What did you rehang today?

[Square_peg]

Question for you, if you don't mind: since I'm a novice, I made the silly mistake of cutting a new wedge out of pine but with the grain instead of against. It split when I drove it in so I filled the split with some ash. Should I be worried about this hang or just monitor how tight the head stays over time?

I think you're fine. If you have some Swel-lock or DPG it will help. Even some Benite might help - it would harden the wedge. I think you'd have been better off if the haft and wedge had been left 1/4" proud of the eye. Then if it loosened up you could drive the wedge deeper. When the wedge is set below the end of the haft the haft expands over the top of it locking it in place. Old lumberman's trick.

Some fellows would intentionally leave the wedge just a little loose and let it set over night. Then they'd cut if off flush with the haft and drive the wedge down the final 1/8". It takes some experience to know when the wedge is about 1/8" from stopping.

 

[Square_peg]

https://m.imgur.com/gallery/kdcJD32
Hung this mini Norlund Hudson Bay on a hickory handle today, I really want to keep this one to use but it's in basically perfect condition so I could sell it, but a different one of the same size and have a lot left over still. Decisions decisions...

You'd be better off cutting that haft off if you want to sell it. Two things, a lot of guys want to hang it themselves. Your hatchet head isn't set all the way down onto the shoulder.

 

[schmittie]

Thanks for the tips. (Btw it is about 1/4 above the head at least I learned that here)

 

[Agent_H]

I have never had a Swedish axe. So just recently I bought a "Swedish military surplus new axe" from the SG and wondered what would show up at my door. I was extatic to end up with a Sater Banko that just needed some tlc.*

As received-



Honestly, for $20 I am thrilled!

That is an interesting and quality score for a "Swedish military surplus new axe"!

Very cool.

 

[Jlemay18]

@squarepeg If someone wants to rehang it they can cut it off, there are plenty of people who would be totally happy getting one that already has a nice hickory handle on it, not gonna waste that extra value for the chance someone wants to waste a handle to do it themselves, if that's the case they can waste it. And the shoulder really makes no difference, it's thicker below where the head is sitting so it's not like it's loose at all. Plus I have a full size Norlund Hudson Bay on the original handle that is hung the same, and have owned/seen many others that are done the same. The only difference seating it lower will make is that the handle will be shorter, as long as the wood is thicker below the head and it's wedged properly it's not gonna budge.

 

[Hacked]

@squarepeg If someone wants to rehang it they can cut it off, there are plenty of people who would be totally happy getting one that already has a nice hickory handle on it, not gonna waste that extra value for the chance someone wants to waste a handle to do it themselves, if that's the case they can waste it. And the shoulder really makes no difference, it's thicker below where the head is sitting so it's not like it's loose at all. Plus I have a full size Norlund Hudson Bay on the original handle that is hung the same, and have owned/seen many others that are done the same. The only difference seating it lower will make is that the handle will be shorter, as long as the wood is thicker below the head and it's wedged properly it's not gonna budge.

This is accurate, you could just as easily knock the shoulder down blending it into the rest of the handle and you would be fine. A lot of older axe handles didn't have a well defined shoulder. A lot of modern ones have monstrous shoulders that do more harm than good. My preference has become to basically have no shoulder but rather a gradual increase in thickness just below the eye for the head to rest on.

For example the axe I'm currently working on. The head is fitted to the handle in the picture.

 

[Jlemay18]

@hacked I was actually thinking about doing that, more for the sake of not getting shit from people who think differently on the subject but the shoulder on this one is pretty small so functionally it won't get in the way. The picture might make it seem like its thinner than it actually is below the head and would be loose but trust me it's not going anywhere soon. And you're right, it's not like the structure of the wood is any different above the shoulder or right on it, it really won't make a huge difference except if I'm going to sell it, then for anyone of the mindset that it should always be right on the shoulder may not like it but same goes for what I said about someone who wants to do the work of hanging it themselves. There's plenty of people who don't care about placement of head in relation to shoulder and people who aren't able to rehang it themselves so if I sell it in leaving the handle on and if anyone doesn't like it they can remove the value themselves. Your last sentence about gradually increasing thickness is basically how this is except with a bigger swell for the shoulder, I may sand it down but it doesn't bother me enough to care and actually works well because I've found myself choking up on this axe when I use it so it gives its almost like a palm swell but not really lol.

 

[Jlemay18]

http://imgur.com/a/Rhfk6
Also another example of a Norlund hung above the shoulder, this one being on an original handle. Also sorry for posting the links to the pictures, I'm technologically challenged and new to the forum so I haven't yet figured out how to embed pictures.

 

[Siskiyou Woodsman]

"You'd be better off cutting that haft off if you want to sell it. Two things, a lot of guys want to hang it themselves. Your hatchet head isn't set all the way down onto the shoulder".

Jlemay18, your going to hear a lot of constructive criticism here, all of it meant to help you on your way in "axe restoration" which in and of it self can't be defined beyond personal taste.That being said, the above quoted comment bothered me as I would restate it as: If you want to sell it, the buyer will decide if they want the haft or not and I would certainly not cut the haft off in any case. If you decide to sell it, the buyer will let you know wether or not they want the haft and if they don't, [I would remove it, not cut it off, and retain it for another project]. In all fairness to tradition, you would normally set the axe head to the shoulder as stated by others, but that in no way detracts from your efforts. I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.

 

[Jlemay18]

"You'd be better off cutting that haft off if you want to sell it. Two things, a lot of guys want to hang it themselves. Your hatchet head isn't set all the way down onto the shoulder".

Jlemay18, your going to here a lot of constructive criticism here, all of it meant to help you on your way in "axe restoration" which in and of it self can't be defined beyond personal taste.That being said, the above quoted comment bothered me as I would restate it as: If you want to sell it, the buyer will decide if they want the haft or not and I would certainly not cut the haft off in any case. If you decide to sell it, the buyer will let you know wether or not they want the haft and if they don't, [I would remove it, not cut it off, and retain it for another project]. In all fairness to tradition, you would normally set the axe head to the shoulder as stated by others, but that in no way detracts from your efforts. I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.

@siski thanks man I appreciate that, I know I'm no pro at this and may do things different than textbook as I basically taught myself with a little help from forums and YouTube. But yeah I mean if a buyer already paid for it and requested the handle removed before hand I'd have no problem with that but I wouldn't remove it before I even lost it as not everyone can or cares to put a new handle on if they can't get it already hung on a perfectly good one.

I probably should have hung it right above the shoulder but it's not gonna budge just because of where it's placed, it dug into the wood at the bottom of the eye when I hung it and it's wedged in there good. Also I've found when using it I tend to choke up on it for most stuff I'm using a small hatchet like this for, with my hand a little below the head which just so happens to be where the shoulder swell is. So it wasn't intentional but it actually worked out that the shoulder swell acts almost like a palm swell and makes gripping it a little easier when I choke up.

I'm still undecided whether I should sell it though. The head is near mint and it's a real nice hickory handle so I know I could get a fairly good amount for it, but I also need a hatchet this size and I really like the looks and feel of this one. I have a Norlund saddle cruiser and 2 regular sized Hudson bays but I will definitely sell the 2 Hudson bays as I have a Collins Legitimus Hudson I posted in here earlier that I'm def keeping and I really should sell the saddle as that can fetch a good amount too. So I would like to keep at least one Norlund for use/collection so it'll be a toss up between this one and the saddle cruiser.

 

[Jlemay18]

http://imgur.com/a/9ivLC
Speaking of my Norlund saddle cruiser, I just finished hanging and sanding it. Still have to give it a few coats of BLO and touch up the head and sharpen the bits but it's almost done. Still undecided whether I should keep it or sell it. Would love to keep it but my bank account wants it sold

 

[Agent_H]

Those heads might sell themselves easier if they were off the handles.

The cost of shipping a handled axe is sometimes a deterrent to buying online – even for nice heads.

None of that is a dig on your work but you don’t want them to get the “cold shoulder” from online buyers in the event you want to sell them.

Local sales might be a way to bypass that.

I could be very wrong and just be thinking too much from my own perspective. 2 cents of blah blah is less than $20 shipping.

Also, I know you didn't ask for my input but I was just trying to picture myself as a buyer.

 

[Jlemay18]

Those heads might sell themselves easier if they were off the handles.

The cost of shipping a handled axe is sometimes a deterrent to buying online – even for nice heads.

None of that is a dig on your work but you don’t want them to get the “cold shoulder” from online buyers in the event you want to sell them.

Local sales might be a way to bypass that.

I could be very wrong and just be thinking too much from my own perspective. 2 cents of blah blah is less than $20 shipping.

Also, I know you didn't ask for my input but I was just trying to picture myself as a buyer.

Yeah I mean as I said before I wouldn't be against removing it for cheaper shipping if a buyer asked but not gonna remove it before listing it as plenty of people would prefer it already hung. I put the handles on the first and last one, pretty sure the handle on the middle one is the original so id rather not remove it. But again if someone's already paid for the axe and wants to save on shipping then that's fine but not gonna remove the value before listing it.

 

[Siskiyou Woodsman]

Not sure why I did this, but I'll try and explain. A friend gave me a pickaroon and I had a vintage boys axe handle that had half the tongue broken off, but otherwise had good curves and a nice swell. I knew I was going to need to add wood because of the damage to the tongue and the pickaroon had a full size eye.

After glut-up, Fitting the head to the haft.

Found that I needed more wood.

Filling the voids with a slurry of sawdust and glue.

With an apparent success, I put it to work on the wood pile.

I have no expectations for this since I broke all the rules, but since I'm the only one using it and know the dangers, I'll use it with caution. I just needed to salvage that old handle. Thanks SW.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Agent_H]

You could have just used a new/pulled handle:

With an apparent success, I put it to work on the wood pile.

But you went and did this:

Not sure why I did this, but I'll try and explain...
Filling the voids with a slurry of sawdust and glue.

Why? Whatever answer you come up with is good enough for me Siskiyou Woodsman.

There are so many reasons to do that.



*Tips hat. :thumbup:

 

[RICKOFF]

Siskiyou Woodsman, great job!

Nothing wrong with breaking rules, I break rules all the time how else are you going to find out what works and what doesn't.
Rick

 

[Siskiyou Woodsman]

:jerkit:

You could have just used a new/pulled handle:
But you went and did this:
Why? Whatever answer you come up with is good enough for me Siskiyou Woodsman.
There are so many reasons to do that.
*Tips hat. :thumbup:

Thanks H, it was fun. Was hanging on to that old handle for a long time and just couldn't toss it and didn't want to saw it up for wedges etc.:jerkit:

Also thanks Rickoff!

 

[Twindog]

Thanks for sharing that save, Siskiyou. Did you use a waterproof glue?

I was also interested in the haft-retention hole in the head. Did you drill that, or is that original?

 

[Siskiyou Woodsman]

Thanks for sharing that save, Siskiyou. Did you use a waterproof glue?

I was also interested in the haft-retention hole in the head. Did you drill that, or is that original?

I used tite-bond 3 and I believe it's water proof. Glad you asked about the holes..they were there when I received the head, but they're non functional in this case. Drove tapered brass wood screws into the holes and cut them flush inside and out. Because of all the sectioning it would have weakened the hang in this case. Thanks for asking. SW

 

[Jlemay18]

Not sure why I did this, but I'll try and explain. A friend gave me a pickaroon and I had a vintage boys axe handle that had half the tongue broken off, but otherwise had good curves and a nice swell. I knew I was going to need to add wood because of the damage to the tongue and the pickaroon had a full size eye.

After glut-up, Fitting the head to the haft.

Found that I needed more wood.

Filling the voids with a slurry of sawdust and glue.

With an apparent success, I put it to work on the wood pile.

I have no expectations for this since I broke all the rules, but since I'm the only one using it and know the dangers, I'll use it with caution. I just needed to salvage that old handle. Thanks SW.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Great work siski, definitely came out a lot better than I could do, I probably would have just made wedges like you said. Where did you get the pickaroon head? I bought one on the bay and hung it but I have it to my grandfather as a gift, he still splits his own wood and figured it'd help save his back a bit. Been looking for another one but all the ones on eBay are either junk or they want ridiculous money.