Secure? Or re-hang my Hudson Bay?

[pjwoolw]

Norlund Tomahawk Hudson Bay Handle Replacement:
Which of these sellers do you guys trust for good quality replacement handles for my Norlund?
I was looking for something in a 24" size to try to get it back to as close to original dimensions.
I think 28" would be a too long for this head which comes in at 2#. I currently have a 22" handle
on it and wouldn't mind going up to 24". Of course I'm open to any other suggestions.

Beaver Tooth Handle Company
http://beaver-tooth.com/collections...s-axe-handle-white-hickory-aw-grade-item-1324

Bailey's
http://www.baileysonline.com/Forest...Replacement-Handle-for-the-Hudson-Bay-Axe.axd

Tennessee Hickory Products
http://www.tennesseehickoryproducts.com/products.shtml

Garant
http://www.garant.com/html/en/produits/produit.php?idProduit=136&typeProduit=famille

House Handle Company
https://www.househandle.com/products.html#single

[Supposedly "original" Norlund HB handle...]

Beaver Tooth is a side web-site of Tennessee Hickory. Same as the EBay store. I believe the handles sold are in many cases stuff they cannot sell anywhere else. I don't know this for a fact but I haven't had real good luck quality wise. Kinda hit and miss. THP has 3 grades of handles and a number of different finishes. There is a minimum order deal if you order direct from them. But THP are the handles I personally prefer.

Never had good luck with axe handles from House. I'm pretty picky. But the last batch of shovel handles I got from them were good.

The others I have no experience with.

 

[quinton]

There is enough extra wood on that shoulder to re-hang that axe 3 or 4 times.

 

[SR69]

The DPG Dipropylene Glycol is in. I'll get to work on this head tomorrow and report back.

I see! If you can get the haft to shift down about 1/4 inch (via using a chisel and rasp) this will allow you to cut/chip the wood away from around the steel and the wood wedges so that you can get a pair of vice grips (or some such) on to get them out. Then all of a sudden, and with much less work than fitting on a new haft, you can replace the wood wedge with a bigger one. Make sure to make the wedge cut a little bit further in while you're at it.

PS My apologies I should have re read your previous post a bit more carefully.

No worries!
And I will definitely be taking it down to have at least 1/4" above the eye.
At first, I'll try to preserve the existing wedge, but if that doesn't work,
I'l disassemble it and start from scratch as stated before.

Beaver Tooth is a side web-site of Tennessee Hickory. Same as the EBay store. I believe the handles sold are in many cases stuff they cannot sell anywhere else. I don't know this for a fact but I haven't had real good luck quality wise. Kinda hit and miss. THP has 3 grades of handles and a number of different finishes. There is a minimum order deal if you order direct from them. But THP are the handles I personally prefer.

Never had good luck with axe handles from House. I'm pretty picky. But the last batch of shovel handles I got from them were good.

The others I have no experience with.

Thanks PJ. 0

There is enough extra wood on that shoulder to re-hang that axe 3 or 4 times.

Good to know Quinton. I figured I had some room to play with here.

 

[SR69]

Okay, so I managed to shave off 1/8" off the shoulder, soaked it with
the DPG and then dropped the head down to get a full 1/4" over the eye.

I tried to recess the round wedge a bit, but it barely moved. I soaked above
the eye with DPG and I let it sit for an hour per Swel-Lock's instructions,
checked it, it shifted a bit, I let it sit for another 2 hours, checked it again,
she felt snug. I would've liked for the head to be tilted down at the front
more, but it is what it is. I'm sure I'll have the opportunity to adjust that
after tomorrow for sure.

Of course, the true test will come when I do some work with it tomorrow.
Truth be told, I'm not confident that it'll hold. If/once she loosens up again,
I'll try just smacking another wedge into it before I try to widen the kerf and
install a broader wood wedge. After that, I'll re-handle it.

 

[SR69]

Here we go...
So I take the Norlund out to the yard to whack on a 6" log and on the first strike, the head shifts.
On the second strike, full loose. I didn't get mad, I walked back to the mancave, grabbed my tried
& true Council Tool Boy's Axe Forest Service Edition and put in my work on that log to get a fire.

Now, the HB...
I took of the head off, widened the kerf, made a new wedge out of some seasoned oak and installed it.
But before I installed the new wedge, I soaked the top of the handle, the kerf cut and the wedge itself
in DPG and made sure it was drenched. I'll let it set overnight and try again tomorrow. Wish me luck.

I felt like I had to do everything to practice with this particular handle first. It already had issues
to begin with so damaging it in the process through my learning curve wouldn't be so awful.
Even if I can't manage to rescue this handle, at least when I rehang the Norlund with a new
handle, I'll already be familiarized with the process so there'll be less (not no) of a chance of
my damaging it through my inexperience.

 

[SR69]

Oh, and the 'Murican came through for me without a doubt...

 

[Square_peg]

Thanks for the photos and story. It's tougher to keep an HB secure with that short eye. Glad to hear that the boy's axe performed.

 

[SR69]

Thanks for the photos and story. It's tougher to keep an HB secure with that short eye. Glad to hear that the boy's axe performed.

Thanks SP. I'll play with the HB tomorrow. Couldn't to it today.
A little more set time won't hurt it either. The handle has swollen
above the eye noticeably more than it was originally. Hope that helps.
I know it's far from a textbook job, but I'll clean it up after using it
if it proves to have been a good enough job. If not, I have the next
handle ready to order.

 

[SR69]

Update:
While the DPG "did" swell up the wood a good bit, it wasn't enough to keep the head secure.
After about half a dozen chops (granted, on some frozen wood), the head came loose,
but this time, it only loosened up by less than an 1/8th". It wasn't coming off so the top
is secure. The handle has spread out over the eye at the top to keep it in. I'm going to
try one more thing (adding a straight wedge) and after that, it's either a new handle or
a spanking brand new Council Tool Hudson Bay Velvicut.

Update 2.0:
Is there such a thing as "settling" on an axe head?
I added a couple of hammer wedges. It tightened up.

I took it outside, went through the same frozen 6" log that it loosened up on the first two times and
probably about 3/4's in, it came up about 1/32" form the top of the shoulder where I had it seated before.

BUT!!! She held firm from then on. This leads me to believe that I may have removed too much material from
the shoulder when I shaved some off. Either way, I continued to chop through log and it didn't budge after that.
I then went on to split some oak and a 3' section of that same 6" log and she went right through it. Is it possible
for the head to settle in just above the shoulder and hold fast there? Can I be satisfied with this for now?
I can only expect it to expand a bit and tighten down even more with the warmer weather in a few months.

Eventually, I'd like to blow it out and re-hang it with a brand new handle, but this'll definitely do me for now.

Anything I should be concerned about?

 

[SR69]

 

[quinton]

A loose head, even though it won't come off, will continue to get looser with every chop due to the head wearing and compressing the haft.

 

[SR69]

A loose head, even though it won't come off, will continue to get looser with every chop due to the head wearing and compressing the haft.

I just came back from doing some more work with it into some frozen logs.
I smacked it 1" deep into a stump several times. The head does not budge.

It just moved up a hair after the first time I went out with it and now, it's stayed
there after I reset the newer wedges and added a few more drops of the DPG.

I went out after that and split down a 6"X24" log to kindling.
Again, it's as if the head actually got tighter and tighter.
It's not loose at all and I tried to force it to move when
I stuck it into the stump a few times just to be sure.

I'll definitely be taking the handle up to at least 26-28" next time.

 

[flexo]

a few more steel wedges and you 'll make a full steel construction estwing out of it!

 

[SR69]

a few more steel wedges and you'll make a full steel construction estwing out of it!

LOL!

Removing the older one was a waste.
I had nothing to lose and it worked for now.
It just needs to last me until the end of winter.
I don't want to re-haft it while it's warm.
I'd want it to be tight when it's colder.

I have one more Carpenter's trick up my sleeve...
A little wood glue or Gorilla Glue and toothpicks
in the voids. Sure, it's completely chop-shop type
work, but again, as long as it hold, that'll do.

Speaking of Estwing...
Here's a gift I received from a friend.
I cleaned it up and put it back in working order.

 

[thunderstick]

I would do what 300Six says and remove the center wedge and remove the handle. Then you make sure the kurf is right and you get the proper center wedge. Lower head on the handle further before reinstalling to ensure its very tight at the bottom and you have plenty of wood above the top. Then as Square Peg said, when all the dry fitting is done utilize glue or epoxy when reinstalling to make sure every void is filled and there is a secure water proof bond. I use Gorilla glue because it expands.

When your all done seal the end grain of the wood with clear nail polish or lacqer so it does not lose moisture so quickly and shrink. I always add one cross wedge a day later after the glue is cured and leave room for one more later if need be. To date I have never needed to add a second cross wedge and I never had a head come loose. I've have broken hafts and needed to replace them.

 

[SR69]

The Norlund continues to perform.
I split some pine today and she held fast. I turned an 18"x 8" log into kindling in under 120 seconds.

I think I figured out what happened. When I first took her out and bucked that fallen log, the DPG hadn't set up yet.
Maybe Swel-Lock adds some kind of additive that speeds up the process. After the first however with this Norlund,
she has continued to remain factory-fixed firm and I'm confident that she'd going to stay that way and only get
tighter as the weather gets warmer.

All that's left to do now is to give the head and haft a good sanding and a nice bath in
BLO and call it a day. She's done. Thanks to anyone who's contributed to this thread. :encouragement:

I don't post here much, but BF has always been my go-to source for guidance from guys who know their stuff.

 

[SR69]

A little fire work in the rain tonight + a little BHK Scout fire I made at 3 in the morning earlier...

 

[flexo]

i laughed about you,and guess what? today under the morning snow,i was desperatly needing a fire going,and my h b started to wobble!

i fixed that later on....

 

[300Six]

I'm guessing that this has not become much of a promotional advertising thread for those that lust over Hudson Bay-style heads.

 

[SR69]

I'm guessing that this has not become much of a promotional advertising thread for those that lust over Hudson Bay-style heads.

It just reinforces that you have to really know your stuff before you attempt to rehang one because of it's eye.
But, it also shows that if you keep at it and work it out, it's worth the effort. I know this, it's the best camp axe
I've used and blows the Swedish wonder I used to have away for what it was meant to do: Woodcraft chores.

That's all one can ask from a tool after all. If I want to process firewood for a fireplace, I'll use a maul. If I want
to chop down a Redwood, felling axe or better yet a chainsaw. But for chopping up small diameter trees and
processing firewood and making tent stakes and processing game (I used this one to quarter a 6 point buck
about 6 weeks ago), it is the one I'm going to always use which means it'll be my mainstay. 1 week later,
still beatin' it almost daily, still goin' strong.