Should I treat the wood before I rehang on vintage haft?

[DB_Cruiser]

I have found that carving the curls of wood off the wedge as you drive it in is another way to compensate for an uneven or choppy kerf. I find this helpful for driving a wedge to your target depth without it splitting. In the pics below, I epoxied some hickory slivers into the worst of the grooves left by the metal wedges and carved the curls from the wood wedge as I drove it in. This helped keep it straight and unbroken while also filling the eye out well.

 

[the-accumulator]

I sincerely appreciate all the feedback. My takeaway from all this is that it's not rocket science. All my concerns are theoretical, while, in the real world, there is lots of latitude in what works. Well, I'd certainly rather overthink it and find out I don't need to be that particular than miss something important. My plan is to shape a wedge that is as wide as the eye and thick enough to slightly more than fill the space available in the kerf AND make sure that, when I install it, I don't bottom out and split the haft. The variety of wood I shall use is yet to be determined and will depend on what I can scrounge up in my shop. Thanks again for all the input; I feel a whole lot more confidant now. T-A