Welding pipe on axe heads for handles.....

G

gben

Joined
Nov 26, 2014
Messages
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I saw something that made me cringe today.

I visited a guy who takes old axe heads and jams a piece of pipe into the eye then welds it in place.

He has done a lot of work with these axes and has had no problems with them at all, he says that these handles last forever and never break on him like wood handles do.

All I could think of was if he had done this to any really rare or collectible axe heads and it did not impress me too much. As time passes though I am getting a little bit more comfortable with what he has done.

Although I hope that in the future he does not weld pipe-handles into any collectible heads, I do give him credit for inventing what he had to so he could get a job done and save himself some money. This guy had a LOT of firewood stacked up in his yard, 99% of it he said he split himself with his steel-pipe handled axes.

I tried to educate him a little and I gave him my Howland's Samson boy's axe as payment for hauling some junk for me in his truck He promised not to do anything to the Howland's which was a relief.

I will keep in touch with him here and there and see if I can get him to show me any axes that he finds in the future so I can make sure they are not too valuable as far as history or cash-value.
 
I've seen a guy weld a pup on the head to protect the handle. Not really a good idea. Worst comes to worse you can cut the pipe off and grind it flush again.
 
Seems like it would be uncomfortable in use. I think the balance of the axe would be a matter of luck when the pipe is jammed in.
 
My concern would be aiming and striking straight with one. An oval allows the user to maintain the orientation of the blade during the swing and hold it during the strike. The vibes transferred through a hollow metal handle (especially from off-perpendicular hits) would also give you bad wrists and elbows over the long run.
 
Not only balance but all the shock would transfer directly to your hand. It would work, but not optimum.
 
" inventing what he had to so he could get a job done and save himself some money."

I find it very hard to believe a welder is somehow cheaper than a replacement handle at a hardware store.
 
If one already has a welding rig and scrap pipe lying around and one also has no aptitude or inclination to learn wood carving, then it's cheaper to weld a permanent fix in place.

In fact, my grandfather welded pipes onto several shovels, a post hole digger, a sledge hammer and a maul for use around the sheds. He had a welding unit, the skills to weld, some busted tools and his wood working skills, in a word, sucked. He had good leather working, metal fabrication/welding and butchering skills and could build sheds and barns. He just had no experience in wood carving and really didn't have the time to spend learning wood carving. He also welded many a piece of pipe to tools for his neighbors for free. They just had to provide the busted tool and the piece of pipe they wanted him to use.
 
I have a nice old ensilage fork with a welded pipe T handle. Heavy as hell, but you're going to bust a tine before you break the handle!
 
My dad had a one inch steel rod welded into his splitting maul, I figured it would be hell on the arms with the vibration but it was just so solid and heavy there was no issues with that. The problem was how heavy it was, it would get a bit tiring. It was tricky lining it up too, but with practice it was fine.
It was funny though, my dad sharpens his shovel with a file but he let that maul get super dull, like the edge of a plate or something, for lack of a better example.
He has a wood splitter now and never uses it but I still like to chop a few bigger chunks for kindling whenever I get home for a visit.
 
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