Tightening Tomahawk Head on Haft

HighDesertWalker

HighDesertWalker

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Mar 11, 2008
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I live in a very dry climate at an elevation of 7,200 ft. Anytime I buy a tomahawk the haft loosens up in a few days. I need comments/suggestions on the procedures I'm using to tighten them up.

First I set the head tightly on the haft by inserting the haft in a heavy steel pipe and hammering the top of the haft downward into the head with a heavy hammer. Then I submerge the head and adjacent haft in a bucket of pure boiled linseed oil. I've got three hawks soaking right now and am not at all sure how long to leave them in the bucket.

Comments and suggestions would be appreciated.

(I'll be back after my racquetball game. ;))
 
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Always heard a full day of soaking was good for most things
 
Thanks Eric. Good to know that one day is usually considered adequate. Since our humidity can run 10 - 15% for weeks at a time I may go a little longer. In addition to the three hawks I have soaking in oil I've got a fourth soaking in water... seemed like a better idea for that one because it's got paracord wrap just below the head. We'll see how it all works out.
 
As long as the heads are not slipping off the thick end of the handle there is not need to soak them. Just rework the fit and you're good to go.

If they do slip off the handle, a new handle is in order. Soaking is only a temporary solution, very much so with water. The water will swell the wood, but it will also evaporate very quickly and you're back where you started. I don't know how much linseed oil swells wood, but I would think it doesn't do much in that respect.

There is a more permanent solution and it is called Swel-Lock which is a product that swells wood. It is intended to fix chairs and stuff, but in the book "An Axe to Grind" - a must read for fans of this subforum - the author recommends it for axes, too.


Ookami

PS: I'll open a new thread for the book.
 
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Thanks for the info Ookami. I'll order some Swel-lok and try it on my hawks if the soaks don't work; sounds like the best solution to start with. Watching for your post on the Axe book. :thumbup:
 
I also recall recommendations to soak in ethylene glycol (antifreeze?) and to basically store axes in a soak between uses. Any comments?
 
People recomend linseed oil, but i believe it is not permanent. I think i have heard that soaking for a day works but over time it will loosen up again. +1 for swel-lok i have heard good things about it though i have never used it
 
Ethylene glycol is probably hygroscopic, meaning it attracts moisture. So yeah, that could work, too.


Ookami
 
An old faithful remedy for loose hawk heads. Make and fit a thin strip of leather(vegy tanned) the depth of the eye. Tapper the ends, wet the leather, loosen the hawk head and fit the wet leather between the eye and the haft on the wide side of the eye. Slide the hawk head and leather up until they stop. Turn the hawk upside down and thump the haft firmly and the hawk should be held firmly in place. When the leather dries(which it will) just turn over give it a thump or two(without re-wetting the leather) it will be tight and back in business.
 
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