Recent Handles

G

G-pig

Joined
Jul 5, 2011
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From bottom/left to top/right, two Birch, two Sugar Maple, and one Ash. Kelly Flintedge, possibly Mann Edge tool, KATCO, Plumb, and Kelly made Demon. All handles self made.



 
Beautiful handles, G-pig, but looks aren't everything. They look great, but.... they work even better. =D Those wonderful thin handles, along with the nice convex cheeks and faces filed down good and thin, make for some of the best axes I've ever used.
 
Sparrow92 said:
Beautiful handles, G-pig, but looks aren't everything. They look great, but.... they work even better. =D Those wonderful thin handles, along with the nice convex cheeks and faces filed down good and thin, make for some of the best axes I've ever used.
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Whatever do you mean? ;)
 
Must I elaborate for you dear? Your axe handles are awesome... and let's just leave it at that. We wouldn't want your modest little self to get a big ego or something, would we? ;)
 
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Sparrow92 said:
Must I elaborate for you dear? Your axe handles are awesome to use... and let's just leave it at that. We wouldn't want your modest little self to get a big ego or something, would we? ;)
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Well... I suppose not...
 
Could I bother you with a few questions?

I am really impressed with these pics and some of your others of handles you have made yourself. I have a piece of ash from a small tree I cut down this spring. I saved a straight piece, 8-10" diameter, 30"~ long. It's currently drying in the garage. How long should it dry before its workable? (Ends are splitting a bit already) It's better to let I'd dry out a year or so before cutting it down, right? Or should I try to split a few pieces off it now and let it dry out individually??

Thanks for letting me tap into your experience. :)
 
schmittie said:
Could I bother you with a few questions?

I am really impressed with these pics and some of your others of handles you have made yourself. I have a piece of ash from a small tree I cut down this spring. I saved a straight piece, 8-10" diameter, 30"~ long. It's currently drying in the garage. How long should it dry before its workable? (Ends are splitting a bit already) It's better to let I'd dry out a year or so before cutting it down, right? Or should I try to split a few pieces off it now and let it dry out individually??

Thanks for letting me tap into your experience. :)
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Pretty much all the handles I make are at the least shaped while still green. Some of them even get fitted without a months worth of drying. You could shape the handles out now, leave them just a smidge over sized, do some of the fitting and saw the wedge kerf. After that, I'd leave it for another month or so, and then finish, wedge etc.

I would also paint the end grain, Ash can check like all hell if it wants to.
 
G-pig said:
Pretty much all the handles I make are at the least shaped while still green. Some of them even get fitted without a months worth of drying. You could shape the handles out now, leave them just a smidge over sized, do some of the fitting and saw the wedge kerf. After that, I'd leave it for another month or so, and then finish, wedge etc.

I would also paint the end grain, Ash can check like all hell if it wants to.
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Really? For some reason I had these horrible images in my head of it drying all crooked. Thanks for the tip. I'll try to split it out soon.
 
schmittie said:
Really? For some reason I had these horrible images in my head of it drying all crooked. Thanks for the tip. I'll try to split it out soon.
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Ash doesn't seem to warp much. Sugar Maple, for example, can warp like hell when its green.
 
Congratulations on some excellent work G-pig. Curious what you think of how the three woods compare as they are easy to get around here. I Find making handles rewarding as well. Will have to post pics some time...

Markus
 
mrkus said:
Congratulations on some excellent work G-pig. Curious what you think of how the three woods compare as they are easy to get around here. I Find making handles rewarding as well. Will have to post pics some time...

Markus
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Ash is probably the toughest of the three, given good care (don't let delaminate from weather or over strikes). Maple is plenty strong too. I only use (White) Birch for smaller axes (under 2 1/2 pounds) but when its seasoned and hasn't been left to deteriorate it's pretty tough too.
 
Those do look like very swingable axes and like they would be nice to have in the hands. That you can manage mounting green wood and having it stay tight in that type of head is pretty amazing, if you don't mind me saying. Still, congratulations on some fine looking axes.

Schmittie, you should split that ash into quarters right away next time and it won't check so readily.

E.DB.
 
Ernest DuBois said:
Those do look like very swingable axes and like they would be nice to have in the hands. That you can manage mounting green wood and having it stay tight in that type of head is pretty amazing, if you don't mind me saying. Still, congratulations on some fine looking axes.

Schmittie, you should split that ash into quarters right away next time and it won't check so readily.

E.DB.
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I wouldn't call it "green" in the strict sense, because it's usually dried for two weeks to a month, with a chunk of time for the part that's important to dry via the wedge kerf etc. I just don't wait a year or what have you, leaving them in quartered pieces. Sometimes I will just leave the wedge a little bit proud in case I do get any further shrinkage. And you can always tighten the wedge with a flat peen hammer or something thin enough to push the wedge in beyond flush. It usually doesn't take much to tighten it back up.
 
Excellent work as usual. I especially like the grind on the first and last axe. I've noticed that banana grind helps an axe to really cut well without binding.
 
Square_peg said:
Excellent work as usual. I especially like the grind on the first and last axe. I've noticed that banana grind helps an axe to really cut well without binding.
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I think it's standard procedure. I see a lot of people that just sharpen radially around the high centerline. Them axes won't cut. A common mistake is to think that filing down the high centerline will nullify it's effect. It won't. It allows deeper penetration before it comes into play. That's just altering for the intended use.
 
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