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- Mar 28, 2013
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No, epoxy baaaad. You can always fit in two pieces of wood shaped to fill the gap and wedge that. Should have a similar compression effect.
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What did you rehang today?
- Thread starter Irongun324
- Start date
Yeah that's true, I've never used it before so I wouldn't really know what kind to use or how to go about it but that's probably my best option and least frustrating lol
Thats what i originally thought but I'm no expert so I could have been wrong but I guess not lol. I already tried once and they snapped off when I was tapping them in, But I was using black walnut cause I wanted it to be the same as the wedge and close to the color of the handle. But maybe I'll try again with another kind of wood that's sturdier
Have you considered making a single wedge to fill the back of the eye and then using a shorter main wedge? I have to wonder if the maker didn't intend for this axe to have cross wedges rather than a typical wedge. Is the eye wider top to bottom?
Funny thing I seem to recall Nick having the same issue with his last hang. I've yet to come across such an eye.
Funny thing I seem to recall Nick having the same issue with his last hang. I've yet to come across such an eye.
Yeah he did, it was a Spiller just like this one. I'm thinking maybe they were a mistake because they're hand forged? Although the same problem with multiple from the same company makes that seem unlikely, and Spillers aren't poor quality axes. But I can't think of a reason why the eye would construct the way it does on mine. From the outside everything looks to be in order, top of eye is wider than bottom but not far above the bottom of the eye it constricts, and the widens again towards the top. It's was a pain in the ass to carve the eye for the handle cause it took me a bit to figure out why it wouldn't go in further lol. But yeah I tried carving pieces of wedges to fit like nick did but I guess he's just more experienced than me, mine snapped off when I was lightly tapping them in and was a huge frustrating mess lol. And yeah I prob should have cut the wedge short at the end of the handle but I've already drilled out and replace one wedge so I'm gonna avoid that if I can. I was trying to use pieces of black walnut to fill the gap so it would look the same as the regular wedge but it may not be sturdy enough, might try with something else
I guess if you epoxy it it means you cant reuse the haft (easily), and there will be more prep work involved (removing / filing out epoxy) if you were to ever re hang it, but its not the end of the world.
Really its the purists who would say don't epoxy it as an axe can usually be hung well without it, so it just makes rehanging it more of a pain. But I spose epoxy has its place. Many axes, mauls, sledges etc come standard with some form of epoxy in the eye.
Its not the prettiest most traditional solution but its a solution non the less
Plumb 'Permabond' has been out there (successfully too!) for over 1/2 century and is some sort of epoxy compound. The axes were loosely fitted and not wedged and the adhesive poured, injected or squeezed in to anchor the hafts. During desperate times in the Swede axe business (1980s?) they were also setting hafts in epoxy.
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- Aug 21, 2013
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Carved this handle from a 26" hickory handle blank from Thrane, black walnut wedge, Spiller 3lb jersey head. Just finished it last night, well finished for now, I tried carving pieces of wedge to fill the space in the eye but it ended up being the most frustrating thing I've ever done with an axe. The eye constricts on the inside and then widens at the top so unfortunately the eye of the handle ended up being a lot smaller than the top of the eye of the axe. As I was lightly tapping the pieces of wedge in they broke off below the opening so I couldn't pull them out, figured I'd just pound them down and put more on top, the main wedge broke as I was doing that. So I ended up having to drill out the original wedge and rehanging it. I'm keeping this axe as a personal user so after last nights fiasco of trying to fill the gaps I'm not sure if I'm going to try again, I know I'll get shit for it but it's hung super tight and having already drilled out the first wedge I know it's not going anywhere anytime soon. That being said I'm a perfectionist when it comes to this stuff, especially when they're my own personal users, so it's bugging the shit out of me that it's not perfect but I'm not sure what else to do. I may eventually try again but I have a feeling the pieces of wedge will just keep breaking off when I try and tap them in, and it took me like 2 hours to carve/sand them down to the correct shape.
That is a nice looking handle and a nice looking head. I wonder if they are meant to go together?
Your wedge would come out pretty quickly if you wanted it to, maybe to pair that head up with a handle with a tongue that better fills the eye.
If you carved it from a blank then I wonder, did it look short to begin with? That does mean you had control over the initial shaping.
Dissembling it would allow for some pictures to see what that tongue looks like to "fit" in the mouth of the eye and leave a space like that.
Like I said, it's a very nice looking set-up but it kind of looks like if you used it much it would crush that wedge in the back and come loose.
That handle looks like it wants a boy's axe on it.
That is a nice looking handle and a nice looking head. I wonder if they are meant to go together?
Your wedge would come out pretty quickly if you wanted it to, maybe to pair that head up with a handle with a tongue that better fills the eye.
If you carved it from a blank then I wonder, did it look short to begin with? That does mean you had control over the initial shaping.
Dissembling it would allow for some pictures to see what that tongue looks like to "fit" in the mouth of the eye and leave a space like that.
Like I said, it's a very nice looking set-up but it kind of looks like if you used it much it would crush that wedge in the back and come loose.
That handle looks like it wants a boy's axe on it.
Yeah I see what you mean, but it's flush at the bottom and probably a little less than halfway up, it's just a weird shaped eye, it constricts a bit and then widens towards the top. I had to carve the top of the eye that much smaller just to get it thru unfortunately, I may have taken a tiny bit extra off in just making it round/smooth/symmetrical but nowhere near enough to make that much difference. So I guess at some point I'll try to carve pieces of wedge to fill the gap. Just still too frustrated from trying last night, took me over an hour to get them shaped and then they snapped, leading to me having to drill out the wedge and rehang it lol. But it kinda is a boys axe, it weighs in around 2.75lbs just not the typical design of one
That is a nice looking handle and a nice looking head. I wonder if they are meant to go together?
Your wedge would come out pretty quickly if you wanted it to, maybe to pair that head up with a handle with a tongue that better fills the eye.
If you carved it from a blank then I wonder, did it look short to begin with? That does mean you had control over the initial shaping.
Dissembling it would allow for some pictures to see what that tongue looks like to "fit" in the mouth of the eye and leave a space like that.
Like I said, it's a very nice looking set-up but it kind of looks like if you used it much it would crush that wedge in the back and come loose.
That handle looks like it wants a boy's axe on it.
And yeah if only I didn't have the issues with the eye that I did, otherwise this would be my favorite axe/handle combo by far. Spiller has been one of my favorite makers for awhile but it took me forever to find a decent one at a reasonable price, and I know some people don't like heartwood but I've never had an issue with it and it looks beautiful, keeps getting better looking from each coat of BLO
Yeah I get what you mean, I'll keep it as a back up option but will probably try and fit wedges in it first as I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my personal axes haha
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- Jan 5, 2016
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- 127
You could always use an epoxy like JB Weld to reshape the hole to a more suitable taper and then rehang. Once it's cured it will stick to the metal and you can shape it with a file as needed.
This comes with the disclaimer that I've never tried using it for this particular application, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work.
This comes with the disclaimer that I've never tried using it for this particular application, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work.
I would try something like pine or some other softwood that will better conform to the space you are trying to fill. Make sure the growth rings are running across the thinnest section to help preventing it from breaking and use something wood to drive them in rather than a hammer. At least that's how I'd go about it.
If it makes you feel better I'm on wedge number 4 on one of my axes currently. For whatever reason it keeps spitting wedges. I refuse to use metal cross wedges and glue, guess I'm a purist or whatever. Anyway we all have issues with hangs from time to time, don't let it trip you up.
If it makes you feel better I'm on wedge number 4 on one of my axes currently. For whatever reason it keeps spitting wedges. I refuse to use metal cross wedges and glue, guess I'm a purist or whatever. Anyway we all have issues with hangs from time to time, don't let it trip you up.
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- Nov 4, 2015
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You've probably had more than enough input on this, but I'd like to throw my two cents in.
You've done such a nice job on the hang and it would be a shame to give up on it now. The way you described it, that void goes down a little more than half way and I would assume tapers as well. I think I would make a template of that gap which would require removing just the portion of your wedge that protrudes into the void. Masking tape can be used to make an exact template of the void area. I would then use a donor piece of hickory from another discarded haft and hand shape it to your template estimating the taper of the void starting fat. I think with patience, you can make it a slip fit and if the void goes half way down or more, you can cut a short kerf on the top side for a matching mini wedge. I would try and make it so you actually have to drive the filler piece home. I would also go light on wedge pressure on the filler piece as it could blow it apart and it mostly for looks on the repair anyway. Don't know if will work and it's sure as heck going to be a royal pita! I think if you succeed though, it will be hard to tell a salvage repair was ever made. Good luck on whatever you decide to do. SW
Thanks for the advice man I definitely appreciate it. But yeah I was stuck on using black walnut to fill the gap to match the wedge cause the handle is heartwood and I don't have any wedges or spare wood to match that. But just gonna have to suck it up and deal with the color being off, I'll try again sometime soon just got a bit too frustrated since I spent over an hour getting the pieces perfectly shaped and not only did they break but they broke below the head so I couldn't pull the out, decided to just pound them down and put more on top and that ended up breaking the main wedge so I had to drill the wedge out and rehang it. So that was just a mess and I just wanted some time to cool off and maybe decide on another approach.
But that's rough I'd be passed my tipping point of it ever took me that many haha, I've been lucky and only cracked one wedge before and it didn't really affect it at all so I left it. I probably should have replaced it but I typically glue my wedges so I don't think it'll be a huge deal. Glue is my only concession, I've yet to ever use a metal wedge and would like to keep it that way, nothing against people who use them but if I can avoid damaging the handle or splitting the wedge I will. I know people have their opinions about glue but I can at least drill the wedge out and salvage the handle pretty easily with glue, metal wedges it's a lot harder to do that, not impossible but more of a headache than I want to purposely make possible.
Just finished hanging this big ol firemans axe, it's a Collins Legitimus 6lb fire axe but it's not a seagrave unfortunately. Hung it on a 36" handle with a black walnut wedge. I'm loving how this came out, if I didn't already have way too many axes I'd definitely keep it, still may haha. Probably will keep it for a bit and then sell it or possibly give it to my cousin, he's taking the fire department exam sometime soon and would be nice to give it to him if he passes. Although he doesn't know really anything about axes so I could sell this and buy a different one for him and still have a good chunk left over. Who knows haha if money wasn't a thing I'd keep all my axes
