To Metal wedge, or not to metal wedge? That Is The Question...

S

SkogKniv

Joined
Jul 25, 2009
Messages
465
Just for the sake of conversation.

Operator1975 got me thinking about it when he asked me about the aluminum wedge in the Helko.

What is Your end result on a re-handling of an axe?

Do you just go with the traditional wood wedge only? Hoping for a good tight fit? Plastic, aluminum?

Do you like to cross a small steel wedge over your wooden one? What does it do for you?

Why do you make the choice you do?

Answer any way you like. This is not a right or wrong.

Pictures are always nice.





My answer is probably obvious by my axe pictures, I like to finish with just the wood wedge, staying with tradition, and hoping the fit is tight enough. I also leave a quarter of an inch over the top of the eye to "mushroom" over the eye. So far all seems to hold just fine.

I do use a little linseed oil on the wedge and eye, to let the wedge drive faster and ultimately ensure I bottom out the wedge. In my thought process I think it allows the wedge to soften slightly and slide in tighter, somewhat preventing the chance a dry wedge might just hang up at a certain point, where the oily one will give just that little bit more.

Of course it could all just be in my head lol. Seems to work though. I have read from a few others who say they use a little oil as well.

I have tried some expanding glue before, seemed over kill. It also made a friggin mess.

A really tight example of how I drive them,

DSCN1453.jpg


Cleaned up,

DSCN1454.jpg
 
Last edited:
I just started getting interested in axes and I'm redoing a handle myself ,been wondering about this too??
Have recently picked up a couple of hatchet/camp axes from Switz. and Sweden and they don't have wedges, but some from the same manuf. do??

by the way that fit looks awesome!!!!
 
I say DON'T. Here's my reasons in order of most to least vain ;):
1. Showcases your skills.
2. Looks better.
3. Gives you the opportunity for "emergency" tightening later. I just throw a couple wedges in my pack in case my head comes loose (axe head that is! :D)
4. Cross wedging CAN create splits that can travel down the haft. It happened to me.

On my last "hanging" I came up with a new practice that I plan to use every time. Sometimes wedges that come with handles or separate at the hardware store are crappy. i.e. they have knots, are too narrow, do not get thick enough, crush under a mallet. SO, I cut a piece of oak on the chop saw and made it the exact size I wanted. I also made it much longer then necessary so that I had a huge, broad base to hammer on with the mallet. Worked so freakin awesome.........
 
M3mphis,

I been looking for some over sized hardwood wedges like that. Ones I could "custom fit" if I needed to. If you decide to do a run of them, let me know. I would throw some money at you for them.

I hate carving them out, and don't have the saw to make nice ones.
 
M3mphis said:
...I cut a piece of oak on the chop saw ...
Click to expand...

I seem to recall something about wedges being made of wood like poplar, so I did a quick search and found this, FWIW:

"If a wedge does not come with the handle, make one out of a soft pine or
poplar board 5/8 inch thick, as wide as the long diameter of the axe eye ..."

quoted from Agriscience mechanics, Lloyd James Phipps, Glen M. Miller, Interstate Publishers, 1998
http://books.google.com/books?id=HW4fAQAAMAAJ&dq=axe+wedge+poplar&q=+poplar

Maybe a softer wedge gets wedged in tighter?
 
Steve Tall said:
I seem to recall something about wedges being made of wood like poplar, so I did a quick search and found this, FWIW:

"If a wedge does not come with the handle, make one out of a soft pine or
poplar board 5/8 inch thick, as wide as the long diameter of the axe eye ..."

quoted from Agriscience mechanics, Lloyd James Phipps, Glen M. Miller, Interstate Publishers, 1998
http://books.google.com/books?id=HW4fAQAAMAAJ&dq=axe+wedge+poplar&q=+poplar

Maybe a softer wedge gets wedged in tighter?
Click to expand...

I read about using only soft wedges as well. Yet see hardwood wedges for sale.

Maybe they squeeze in better or something.

My brain tells me a hard wood wedge will hold up for a harder drive into the eye. Sometimes on a tight one, softer wedges literally seem to turn to mush at the top.

Food for though anyways.
 
Steve Tall said:
I seem to recall something about wedges being made of wood like poplar, so I did a quick search and found this, FWIW:

"If a wedge does not come with the handle, make one out of a soft pine or
poplar board 5/8 inch thick, as wide as the long diameter of the axe eye ..."

quoted from Agriscience mechanics, Lloyd James Phipps, Glen M. Miller, Interstate Publishers, 1998
http://books.google.com/books?id=HW4fAQAAMAAJ&dq=axe+wedge+poplar&q=+poplar

Maybe a softer wedge gets wedged in tighter?
Click to expand...

I don't know. I tried one out of white pine once. It has been holding fine, but I thought the oak (at least I think it's oak. scavenged it from a pallet) drove in better. Also, I thought that the ones you buy are usually some type of hardwood, but I'm not sure.
 
SkogKniv said:
M3mphis,

I been looking for some over sized hardwood wedges like that. Ones I could "custom fit" if I needed to. If you decide to do a run of them, let me know. I would throw some money at you for them.

I hate carving them out, and don't have the saw to make nice ones.
Click to expand...

Check your messages...
 
i use both methods; sometimes i'll use only a wooden wedge or sometimes i'll use wooden and metal.
i always want the wooden wedge to be as tight as possible and fill all gaps. it not only is functional, but looks nice. on heavy users i just feel that the metal wedge just adds a little 'insurance', but i know its not always necessary. as mentioned above, a metal wedge can always be added later if the handle decides to loosen.
i guess its just a matter of personal preference; if done properly, they both work fine and serve the same purpose...
 
Either way is sufficient. If you want the head to stay in place you should drill it and place a steel compression pin in the hole. This is the only way to make sure that head is not going to come off. In these modern times you might want to use liquid metal on the inside of the head as well as drilling. All competition race axes are pinned before use in competitions.
 
I've only re-handled a handfull of axes, and just one in the way SkogKniv described. It seems to be holding just as well as my other axes so I think I'll continue to use that method. The method is simple and it works. Absence of metal wedges and rings or glue, and the 1/4 inch extending out the top of the eye should make repair work easier.
 
If you take your time and do it right, you shouldn't need a metal wedge.

My re-do of the Flint Edge with the straight handle is all wood. On the first outing, it has held tight, didn't move at all.

To do it right, I find you really have to put the time in. I have oversize wedges, those even too big for a DB that I will size up, and then cut to fit the eye from front to back. Then the tricky part is, how long do you need it, and how thick/what angle? I have found if you blindly just start pounding away, the wedge might be too thick, and thus you do get maximum wedge into the eye for holding purposes. Also, then with it being too thick, I have found then while pounding the wegde will tend to break. This isn't a huge deal if you can snug the wedge down into the eye, but when it is too thick, and then it breaks, thats a mess. Therefore I find that I need to sand my wedges down in order for a proper fit down into the eye, snug as can be. Remember, you aren't trying to make the haft bow down to your will, but you are trying to create a good relationship between the haft and the wedge.

I also oil my wedges up before driving them home. I also like to leave handle protruding from the top of the eye, that way I can give a quick look and know instantly how my handle and head are doing. Then like Skog said, that top of the handle will eventually peen itself over, which can only help you out.

Have I used metal wedges before? Yes sir. Do they work? I think they do, again if used correctly. I have one split my haft, and since then I am once bitten twice shy.

However, I see the round metal wedges, and those seem interesting to me. Anyone has some experience with those?

Thanks!
 
I've only used wooden wedges for replacements. I figure if I'm going to spend a couple hours reshaping a haft to fit an eye as tight as possible, why not spend the extra time to do so with the wedge as well. I have found most commercially available wedges to be much too thick and in need of thinning out to seat as tight and deeply as possible. I've never used oil on the wedge before driving it in, but I like that idea and will give it a try next time. I've also soaked freshly fitted heads upside in an inch of linseed oil, so the end grain soaks up some oil to swell the wood, then I apply some more oil to the haft in the eye as part of regular maintenance.

I keep a handful of metal crosswedges on hand, but don't use them as a rule. For me they're an emergency measure if I need to tighten the fit, but don't want to refit an entire haft.
 
The "round" wedges are only about a half inch long. I think they are good for big tools, mauls, sledges, big axes. sometimes they can be hard to find in your area.

I was a local Ace hardware and I found a little bottle of wood expander to put on wooden wedges for handles (pr loose fitting chair rails and the like.) Under $5 a bottle and at a few drops a use it will last a long time.

A while back I was watching PBS, a show called "The Woodwright's Shop" and he had a uess making Windsor Chairs, These chairs are made of several kinds of wood, oak, pine, maple, hickory. Anyhow I think the legs are maple and the little stretchers that go from leg to leg are very dry hickory. The dry hickory draw moisture from the maple and causes it to swell keeping the joints tight. So if you have a maple tree out in you yard, go cut a branch or find one blown down, big enough for a wedge and make on that is on the green side and the dry axe handle will suck humidity from the "wet" wedge and the handle will swell some and help to keep it tight. just on old time way to help keep your wood tight in the old axe hole.


Pat
 
omniviking said:
The "round" wedges are only about a half inch long. I think they are good for big tools, mauls, sledges, big axes. sometimes they can be hard to find in your area.

I was a local Ace hardware and I found a little bottle of wood expander to put on wooden wedges for handles (pr loose fitting chair rails and the like.) Under $5 a bottle and at a few drops a use it will last a long time.

A while back I was watching PBS, a show called "The Woodwright's Shop" and he had a uess making Windsor Chairs, These chairs are made of several kinds of wood, oak, pine, maple, hickory. Anyhow I think the legs are maple and the little stretchers that go from leg to leg are very dry hickory. The dry hickory draw moisture from the maple and causes it to swell keeping the joints tight. So if you have a maple tree out in you yard, go cut a branch or find one blown down, big enough for a wedge and make on that is on the green side and the dry axe handle will suck humidity from the "wet" wedge and the handle will swell some and help to keep it tight. just on old time way to help keep your wood tight in the old axe hole.


Pat
Click to expand...

Great info. This kind of stuff I love. Thanks!!!!
 
yeah operator, they sell those round wedges by the bag out here. and are used for what OV said; mauls,sledges, heavy hammers, etc.. anything that really takes a pounding.
i've never used one, but i do use the wood and metal combo on all my wood splitting tools.
 
I think the old timers used "soft woods" (anything that retains TONS of moisture, think poplar, pine etc...) because once dry, it will suck up tons of oil or even humidity (kiln dry wedges?). A lot of folks recommend hardwood though. I usually use softer wood but I am not too picky about it.
 
I use metal wedges with a maul to split logs. How would the little ones for axes have a different effect? In fact I've seen splits in handles below the metal wedges.
 
I like this discussion. Very informative.

Round wedges I think look horrible...BUT logically they seem the better of the metal wedges.


How about the aluminum wedges the racing axe handles use? Seems like they can take a real hard pounding and drive home well. Any one ever use one?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top