawn stock.

Of course YMMV.


Bob

 

[Park Swan]

The obvious ray flect indicates to me that the blank was essentially quarter sawn stock. That is the most stable wood in the log. From what I see, that is as nice of a handle as they come from sawn stock.

Of course YMMV.


Bob

Thanks. I agree with your definition of straight grain.
I was lucky to have these piece of maple around, if I recall it was a reluctant buy because I purchase maple in 4/4 or even 13/16 s2s for high volume spoon carving projects / wholesale orders. I wouldn't have paid the extra for quarter sawn 5/4 unless they were out of other sizes on the day I happened to go and I was short on time.

 

[Park Swan]

Toy axe for a friend's (still infant) son. Walnut and maple. I wish I had taken more pictures, I'll forever maintain that his was one of my best handles and hang jobs. okay, maybe the hang is a little open, but it's an oldschool head!

 

[Moonw]

Toy axe for a friend's (still infant) son. Walnut and maple. I wish I had taken more pictures, I'll forever maintain that his was one of my best handles and hang jobs. okay, maybe the hang is a little open, but it's an oldschool head!

I see it has a poll. Good. Before I make up my mind on this...does it also have a nigh centerline?

*

Very nice work, I can already imagine daddy receiving a few bumps and bruises involuntarily...

 

[300Six]

Toy axe for a friend's (still infant) son. Walnut and maple. I wish I had taken more pictures, I'll forever maintain that his was one of my best handles and hang jobs. okay, maybe the hang is a little open, but it's an oldschool head!

I hope the parents of the child had the sense (since small male children rarely have any) not to let him use this as a beater or chopping toy. That thing is a work of art!

 

[Park Swan]

Thanks!

Our Instagram followers loved the axe toy, so we decided to make it a permanent addition to our product line. Here's what the latest looks like, photo by my awesome wifey

 

[Agent_H]

Thanks!

Our Instagram followers loved the axe toy, so we decided to make it a permanent addition to our product line. Here's what the latest looks like, photo by my awesome wifey

If the edge rolls or chips will you answer an email on Sunday?

Also, it looks a little dark... Is the heat treat consistent on those?



Joking of course - that is pretty cool and I hope for your success Park Swan.

You do have a way with those handle flats. :thumbup:

 

[loosehead]

You do great work! What kind of blueing did you use on the cross peen?

 

[Park Swan]

Thanks guys.

Loosehead, I've tried a few brands, Birchwood Casey Super Blue is my favorite. Seems to be the blackest, and doing more coats really yields a deeper finish.

 

[cityofthesouth]

those are awesome!

 

[loosehead]

Thanks guys.

Loosehead, I've tried a few brands, Birchwood Casey Super Blue is my favorite. Seems to be the blackest, and doing more coats really yields a deeper finish.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Park Swan]

Doing a lot of hanging today, hand for scale

 

[jake pogg]

Beautiful work,just the sweetest handle.

I've had one much like it made for me when i was 5...half-century later i still remember it most fondly.

 

[Park Swan]

I can't believe it's been 1.5 years since I refurbed those old hammers. I use them every day. The wedges on both began to get slippy as the weather heated up and my mostly outdoor shop reached high levels of heat/humidity. Doubt I'd use birch for wedges again, but I think especially with maple handles they were susceptible since the maple is so hard and slippery. When I pulled the wedges they looked polished from where I drove them in. That said, this could have been avoided by maintenance but I never soaked the hammers in oil since the initial hang.

So here's the 1.5 year update. These have tens of thousands of blows each, maybe into the hundreds on the little guy. The long one is my main forging hammer and I use the short one of course for the cross peen but mainly for planishing copper.

fresh wedges

You can see "overstrike" chewing on the larger one underneath the rounded striking face in this picture. That's from forging copper bowls and titanium bowls when I'm doing the final forming and bowl is getting deep. As the hammer reaches it's depth limit within a given size, the edge of the bowl sometimes bites the handle. I think maple has served well for this because of the way it takes damage, even though I never foresaw this issue, it seems like hickory or ash might have been more affected rather than just dented harmlessly.