Straight Handle on a Single Bit Axe

[Thomas Linton]

Washington. I think. It's from a Washington-based history website.

Ancient Douglas Fir.

Pictures were a great idea, but besides this one I keep finding double-bits.

 

[garry3]

See for yourself. Just some hardware store trash here ordered up by the purchase order clerks.

Interesting photo. Those handles appear to be longer than the 36" standard of today also. How else would a guy ever reach the center of a tree off a spring board?

I have also seen a old photo of a northwest logger that had a curved handle on a what appears to be a Puget sound axe. Its on page thirteen of Allen Klenman's book " Axe makers of North America".

I think that there is a lot of use full information in "The Axe Book", but his argument for straight handles is very flawed, as is his claim to when curved handles came into fashion.

 

[Ernest DuBois]

I can't help thinking the ergonomics alone don't give an accurate or a complete reasoning for choosing a curved over straight handle. It explains a lot about the nature of the grip is all but not about the hand/eye relationship where a straight handle seems to me to provide a more direct mediation between the intension and the result. I am, by way of attrition, going from curved to straight handles and addressing blade orientation at the mounting.

E.DB.

 

[300Six]

I see that this topic is getting a lot of attention. Notice nowadays, with wood handles for snow shovels and other yard implements disappearing, that they are being replaced by tube steel and fiberglas in all manner of curved shapes that are supposedly more ergonomic. Or at very least they are sexier-looking and more enticing to gullible consumers.

 

[Square_peg]

.....tube steel and fiberglas in all manner of curved shapes that are supposedly more ergonomic. Or at very least they are sexier-looking and more enticing to gullible consumers.

Some of the stuff out there now is just plain goofy.

Case in point:

 

[300Six]

Some of the stuff out there now is just plain goofy.

Case in point:

Nice shot. Pattern maker that's been smoking something to steady his nerves!

 

[Square_peg]

I can't help thinking the ergonomics alone don't give an accurate or a complete reasoning for choosing a curved over straight handle. It explains a lot about the nature of the grip is all but not about the hand/eye relationship where a straight handle seems to me to provide a more direct mediation between the intension and the result.

Yes, I'm sure there's more to it than just ergonomics and grip. And more than hand/eye, too. In fact, I think that the next blow is sometimes guided more by the feel of the last blow than by the eye. This is especially true in hewing. How the feedback from the last blow reaches you through either a straight or curved handle could be another factor to consider. It could be that a straight handle sends back a clearer signal.

I think it's possible, maybe even likely that a straight handle provides more accuracy than a curved handle. Whether a small gain in accuracy trumps a small gain in ergonomics will depend on the user. Most are able to adapt their aim to the a curved handle. A test for this could be devised - something I've never seen done before.

Regarding the ergonomics of straight handles I think the less favorable grip can be mitigated to some degree by carving a large abrupt swell on the end of the haft. My main splitter is a 5-pound rafting axe on a straight haft. I put it on a straight haft because it has a hardened poll and I wanted to be able to use both sides of the tool. I carved a large swell on that handle. Likewise with the True Temper A6 (hardened poll) axe I recently hung. Since I want to be able to use that poll it went on a straight haft. But I made a good swell on it to improve the grip.

 

[Square_peg]

I think it's possible, maybe even likely that a straight handle provides more accuracy than a curved handle. Whether a small gain in accuracy trumps a small gain in ergonomics will depend on the user. Most are able to adapt their aim to the a curved handle. A test for this could be devised - something I've never seen done before.

More on this test idea. If a fellow took a peeled log and laid out marks down each side then he could test his accuracy with straight and curved handles. On one side he would swing at each mark with a straight hafted axe. On the other with curved hafted axe. The distance that each blow missed it's exact mark by would be added up and averaged. If a man did this on several logs or if several men all did this then a clearer picture would soon emerge.

 

[Col Defender]

Let us know how it feels in use.

Did a little splitting with it...worked OK And I sure did stir up a good discussion here; too bad I'm not qualified to participate - but that's OK.

 

[G-pig]

Not all curves are superfluous and useless, or even in the case of axe handles, detrimental (in my opinion). The wildwood snaths that I learned to make from Peter Vido are, ideally, curved in the right places.

Can we think of a reason that these factors all would cater to ergonomy? a shorter, straight handle, with an asymmetrical ergonomic fawns foot swell (important-- I don't like the straight handles that are just an asymmetrical version of a double bit handle) and a closed hafting angle to bring the wrist back to a more comfortable position if the angle of presentation into the log is kept the same. That way your wrists have to be held closer to the comfort angle that pegsy was talking about or else you just end up driving the toe of the axe into the log without presenting the whole cutting surface.

 

[garry3]

More on this test idea. If a fellow took a peeled log and laid out marks down each side then he could test his accuracy with straight and curved handles. On one side he would swing at each mark with a straight hafted axe. On the other with curved hafted axe. The distance that each blow missed it's exact mark by would be added up and averaged. If a man did this on several logs or if several men all did this then a clearer picture would soon emerge.

I think what a user is used to will trump all difference. All else being equal.

I noticed you had a Puget sound hafted. Its a strange design for me to really understand. I might have to get a spring board and cut down some giants before I could understand it. Have you played with it much? I would think a little wobble would throw you way off your mark. Or if a guy just hafted it more closed would it negate this?

 

[Ernest DuBois]

This angle can be illustrated by imagining a straight line connecting the apex of the cutting edge and end of the inside edge of your handle.

E.DB.

 

[garry3]

This angle can be illustrated by imagining a straight line connecting the apex of the cutting edge and end of the inside edge of your handle.

E.DB.

Yes, G-pig seems to play with this quite a bit. The same principles apply to all striking tools. Wither they are hatchets, hammers or anything else that you swing.
I have my opinion on it. It's no better or worse than anybody else's.
We have carving hatchets out there that are hafted very open, with curved handles, are they less accurate?

 

[Bridger]

How many straight handles do you see on racing axes?

I happen to like both styles. Just use what you like and works best for you. There's rarely ever a single "right" answer, especially when you are dealing with individual preferences.

 

[G-pig]

It's pretty simple as far as I'm concerned. One of my felling axes, for example, won't have a curved handle, because in felling the ergonomic wrist angle is not really a factor. I can take a step forward or a step back, bend my legs or straighten my posture to change my approach to cutting the notch. An open hafting angle is fine for felling as well, since I want it open to be able to clean out the whole notch and present the whole cutting edge. It's when you are forced, most commonly through chopping a log under your feet, that having the features that facilitate wrist ergonomy is more important because you can't take a step forward or back or otherwise adjust other factors to make your wrists not over extend. But to use it as a justification for the curve at the end of the handle seems like an over simplification to me.

 

[rjdankert]

I think it's possible, maybe even likely that a straight handle provides more accuracy than a curved handle. Whether a small gain in accuracy trumps a small gain in ergonomics will depend on the user. Most are able to adapt their aim to the a curved handle. A test for this could be devised - something I've never seen done before.

I don't know if this has relevence to the accuracy of a straight or curved handle on an axe, but I got to thinking about a claw hammer. Like a single bit axe it has a single striking face on the head. It's used to make accurate blows. You don't want to bend the nail, miss the nail and dent your stock, or worse wack a finger. Yet, I've never seen one with anything other than a straight handle.

 

[300Six]

See for yourself. Just some hardware store trash here ordered up by the purchase order clerks.

image; "black diamond"now interests me (that was H. Walters & sons Axe, Hull, PQ claim to fame until the first world war) but I can't help but notice the fine handles these lads are using are almost exactly the same. Perhaps the local 'smith' convinced these entrepreneur (read; sucker) boys about what to buy and who to do that with on payday when the time came for a new handle on their 'job-issued' axe. You have to remember that your average Joe relied entirely on others to keep him going; lodging/grub/tool/pay wise. Making handles is a known and comfortable skill in town whereas electing to spend miserable and dangerous time in the bush whacking tree trunks with a chunk of steel for days at at time would have been as low as it gets. No unions back then.
What an unbelievable waste of wood there was before cross cut saws came into common use. Those poor bastards could have heated my house with the wood chips they generated before that tree came down.

 

[Square_peg]

....Perhaps the local 'smith' convinced these entrepreneur (read; sucker) boys about what to buy

I'm sure these boys were not suckers when it came to axe handles. It's most likely that their employer provided them with the tools and handles they needed. The employer had a vested interest in providing them with the best tools available. Who would provide crappy tools to their hourly workers? A huge waste of money.

Not sure what kind of bug you've got where but you're easily the most curmudgeonly poster we have on these forums.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

I don't know if this has relevence to the accuracy of a straight or curved handle on an axe, but I got to thinking about a claw hammer. Like a single bit axe it has a single striking face on the head. It's used to make accurate blows. You don't want to bend the nail, miss the nail and dent your stock, or worse wack a finger. Yet, I've never seen one with anything other than a straight handle.

California-pattern framing hammers traditionally have a curved handle.

In terms of the curve, there are two things to consider. One is that the degree of offset brings the edge further forward of the grip axis. This does have the aforementioned disadvantage of decreasing neutral accuracy, but lends greater force to the blow in one of two ways dependent on method--one is that it allows a snap at the end of the swing for a few extra degrees of rotation over which to accelerate, increasing the final velocity at the time of impact. The other (less preferred in my experience) is that if swung with the arms in a fixed position the bit will strike the target sooner, giving the blow additional impulse as the follow-through of the blow is delivered.

The second thing to consider is that it is possible to hold a curved handle in such a manner that the rotational axis is unchanged, yet the wrist brought to a more neutral position. The thumb should be pointing in the direction of the axis of rotation when properly held this way. A good example of this principle in application is to look at "pistol grip" sport fencing weapons. They're formed to fit comfortable neutral hand positions, and the blade is aligned with the rotational axis of the wrist. In spite of the offset of the angled grip, when you rotate the wrist the point stays on target.

 

[garry3]

It's pretty simple as far as I'm concerned. One of my felling axes, for example, won't have a curved handle, because in felling the ergonomic wrist angle is not really a factor. I can take a step forward or a step back, bend my legs or straighten my posture to change my approach to cutting the notch. An open hafting angle is fine for felling as well, since I want it open to be able to clean out the whole notch and present the whole cutting edge. It's when you are forced, most commonly through chopping a log under your feet, that having the features that facilitate wrist ergonomy is more important because you can't take a step forward or back or otherwise adjust other factors to make your wrists not over extend. But to use it as a justification for the curve at the end of the handle seems like an over simplification to me.

Good point on the over simplification. The forward sweep of a curved handle will slow the swing down in the early part of the swing but as the hand slides down the haft it will accelerate the speed of the axe.