-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Traditional axe wedges?
- Thread starter zzzspik
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2008
- Messages
- 25,970
Whatever they had on hand and preferred. Usually some form of softwood tends to be the choice but just like you find all manner of garbage jammed in the top of axe handles to tighten them up, just about any kind of wood could and has been used for axe wedges.
If you use the same type of wood as used in the haft, they will expand and contract at the same rate, so theoretically, it would be better than using a different type for the wedge. Zach Wingard has done a little research into this for his tomahawks, and advocates this. It would seem to make sense.
Square_peg
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2012
- Messages
- 13,824
A wood that rebounds after being compressed would give an advantage. It could expand to fill the gap if the haft shrinks. Think of it as being 'spring loaded' when driven into the kerf.
“If you use the same type of wood as used in the haft, they will expand and contract at the same rate, so theoretically, it would be better than using a different type for the wedge. Zach Wingard has done a little research into this for his tomahawks, and advocates this. It would seem to make sense.”
I advocate this myself, but for a slightly different reason. Driving the wedge into the kerf compresses the fibers. When compression increases to a certain point, which differs by species and grain density (among other things), the fibers crush. My target is to compress the fibers but not crush them. By using the same wedge wood as the haft, preferably from the same billet, that crush value is more uniform. Using a poplar wedge in a hickory haft for example, might result in the wedge fibers reaching crush before the haft fibers were fully compressed.
WARNING: I may be partially or entirely full of shiite. Let the curious perform their own investigations.
Parker
I advocate this myself, but for a slightly different reason. Driving the wedge into the kerf compresses the fibers. When compression increases to a certain point, which differs by species and grain density (among other things), the fibers crush. My target is to compress the fibers but not crush them. By using the same wedge wood as the haft, preferably from the same billet, that crush value is more uniform. Using a poplar wedge in a hickory haft for example, might result in the wedge fibers reaching crush before the haft fibers were fully compressed.
WARNING: I may be partially or entirely full of shiite. Let the curious perform their own investigations.
Parker
Even the same species of wood would expand and contract at different rates depending on grain orientation and density of the wedge in relation to the handle density and grain.