ReHandling a Camp Axe

Big Chris

Big Chris

SAHD/Knifemaker
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Apr 1, 2010
Messages
3,273
I have a Cold Steel Camp Axe that I need to re hang. I let my nephews Boy Scout troop use it on a cold campout and they managed to destroy the handle. I have searched and have not found what I consider a good replacement. My plan now it to get a straight grained board and make my own that will fit my hands better and be slightly stouter.
My question for you is why should I choose Hickory over any other wood? Is Ash a good choice? What about oak?
Thanks for your input.
 
Hickory has the best combination of strength and flexibility of any readily available commercial wood. Other wood that would be excellent would be Ironwood(Ostrya Virginiana), unavailable commercially. Oak, Ash, Beech, Maple make good handles though. Many axes have been hafted with those species and more.
 
Tradition seems to dictate what wood was used and where for commercial handles. Hickory is common and grows relatively straight over much of e. America and a logical choice but for instance if you were in Quebec or the Maritimes (where there is no hickory) and White Ash is super common no doubt many local handles used that instead. I love Ash as firewood because it splits so easy and this quality makes me leery of using it for axe handles. I have an old Canadian axe that was hung a long time ago in American Elm. It's not as pretty-looking appearance-wise but I betcha it's tough as nails. Back in my wood stove heating days we quickly discovered that elm firewood can only be split with some degree of ease once it's frozen at -20C or colder. There is a company in Ottawa, Ontario that has successfully been manufacturing major league baseball bats from sugar maple for 20 years now. If hard maple works for bats it'll work for axe handles. A material I would like to try out sometime is White Oak. Whites are not to be confused with the much more brittle Reds. And then of course there is my all time favourite Ironwood but finding suitable blanks or even a sawyer or mill that deals in that material is like trying to find hen's teeth. Ironwood is hard and heavy and historically known for dulling axe blades plus being impossible to split, and apparently also does not develop cracks or splits as it dries.

I think the most difficult thing for you in getting started is to find a 5/4 or 1 1/2 inch hardwood lumber blank with grain orientation the way you want it.
 
Thanks for the replies, especially your 300Six. I looked at boards yesterday and all I fount that was nice enough, straight and with good grain was a couple pieces of Ash.
The handle I am wanting to copy is only about 20" or less long. I do not think I will be using it hard enough to have any major issues, but wanted some opinions here.
 
Chris

Keep your eyes open for some Osage Orange, (Maclura pomifera). It grows primarily in eastern Texas / Oklahoma, and SW Mississippi, but is now widely planted throughout much of the U.S. The wood is hard and heavy while still remaining tough and durable. Additionally, the wood can be a bright orange color. It makes good tool handles, especially for smaller tools. The wood can be a little too flexible for long or heavy tools. It has been used for making bows. It should make a great handle for a tool the size of your camp axe.
 
There is a pretty good size Osage Orange behind my parents house, but I have trimmed it back so many times I doubt that there is a branch big enough.
If I could find a board of that I would likely get it because it makes great knife handles as well.
Thanks
I am really thinking about the piece of Ash I saw more and more.
 
Hey Big Chris,

I just rehafted a Pulaski axe with a piece of buckthorn I set aside from some brush clearing we did a month ago. It was not dried or seasoned yet. I used to live in Louisville(out near Shively/PRP area) and don't remember that it grew there but being an invasive tree species it might have gotten ahold by now. You can find it in thick tangles with trunks on some getting upwards of eight inches wide. Wherever it grows you would be doing someone a favor taking it out but always ask permission if it is on land you don't have free choice on. It is tough stringy stuff so if you find a piece long enough even with knots it could be nicely made into an axe handle.
 
I have not seen anything like the Buckthorn around here. It has a slight Elm appearance to the bark, and from the stringiness you describe it's wood is similar to Elm as well.
 
I'm not so sure about advice to rehandle with shaped limbs or sticks. Perfectly OK for trade axes which have a circular eye but by the time you shave off the sides (vertical grain) to get a tight oval to fit the eye of an ordinary axe you'll mostly have only horizontal grain left. I am much more in favour of seeking an outside board from an old tree whereby the grain has very little radius.
I'll say one thing about Ash; it sure is pretty, and with Emerald Ash Borer (introduced insect pest) well on the way to decimating every last native Ash tree in n. America within the next 10 years, it may also become quite the conversation piece for you.
From scratch, shaping and fitting a handle is for sure a labour of love. 2 weeks ago, while accidentally wandering past the axe handle section at a Home Hardware store in s. Ontario (Cambridge), I stumbled across a small selection of locally made (I would think, since they weren't stamped, marked, smooth sanded nor lacquered) Hickory handles that were absolutely beautiful. For the $17 cost I shelved immediate plans to try to make my own handle, for now. Ash rough-sawn boards at the mill are already $2-3 a foot for 5/4 x 4 material and then you've got 1/2 day's work ahead of you, if you're lucky.
 
I have checked all the hardware stores around and none have the short handles like I want. That is the first reason I have decided to tackle this re-hang.
The main reason is because none of the handles I have looked at have had good grain alignment, nor have any been straight. I have also noticed that the eye section is not very well aligned with the handle.
 
Big Chris said:
I have checked all the hardware stores around and none have the short handles like I want. That is the first reason I have decided to tackle this re-hang.
The main reason is because none of the handles I have looked at have had good grain alignment, nor have any been straight. I have also noticed that the eye section is not very well aligned with the handle.
Click to expand...
It is true that run-of-the-mill axe handle quality has been declining for years. 10-15 years ago the biggest commercial supplier of handles in this area down-sized from 1 1/4 inch thick stock to 7/8 inch. In effect this made handles appear to be made from lumber mill strapping, with flats at both ends. These do not produce the feel in the hand that I am used to and long grown to expect. That pleasant surprise of 2 weeks ago of finding locally-made decent thick, and proper grain orientation, handles in Cambridge, Ontario sure made my day. Were there any indicators anywhere of who made them (the counter guy nor cashier didn't know) I'd have posted the name and address on here immediately.
 
300six, the piece of wood I found that I really liked was a Bat Blank. It is about 2.5" square and the grain ran from corner to corner, but was straight. I wish the grain was turned 45 degrees so I could get 2 handles from it otherwise there is going to be a lot of waste. The other thing I like about starting with a big piece of wood is that I can make the handle thick to fit my hands very nicely.
 
Big Chris said:
300six, the piece of wood I found that I really liked was a Bat Blank. It is about 2.5" square and the grain ran from corner to corner, but was straight. I wish the grain was turned 45 degrees so I could get 2 handles from it otherwise there is going to be a lot of waste. The other thing I like about starting with a big piece of wood is that I can make the handle thick to fit my hands very nicely.
Click to expand...
Well beggars can't be choosers! My local supplier sells hard Maple bat blanks (also 2.5 in) but they don't exactly 'give them away'. But at least you know that these were not hastily kiln-dried or some such. All the best on your venture. No doubt the Scouts will be sternly coached on how not to treat a wood-handled implement this time around.
My beloved tools (once I've spent serious time and effort on tweaking them) are never lent or loaned out and I purposely keep junk spares around for that purpose. If some bonehead wants to excavate roots and pry boulders loose using a borrowed axe obviously I'm not gonna send him off with anything special to start with. There are lots of $20 made in China plastic-handled goods out there and to the borrower all I say is 'you shot it you bought it: $25 please'.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top