Swell saver tool. Setting axe heads without destroying handles.

Yankee Josh · Mar 9, 2019

This is only a first attempt but it works perfectly. I'll make another nicer refined one this summer. I thought it would be fun, if you guys will play along, to see if any of you can guess what it is.

Any ideas?

Fmont · Mar 9, 2019

It looks like something I'd associate with steam bending. It looks like it would clamp and then bend around the half round form. It looks like it would be awesome for steaming wooden ribs in wood boat building.

Yankee Josh · Mar 9, 2019

Fmont said:
It looks like something I'd associate with steam bending. It looks like it would clamp and then bend around the half round form. It looks like it would be awesome for steaming wooden ribs in wood boat building.

Thanks for the guess! I'm just gonna wait another hour or so to see if anyone else chimes in with a guess. I've been thinking about making this for awhile but i just used stuff I had laying around the garage.

A17 · Mar 9, 2019

I'm stumped.

Yankee Josh · Mar 9, 2019

It's a handle saver. Now i can bash on the nicest fawns foot in the world and never break another one. It pivots so it can do any angle. db hafts as well. Here's the swell of the black raven that I re-hung today. I smashed the hell out of it!

And here's some other pics.

It's clunky but works really well and is easy to use. Here it is pivoted up to work on a db.

The fire hose grips very well so you don't have to squeeze all that hard. In version 2.0 I'll make it slimmer and a few other changes too. Namely in appearance...

Nbrackett · Mar 9, 2019

That’s exactly what I thought it was.

Pretty ingenious.

muleman77 · Mar 9, 2019

Clever! I like it

OnceBitten · Mar 9, 2019

Simple and brilliant.

:thumbsup:

Square_peg · Mar 10, 2019

It's clever. It works.
I just just strike the swell with a white rubber mallet. Works for me.

Yankee Josh · Mar 10, 2019

I mainely wanted something to help me hang axes on the real nice vintage hafts without hurting, even a little bit, the swells. When I look over my collection every one i have has a flat spot. Either one i sanded prior to hanging or as a result of hanging. But I now have one seated as firmly as I can get it with absolutely no damage. I feel the bottom of the hang is the most crucial so I really smash them down hard. My goal is a minimum of 3/4" of humming tight scraping action at the bottom and i use a 3 lb sledge(steel) for the last 4 or 5 hits. It's been bugging me for over a year now that I keep destroying or damaging them so i wanted a solution. I've been putting it off because it's been pretty cold out and i haven't built a shop yet at my new house. So i threw it together real quick with stuff i had laying around. Anyway just thought I'd share it in case someone else might benefit too. I'll post up pics of the raven later today. Thanks guys! Have a good day!

Night Rider · Mar 10, 2019

My first thought was a strap wrench. Very creative sir :thumbsup:

jblyttle · Mar 10, 2019

That's awesome. I have struggled with being careful on finely tipped fawn foot ends. If you hit straight down you risk damaging the end, and if you hit the flat not enough force is directed downward into the handle.. This allows for direct downward force regardless of the angle on the end of the handle. Very nice and great idea.

ithinkverydeeply · Mar 10, 2019

Awesome

Fmont · Mar 10, 2019

That's a great idea!

Yankee Josh · Mar 10, 2019

I'm going to re name the thread. That way if someone googles it they might find it and get some ideas. That's what got me here. Looking for info and constantly being referred here. What a cool site. And ironically it's primarily a knife site! I rarely even look at "the other side".

Miller '72 · Mar 10, 2019

Yankee Josh said:
I'm going to re name the thread. That way if someone googles it they might find it and get some ideas. That's what got me here. Looking for info and constantly being referred here. What a cool site. And ironically it's primarily a knife site! I rarely even look at "the other side".

There are knives here?

stevewest · Mar 10, 2019

Fantastic idea!

Methuselah · Mar 13, 2019

that is excellent! wood you want to mount it to a wall?

cityofthesouth · Mar 13, 2019

Well played, makes me wonder if such a thing has ever existed.

Yankee Josh · Mar 13, 2019

Methuselah said:
that is excellent! wood you want to mount it to a wall?

Thanks!
I'm not sure what you mean? You mean mount it to the wall to have it close at hand when i need it? I could just drill a hole anywhere on it and hang it on a nail I suppose.