What did you rehang today?

[Wake31]

My Sunday project! I picked up this Smarts Double bit back a year ago or so. Finally got around to working on it. I took the haft off, cleaned and reshaped it a bit, cleaned the head, sharpened ( one side had alot of damage to the blade) and rehung with a mahogany wedge.

 

[Jlemay18]

JLemay18, my dad has had one for years, the Plumb National BSA camp hatchet was the first axe of any kind I ever used. Because of that I have a soft spot for them. To be honest though I don't think it will become a favorite user. Compared to my TrueTemper axes of similar size I don't see this one being able to keep up. Still a very fun project and I'm fairly happy with how it came out.

I didn't even see the BSA logo when I first commented on that haha but even if it's not the best performer it's still nice to keep around, sentimental value can make up for quite a bit even if something else performs better. Not sure if you have kids but if you ever do it'll be useful to have an extra boys axe around to let them use, and the fact that it was grandpas axe makes it a lot cooler than any old axe. These days with our throwaway culture there aren't many things being passed down and it's a shame. I've received a few things from both sets of grandparents and I wouldn't sell them no matter the price. My dads parents are still alive and his dad still splits wood to burn, he's promised me quite a few of his tools when he passes or can no longer use them because I work with him a few times a week and he knows how much I like old tools and will take care of them. It's actually caused some tension cause he's giving me them rather than his sons but I help them out far more than anyone else in the family. But he has a Collins axe which isn't the nicest or rarest model they made and I'm sure some of mine would perform better but once he's done with it and I get it I will never get rid of that until my son is of age, and that axe will have more value to me than even my black Raven. Sorry for getting a little off topic but it's nice to see other people keeping things in the family.

 

[Able_walker]

Anyone ever use Applewood or Cherrywood or any other uncommon wood for the purpose of hatchet or hammer handles? Seems to develop a a very distinct patina over time. Saw a pile like this (Apple says the seller) on craigslist just looking out of curiosity...looks like you could get a few handles out of some of these pieces.

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[Hickory n steel]

Anyone ever use Applewood or Cherrywood or any other uncommon wood for the purpose of hatchet or hammer handles? Seems to develop a a very distinct patina over time. Saw a pile like this (Apple says the seller) on craigslist just looking out of curiosity...looks like you could get a few handles out of some of these pieces.

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For something like a small hatchet is imagine most any hardwoods could hold up.

 

[Moonw]

What he said. Carve with confidence.

Big fan of applewood here, had a slingshot made out of a nice piece; besides the nice patina, as crazy as it sounds, it smelled like apple for years.

 

[Hacked]

Anyone ever use Applewood or Cherrywood or any other uncommon wood for the purpose of hatchet or hammer handles? Seems to develop a a very distinct patina over time. Saw a pile like this (Apple says the seller) on craigslist just looking out of curiosity...looks like you could get a few handles out of some of these pieces.

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The Plumb I just posted has a Pear wood handle. I don't have much use on it yet, but it didn't explode so there is that.

 

[rjdankert]

Im

As best as I can tell you did a great job of fitting those pieces. Not an easy task.

FWIW, you might get some extra strength by inserting one or more cross pieces (dowel, bolt, whatever, . . .)

Thanks Bob, certainly worth considering. Don't know how well it shows in the photos, but that's a very thin profile handle the way they used to make them so I'm a little nervous about drilling a hole through it. Think I'll keep a eye on it and being a pickaroon, I'd doesn't get near the stress that an axe would. Photos to follow if it self destructs.

(( please restrict the jerkit icon to whine & cheese ))
Last edited by Esav Benyamin; Yesterday at 08:57 PM.

Only suggested the peg, YMMV.

Yeah, this is the kind of case where a pin or dowel reduces the strength rather than adding to it. . .

If you are at all worried about it, I would suggest wrapping it tightly with wire or twine. . .

The wood is strongest parallel to the fibers that its made of - drilling a hole across for the pin cuts those fibers. . .

I agree.

The only hole that cannot be drilled across any of the fibers is a hole drilled into the end grain of a straight grained piece.


I guess the cut fibers in these types of joints would last longer if they were wrapped in wire or twine rather than drilled and pegged:

And, since I've drilled holes across the fibers for these projects, they will undoubtedly fail prematurely:

Bob

PS My 285 pound cousin sat on the shave horse without incident. Guess it was his lucky day!

 

[Canadian Mojo]

Anyone ever use Applewood or Cherrywood or any other uncommon wood for the purpose of hatchet or hammer handles? Seems to develop a a very distinct patina over time. Saw a pile like this (Apple says the seller) on craigslist just looking out of curiosity...looks like you could get a few handles out of some of these pieces.

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The stuff is hard as nails when it's dry. Once out of curiosity I tried carving a dead branch off of my tree with proper RC 60 Mora carving knives... it quickly turned into rasp and file work. It was a little butter paddle and I swear the thing holds an edge.

 

[Twindog]

Thanks for that great post, Bob. I'm transfixed working out the load-carrying strategy of those beams. Beautiful work.

 

[300Six]

Anyone ever use Applewood or Cherrywood or any other uncommon wood for the purpose of hatchet or hammer handles? Seems to develop a a very distinct patina over time. Saw a pile like this (Apple says the seller) on craigslist just looking out of curiosity...looks like you could get a few handles out of some of these pieces.

Cherry (Black Cherry is the one I'm familiar with) is relatively soft whereas Apple is quite hard. Both develop a wonderful reddish colour as they age. I suspect that you don't see Apple in use for tool handles because suitable lengths of straight grain material with no knots is nearly impossible to get your hands on. For instance the firewood pile you show doesn't look to have a single stick in it that could be used to make a straight and clear handle.

 

[rjdankert]

Anyone ever use Applewood or Cherrywood or any other uncommon wood for the purpose of hatchet or hammer handles?. . .

I have only made one handle out of Black Cherry for a small claw hammer. Sorry, not much help if you are interested in strength for a larger tool. Made with hand tools and riven stock. You can see the ray flecks (medullary rays) in the pics:

Bob

 

[Able_walker]

I have only made one handle out of Black Cherry for a small claw hammer. Sorry, not much help if you are interested in strength for a larger tool. Made with hand tools and riven stock. You can see the ray flecks (medullary rays) in the pics:

Bob

Nice work and for sure a real nice color.

 

[Jlemay18]

That axe vise is so awesome, the other stuff is too but I might have to make one of those vises over the winter for my new work bench

 

[Park Swan]

That's an especially good-looking piece of cherry.
300six - I agree, apple would surely be more common if it were commonly available.
Cherry will do fine for something short, I've used it for a few hatchets without problems yet, but apple is definitely better if available.

 

[serotina]

The only hole that cannot be drilled across any of the fibers is a hole drilled into the end grain of a straight grained piece.


I guess the cut fibers in these types of joints would last longer if they were wrapped in wire or twine rather than drilled and pegged:

And, since I've drilled holes across the fibers for these projects, they will undoubtedly fail prematurely:

Bob

PS My 285 pound cousin sat on the shave horse without incident. Guess it was his lucky day!

Good grief Bob! You'd think I spit in your eye or something!

I never said, nor meant to imply, that no pin could be used in woodworking at all, ever - pins have diverse and indispensable uses in many roles of joining wood, as your broadside of pictures shows very well.

Only the last picture is relevant to the discussion however, since all those other applications are doing different things than the proposed pin across a handle.

Now maybe that last pic tells us something, if the repaired handle has been used as heavily as a new one and has held up to expectations after the repair. As I clearly said, I have not tried this, but was drawing upon experience from other fields.

Most of the reason I do not care for pins like you proposed is that I have seen them most often used as a quick repair to cracked gunstocks. I've typically seen them used when the effort of making a good, tight glue joint is undesirable - when glue is simply forced into the crack and pins installed in the hope that the repair will last. This is a world away from using a pin to draw a MT joint, you and I both know that.

 

[rjdankert]

Good grief Bob! You'd think I spit in your eye or something!. . .

No, if I thought that, I'd call you naughty names and put an evil spell on you. I won't say what that spell would do, but let's just say Halloween would be coming a few days early at your house this year.


Bob

 

[Canadian Mojo]

I honestly don't see how the bottom two dowels would accomplish much in that last picture since they don't appear to be grabbing much of the one piece. The upper dowel looks like it would be a useful addition for adding strength to the joint.

 

[Park Swan]

I honestly don't see how the bottom two dowels would accomplish much in that last picture since they don't appear to be grabbing much of the one piece. The upper dowel looks like it would be a useful addition for adding strength to the joint.

Increasing glue joint surface area.

 

[Canadian Mojo]

I get that; it's just that they appear to be grabbing very little additional material in that picture because they are so close to the thin end of the split and then only partially catch it.

 

[rjdankert]

I honestly don't see how the bottom two dowels would accomplish much in that last picture since they don't appear to be grabbing much of the one piece. . .

Canadian Mojo, The picture is deceptive. There is not a top and two bottom dowels (three total) as it appears. There are actually only two dowels (total) at right angles to each other - like a cross. However, it has nothing to do with my suggestion of a single dowel parallel to the head through the glued up pickaroon handle. My thinking is that a single dowel would tie together the laminations of the glued up handle.

If anyone is wondering about why I added the second cross dowel to my handle, I don't have anything to say other than it seemed like the thing to do at the time.

And then the question did it work? Well, it held up long enough for me to find out that I don't like that hatchet. Still solid, but . . .

Bob