Remove an axe head and reuse the handle

[evildeadedd]

Sorry to necro the bejesus out of this thread but the info is needed by me , so I need to comment, I agree it should be a sticky, you are the man Steve.

 

[Boston Axe]

Hello - new guy here - Bump / comment / questions - great info, thank you for OP's info, and the informative responses. I do have a quick question about the axe head within the first pics - Is that a hole through the cheeks of the axe head? If so, do you believe it to be factory? And if original, what would the purpose of this be? If not original, what would the purpose be for modifying an axe this way? I can't imagine doing this (and the amount of work it would take) just to create a means of hanging the axe....?? Thanks again - great thread.

 

[Steve Tall]

...a quick question about the axe head within the first pics - Is that a hole through the cheeks of the axe head? If so, do you believe it to be factory? And if original, what would the purpose of this be?...

Yes, that's a hole. I believe it was done at the factory, since I got a few of these and the holes were in the identical place, nicely chamfered as I recall.

They are Swedish military surplus axes, and the reason for the hole is up for speculation (unless some evidence is unearthed). My theory is they were stored in a rack where a rod went through the holes. Twenty axes could be stored (and transported) pretty securely this way, without much fussing around to get them all back into the box.

 

[quinton]

I have done that also. Side tip, if you have a metal wedge in there, you can take a small small drill bit and drill beside the metal wedge, just enough to properly fit a pair of needle nose firmly around that wedge. This will let you "work" it a little more. This seems to work ok, unless for some reason you really need the wedge.

Thanks Steve for this, it was informative and usefull. I do a hybrid of this to "save" and handle, can't wait to try your approach.

The easiest way to remove a metal wedge is to drill a small hole into the wedge itself; then thread a similar sized screw into the metal wedge and simply pry it out..

 

[JonathanCharles]

Excellent thread! Tried to remove an axe from its handle a couple months ago and after an hour of pulling and sweating it finally popped but man this thread would have helped.

+100

 

[1215]

Trying to correct a loose haft and a hang that was far too open. This thread was perfect instructions on how to remove the haft. Thanks.

How much of the shoulder can be taken down? I've cut down quite a bit, to the point that the shoulder needs to be slightly reworked and it will be smaller. I'd really like to save this haft if possible, even though it is slightly mangled at the top of the eye and the grain is very wavy. Most of those cracks and chips will be cut off as they currently stick out of the top of the eye. Can this haft be saved?

 

[Steve Tall]

...How much of the shoulder can be taken down?...

The shoulder should ideally make a nice tight fit with the bottom of the eye, filling the bottom of the eye, and not allowing the head to slide down. So it's a matter of measuring the dimensions of the bottom of the eye, and finding the lowest part of the handle that will still fully fill the bottom of the eye -- you can usually bring it down almost this far.

I'd bring it down just enough to get rid of the mangled part at the top of the handle (saving the rest of the shoulder for maybe another rehang sometime in the future).