Wetterlings axe fail....

Turbo4x4 said:
Have you ever heard of the defective axes from the GB or BMC? :))
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M3mphis said:
GB: yes, I've seen plenty of posts of gb's with defects.

BMC: they don't make axes. Those that they modify are on a MUCH smaller scale than wetterlings or GB.
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Here's a post about a GB with a shimmed handle:

Mr. No Smiles said:
I've been an intermittent lurker for years now and figured this thread was worth joining for. Lots of fine Swedish steel here. I received my 35" American Felling Axe yesterday. Overall, it's a great tool, but I'm concerned about the fit of the handle. Perhaps those of you with this same axe can post photos detailing the fit. I've had a Wildlife Hatchet for years and the fit is outstanding. As you can see below though, on the felling axe, there is a significant gap at the front of the handle on the underside of the head. This gap is even more pronounced than the pictures show and a metal shim is inserted, apparently to take up the extra space. It's very odd. The handle IS fitted perfectly true, but I'm concerned about the longevity of the connection since there's a very large portion of the eye that is not in contact with the handle. Opinions?

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Edited to add: Upon further investigation, it seems the rear of the eye is poorly fitting as well. The entire rear edge of the handle isn't contacting the head. Notice how much air space is in the rear of the eye. Inserting a piece of wire confirms that there is no handle material at all in this area.

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sisk61 said:
I just have more experience with knives than i do axes. Ive never had a knife fail, and i put my knives through hard crap. so i guess my expectations just were naturally high.

Heres a noobish question for ya, How do you make a wedge? and does it matter what wood you use? also, could one purchase linseed oil at walmart or something?
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I don't know if you're planning to deepen your kerf, but I would like to urge caution just in case. If your wedging pressure extends below the head, you can split your handle. I wouldn't go much below CrazyOtter's 2/3 down, but I lack his experience.
 
Porch: My wetterlings has the same gaps in the head. It seemed stout at first, then the head wobbled forward, then backward, its not a tight fit.
 
Also, Would i be alright if i put a new wedge in without soaking the whole thing in boiled linseed oil? or does the swelling of the wedge make a big difference?

Thanks!
 
upon further observation, the wedge that came with the wetterlings had bottomed out. and it was way too thin to keep the head on
 
Thanks Steve Tall for the vids.. I hadn't seen those before

The only axe defect is if the steel fails and the head cracks or you get a massive chip...anything else is just axe maintenance that you need to prepared to deal with if you're going to own an axe. Thanks for your comments M3mphis, it's good advice you're giving out.
 
sisk61, to expect a brand new Wetterlings axe to stay stable in use for at least a while is not too high expectation. By paying a higher price you expect quality in both stability and safety.
Since these axes are not drop forged or cast, but forged with manual control using huge, heavy, machine-driven hammers, there is an unavoidable variability. However, a proper fit between the eye and the handle is critical.
Many of these axes spend a long time in variable humidity and frequently changing temperature during the trans-Atlantic shipment, during the storage in different warehouses, and in transit. Even though the handle wood is treated (linseed oil?), it might not be sufficient to prevent repeated swelling a shrinking, and so a worsening fit between the eye and the handle.

On the positive side, if there was no injury involved, this type of problem is usually relatively easy to fix by properly re-fitting the original handle or replacing it with a new handle.

We rarely hear about this type of failure regarding Wetterlings and GB, but evidently it does exist.

A similar problem with an Iltis Ox Head (Ochsenkopf) axe was described by Old Jimbo a while ago:

http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/iltis.html

The Ox Head axes, just recently mentioned in another thread about some problems with Wetterlings axes is not your cheapo hardware store brand. This German brand is regarded by many to be of equivalent, if not better quality than the Swedish Wetterlings.

As you see, lemons can be found in any brand, any company. Of course this is a poor consolation for the person who gets the occasional lemon from the higher end and more expensive products.

For the newer members on this forum, Jim Aston, a.k.a Old Jimbo is an early member on this forum, a Canadian axe enthusiast and a self-thought expert, to whom many forum members (including myself) do owe their interest in axemanship and axe maintenance.

Do search the archives and forums for his old posts, they are a true treasure trove of knowledge.

You can also read his wonderful and colorful reviews, musings and recommendations on his website:

http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/

Long before Wood Trekker etc., there was Old Jimbo!:thumbup:
 
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Littleknife- Great answer. that helps a lot. Ill put a new wedge in there this weekend and let yall know how it goes
 
Well i put the wedge in. soaked it in linseed oil, and used it today. wedge came out once more. so i put it back in and it is now sitting in linseed oil. im going to leave it in a lot longer this time
 
Something is wrong here that should not be happening. A wedge should not work itself out that easy.
Post up some pics if you can so the group can help you out.
 
Ok i will take some. I used a ball peen hammer to put the wedge back in so it the wood is dented..... probably shouldnt have done that.... oh well, ill take some pictures
 
Alright... the hammer i used split the wood a little. definitely need a new haft. Where do i buy one that fits that size? I guess i could make one, ive done it before with some hatchets but they were not nearly as good as the quality of this haft.

here are some pics

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this last picture is out of focus. but theres a gap between the metal and wood
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The best way to fix the wedge into the axe handle is to glue it on polyurethane wood glue. It not only deadly fixes the wedge into the handle but it glues also steel part (axe head) to the handle. I have tested it and I even glued together deadly two Japanese wetstones with that glue. Polyurethane glue bellies when dries and fulfills every single gap. I use Bison Polyurethane Wood Glue. It is beast not glue.
 
Thanks John, I will have to try that one. i do have some regular old elmers wood glue on hand. Would that work?
 
You do seem to have a problem with that wedge. It should not be coming out like that. I always use wedges and I use a ball peen hammer on all of them. No problem unless it's looks you're concerned with. I've never glued a wedge in my life. That handle don't look so bad. It seems it ought to work.
Don't know how rough you've been using it, but I can say from considerable experience that those HB styles tend to lose handles when used hard. It's just the nature of them especially when the contact between wood and metal is incomplete to start with. Others seem to like them though, and their advice is just as good as mine so just do what you see fit.
Jim
 
John Neeman said:
The best way to fix the wedge into the axe handle is to glue it on polyurethane wood glue. It not only deadly fixes the wedge into the handle but it glues also steel part (axe head) to the handle. I have tested it and I even glued together deadly two Japanese wetstones with that glue. Polyurethane glue bellies when dries and fulfills every single gap. I use Bison Polyurethane Wood Glue. It is beast not glue.
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Thanks for a good idea. I've done epoxy, epoxy putty, wood shims- never thought of polyurethane glue.
 
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