to rehandle or not to...? other options?

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wdmn

Joined
Nov 29, 2013
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167
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1 1/4 pound head, 15 inch handle, and the head is loose. About 1/8" of movement up and down.

The top of the eye is covered with some synthetic adhesive:

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I've searched the forum to see how other people have dealt with this stuff in the past and there seems to be no easy way to removed it, especially if you want to save the handle. Is there a way to secure the head without removing it? Glue of some kind?

The head is marked 0.6 1 1/4 on one side and "Made in Sweden" on the other:

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The made in Sweden and blue paint are similar to another head I inquired about on the forum and was told it might be a gransfors from the late 70s or 80s.

Looks very similar to the "camping" axe in this advertisement (which also has a 1 1/4lb option) circa 1980:

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Thanks.
 
Absolutely nothing wrong with that handle!
You could try 1) soaking the head in water overnight to see if the wood can be made to swell enough to satisfy for occasional use, 2) you could do like most folks and pound in a pile of nails, fence staples, screws or metal wedges (or maybe one of those fandangled flanged head metal wedges) or 3) you could shrink the wood (dry it out as much as possible; (low temperature in the oven?)), chip/chisel off the epoxy layer (won't be very thick) and gently tap off the head so as to be able to set another wood wedge.
My dad has had the identical axe to yours for decades and I've taken to soaking the eye portion of the head/handle in a saucer of motor oil every now and again to swell the wood and keep it from drying out.
 
Thanks 300Six. Since your dad has one do you know if I'm about right on the date and maker?

I just picked up something called "Chair Lock" for locking wood joints, with the intention of using it on some wedges that keep wanting to come loose... Might as well give it a shot on this axe as well. If that doesn't work I'll take your suggestion of soaking it in a saucer of motor oil.
 
I don't know how much I can help. Here is a Hults Bruk that I have. I don't know It's age






Like yours mine also has a loose head. So I have the same question. My thinking is that pouring that plastic crap in the eye on top of the handle was a bad idea and was abandoned. Maybe you could try get some BLO in there. I'm leaning to just put a new handle on mine and be done with it. Anyway, I'll be interested to read other suggestions that come along.
 
wdmn said:
Thanks 300Six. Since your dad has one do you know if I'm about right on the date and maker?

I just picked up something called "Chair Lock" for locking wood joints, with the intention of using it on some wedges that keep wanting to come loose... Might as well give it a shot on this axe as well. If that doesn't work I'll take your suggestion of soaking it in a saucer of motor oil.
Click to expand...

The 'made in Sweden' model he has was purchased (I was with him at the time) in the early 1960s and is orange in colour but otherwise same manufacture markings and head profile as yours. The problem with going ahead and trying to swell the existing handle is that trying to remove it at a later date (if the swell agent doesn't sufficiently work) is going to become that much more difficult. "Chair Doctor" is a water-consistency glue that works (somewhat) on 'bone-dry' chair joints and legs and brace supports via swelling the wood connections or dowels. But I wouldn't bet my life on the stuff. Been there, done that! I figure (since it's a little bit loose already) if you secure the head (or the handle) in a vice there should be a nice polite way to tap out either the handle from the head, or the head from the handle. Then all of a sudden you get to start afresh with a new wood wedge and on an already perfectly-fitted handle.
 
Mine had a loose head too. I carved a maple handle for it and now use it every day. It's my favorite hatchet for roughing out handles, carving, and so forth. At least you've got a top notch hatchet head at any rate.
 
I would try clamping it in a vise and chipping out the epoxy with a small cold chisel. If you can expose the top of the wood then maybe you can save that handle. The handle appears to be in good condition and likely original.

Also, you might try whittling away some of the shoulder and see if you can't drive the axe down the handle another 1/2" or so. That might reveal a better way to deal with the epoxy.

If you can get past the surface epoxy and expose some wood then you could swell it with some DPG and add an extra wedge. Or possibly you could clean out all the junk and install a single proper wedge.
 
wdmn said:
Thanks 300Six. Since your dad has one do you know if I'm about right on the date and maker?

I just picked up something called "Chair Lock" for locking wood joints, with the intention of using it on some wedges that keep wanting to come loose... Might as well give it a shot on this axe as well. If that doesn't work I'll take your suggestion of soaking it in a saucer of motor oil.
Click to expand...

I've used chair lock or Swel-Lock when I hang an axe. I apply it to the kerf and the wedge before I drive it home. I've had good luck so far. I don't know if you can just apply it to the wood and get the same results.

I also have two HB boys axes, military surplus. They both have epoxy used in the eye. If you look at the top of the eye, it looks just like yours does. Another fellow also had one that he wanted to re-hang. He ended up drilling the epoxy out in the eye to remove the handle. It was the only way he could remove the old handle.

You can see the epoxy on the unissued axe.

[URL="

Tom
 
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ron_m80 said:
Just in case anyone wanted another opinion on this.

An Axe to Grind

Of particular interest here is the part on "re-hanging" an Axe.
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Actually you have to go to "Hanging Procedure"

LINK: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment...ions/fs_publications/99232823/page11.cfm#hang

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Figure 57--Before inserting the wedge in the handle,
apply a coat of Swel-Lock to the inside kerf cut and
the new wooden wedge. Swel-Lock is a product that swells
wood. It is not a glue or an adhesive; rather, it penetrates
and expands wood fibers to keep the new handle tight.
 
I have the same boy's axe as Double Ott showed. Mine was moving up and down also. I decided to drill and chip away the epoxy. My plan was to use the same handle (a very nice handle save the epoxy). What an SOB. I couldn't believe how tough it was to try to chip it away AND save the handle. I shelved the sucker and haven't taken it back up. I'll give it another go and see if I can even save my handle. My handle didn't have nearly as much shoulder available below the head as yours. You will have a better chance of saving it if you decide to go a similar route.
 
With that much play in the head I'd take off the epoxy, drive the handle out and fit a thicker wedge. As it happens, I have one of those, too -- I had to rehang mine as it was on a dry-rotted handle that had most of a hardware store hammered into the top. :rolleyes:

I hung mine on a stub of a boy's axe handle that I had taken off another axe. It's a fine little hatchet now and like G-Pig says it's nice for roughing and kindling.

Had an interesting experience with one version of "Chair-Lok." The glue component got really brittle in the cold and after some use the wedge popped out while my wife was using the axe. Now, let's just assume that I believe I did a careful job preparing and pounding in the wedge. I'm going to try the Lee Valley version and see if it's at all different. Interim I really hammered a new wedge in and it is solid as a rock again.
 
Skiv said:
Had an interesting experience with one version of "Chair-Lok." The glue component got really brittle in the cold and after some use the wedge popped out while my wife was using the axe. Now, let's just assume that I believe I did a careful job preparing and pounding in the wedge. I'm going to try the Lee Valley version and see if it's at all different. Interim I really hammered a new wedge in and it is solid as a rock again.
Click to expand...
Only version of 'chair doctor' I have ever tried is/was the Lee Valley Tools concoction. This was 10-15 years ago, mind you. Might work fine if it's incorporated into the initial assembly but as a 'last resort' effort for curing already loose joints is only marginally better than doing nothing. And a temporary fix at best.
 
Really appreciate all the feedback.

It will be at least a couple of days before I have a chance to wrestle with this. I'll post the results then.

thanks,
wdmn
 
I just removed the handle from the same type of hatchet. I drilled the stuff out on top, drove that handle in and out until the stuff worked loose, chipping away at it every time it slipped a little further and a new bit of the plastic stuff was visible. It should be noted that the portion of the handle that comes out of the head will be undersized as its shaped a little smaller to work with the epoxy/plastic/whatever it is stuff.
 
ablenumbersix said:
I just removed the handle from the same type of hatchet. I drilled the stuff out on top, drove that handle in and out until the stuff worked loose, chipping away at it every time it slipped a little further and a new bit of the plastic stuff was visible. It should be noted that the portion of the handle that comes out of the head will be undersized as its shaped a little smaller to work with the epoxy/plastic/whatever it is stuff.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. If the handle is smaller than the eye then it seems like they may have intended the epoxy/goop to adhere to the head. If the bond fails you would be left with a handle incased in an epoxy sleeve rattleing around in the head. I could see how this would make it harder to expand the handle in the eye because the wood AND the epoxy both have to expand.

BTW was there any kind of wedge in your handle, or was it just gooped in?
 
You could try warming the head with a heat gun to soften the epoxy and expand the steel in the head, shape a piece of wood to just barely fit the eye and then use that to drive the handle out. I have not tried this but if it helps save an old handle, why not?
 
Sorry, I replied to this but it never posted. There was a kerf cut, but no actual wedge in the handle. The epoxy was about 1/16th of an inch thick around the inside of the entire eye and was the top 1/5 of the eye was fully epoxy on top of the handle. When the handle was removed the epoxy stayed with the handle except for a few small bits.
 
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