Photos Plumb BSA hand axe handle rehang/restoration

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Gnarlyblade

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May 25, 2019
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Hi there I am new here and I have a question about this Plumb BSA Hand Axe that I picked up in a bundle with a couple of spoke shaves at a swap meet a couple years back. The head is just slightly loose and I wanted to rehang the handle but there is a resin/plastic insert at the top like you would find on a hammer and I am not certain how to go about this properly.

CfUer4Zm.jpg
VJWKppvm.jpg



CfUer4Z
 
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Thanks Ithinkverydeeply I have read a few things but nothing direct about actually rehanging it but it sounds bad enough that you can't reuse the handle anyways. I could go get a replacement handle and cut to fit or I could make a new one and that's pretty much where I am at.

I was also wondering if this was worth a restoration anyways but it sounds like not and I should just make a new handle. Thanks again.
 
Gnarlyblade said:
Hi there I am new here and I have a question about this Plumb BSA Hand Axe that I picked up in a bundle with a couple of spoke shaves at a swap meet a couple years back. The head is just slightly loose and I wanted to rehang the handle but there is a resin/plastic insert at the top like you would find on a hammer and I am not certain how to go about this properly.

CfUer4Zm.jpg
VJWKppvm.jpg



CfUer4Z
Click to expand...
The issue you will run into is the haft is cut short on those perma bonded hafts. You can remove the perma bond and set the head deeper and re-glue with epoxy. You can maybe set the head far enough down on the shoulder to cut a kerf for wooden wedge. It would be close if you have enough shoulder to do it. Or just get a new haft.
I guess it depends on how attached you are to that haft?
 
garry3, I am less attached to it then it is currently attached. I would prefer to wedge the handle and I think making a new handle is the way to go but I just wanted to be certain that I am not ruining it by replacement. Thanks
 
Gnarlyblade said:
garry3, I am less attached to it then it is currently attached. I would prefer to wedge the handle and I think making a new handle is the way to go but I just wanted to be certain that I am not ruining it by replacement. Thanks
Click to expand...
I cut the haft off with a coping saw leaving them a little proud of the eye so I can hit the haft directly with a hammer to start it out. Set the head upside down across the top of my vise jaws. The perma bond drives right out with the haft, at times I will soften it with heat.
 
Gnarlyblade said:
Hi there I am new here and I have a question about this Plumb BSA Hand Axe that I picked up in a bundle with a couple of spoke shaves at a swap meet a couple years back. The head is just slightly loose and I wanted to rehang the handle but there is a resin/plastic insert at the top
Click to expand...

garry3 said:
The issue you will run into is the haft is cut short on those perma bonded hafts. You can remove the perma bond and set the head deeper and re-glue with epoxy. You can maybe set the head far enough down on the shoulder to cut a kerf for wooden wedge. It would be close if you have enough shoulder to do it. Or just get a new haft.
I guess it depends on how attached you are to that haft?
Click to expand...
:thumbsup:

Here is a Hults Bruk that had "goop" in the head that I rehung on the original handle:
https://bladeforums.com/threads/what-did-you-rehang-today.1064461/page-251#post-18628390

Don't know about a Plumb.


Bob
 
I've thought about this as well for when one of my Permabonds inevitably loosens. On one there's absolutely no way to drop it lower. My idea was using a drill press to drill a few 1/32" holes and injecting thinned G-Flex or the like. If you can thin urethane glue with heat and a bit of water that should expand which would be great, if you can get it down there.
 
Everyone has their own methods that they have developed based on available tools and skill levels. I always drill the hardened epoxy full of holes and “chip” the pieces of epoxy out. I try to save every handle I can. Someone here (jblyttle?) once said that vintage handles are harder to find than vintage heads. Once you chip some of the epoxy out you should be able to drive the handle out of the head. I have in the past made a smaller drift out of a piece of hickory from a ruined handle. I have some smaller wood chisels that I use to gently chip away at the stubborn epoxy in the head. I will give the eye a squirt of WD-40 to lubricate. You may not be able to reuse the handle on that head but may be able to use it on a later project.
 
Gnarlyblade, I lifted your picture just to look at the axe:
CfUer4Z.jpg

When you say "loose", does the permabond eye move with the handle or does only the handle wiggle?
It looks like it may have worked loose around the edges just by how the material has lightened up around the edges (impact/compression. Is that the wedge or kerf we can see down the middle?

You might be able to drive it out in its entirety without destroying it if you use an appropriately shaped drift. I've also heard of guys using a heat gun to lightly heat up the head around the eye - just enough to loosen the epoxy around the edges. I've never done it so I don't know for sure if a little heat does anything to Permabond.
 
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