What did you rehang today?

[Yankee Josh]

View attachment 1037166 View attachment 1037167 View attachment 1037168 I finished hanging this yesterday. I’m not really sure what this pattern of axe is. The handle is re-purposed from a hammer. The top was split so I shortened it about a half an inch.

That's a produce hatchet. A nice one! I had no idea what mine was either till i asked on here.

Here's an Emerson Stevens Jersey pattern that had a huge eye. There was enough wood to fill the bottom of the eye but the top was another story.

I used white ash for the fillers due to the fact that it's harder than the poplar wedge and would cut and smoosh into the wedge but soft enough to conform to the space.

And the finished product.

Hope this helps!

 

[Kerry W]

For the life of me, I don’t know what a hatchet has to do with produce. It is cool though and yours is a beauty!

Thanks for the photos. I had no idea you could fill the eye with additional wood. Your E&S looks really nice.

 

[rjdankert]

For the life of me, I don’t know what a hatchet has to do with produce

Presumably crating and uncrating fruits and vegetables. But why a special hatchet is required. . .



Bob

 

[garry3]

Done evolving?

 

[Yankee Josh]

For the life of me, I don’t know what a hatchet has to do with produce. It is cool though and yours is a beauty!

Thanks for the photos. I had no idea you could fill the eye with additional wood. Your E&S looks really nice.

Bob nailed it. Opening crates.

using anything but the wedge is a last resort. I have no idea how long it'll last. I felt that haft was perfect for that E&S axe head so I made it work. I have next to no experience cross wedging but some other guys on here do.

 

[Kerry W]

Who would have thunk it. A special axe for produce. I do think it’s pretty cool looking. Nice looking geometry.

Yankee Josh, I not going to rush into the Connie. I may attempt a scratch made haft and if I do I will make it for than one. I may be going in over my head though. Not the first time.

I still don’t have the posting thing figured out. I should have inserted the quotes before I wrote my response. Next time.

Presumably crating and uncrating fruits and vegetables. But why a special hatchet is required. . .



Bob

Bob nailed it. Opening crates.

using anything but the wedge is a last resort. I have no idea how long it'll last. I felt that haft was perfect for that E&S axe head so I made it work. I have next to no experience cross wedging but some other guys on here do.

 

[garry3]

From 1938 Kelly catalog...

" SATISFYING A VERY PARTICULAR TRADE
Men who work at boxing and barreling as well as the lathing
trade are very exacting about the tools they use. Design and
construction are most important."

So I don't know why you guys are surprised that every trade will have there own highly developed tool for the job. They will have several options to choose from sometimes from the same manufacturer. Just try to tell a skilled trades man that they are much the same or get him to change brands.

 

[Yankee Josh]

From 1938 Kelly catalog...

" SATISFYING A VERY PARTICULAR TRADE
Men who work at boxing and barreling as well as the lathing
trade are very exacting about the tools they use. Design and
construction are most important."

So I don't know why you guys are surprised that every trade will have there own highly developed tool for the job. They will have several options to choose from sometimes from the same manufacturer. Just try to tell a skilled trades man that they are much the same or get him to change brands.

Only one individual said they were surprised. We all appreciate the specificity of certain tools. Goes without saying.

 

[phantomknives]

no pics just yet but that fulton, i got it out of the vinegar (which didnt do anything), filed it up and put a slip fit handle on it to test the warp of the eye, i'll probably put up some photos tomorrow to see if any of you guys can spot the issue but if i can't fix it, any recommendations on how to steam twist a handle?

 

[A17]

I finally hung the S and N Yankee Josh gifted me too long ago on a repurposed red oak haft. The haft formerly held a too-heavy house axe head. I ended up putting the house axe head on a home made big leaf maple handle and cut down the old handle to better suit the S and N's head weight. The wedges started working loose after some use on the tree on "Lets use those axes for what they're ment for" so I need to re-wedge it but it's hafted. It will take some getting used to. It is the lightest headed axe I've used. Pops good chips, though.

 

[Brian Rust]

Finished this 2.25 Dunlap up tonight. Walnut is a beautiful wood and makes a great wedge. The handle has decent grain but there was some heart wood mixed in. Link has some super nice boys ax handles. Very slim with a huge swell. Grain and pure sap wood is lacking but it is much better than the fiberglass mutant someone considered a handle. I am still picking out splinters from that damn thing.

Oh by the way, this is the first time I have used the Shinto saw rasp on a handle and it was a dream. I’m not sure if they make them or not but if they also had a half round course and fine rasp it would be the only tool you would need. But the flat one does 95% of the work.

 

[Malpaso]

My first rehang. A few months ago, I found a couple of older axes in a garage and thought I'd see what I could do with them. Read up on it here and a couple other forums, then read and watched An Axe To Grind about a dozen times. The one I started with is the Collins in the first picture. Turns out it is a USN axe. No idea where it came from. 3-1/2#, but with a splitting grind (60*). I thought that was light for a splitter, but I split a 10" piece with one shot when I was done. Sanded off all the rust and gunk, sharpened it with a couple hand files and a Lansky Puck. Hung it with a House Handle 36". I don't do much axe work by any means, but this feels great in the hand. In addition to the two finds in the picture, I have three more I was given, including a Boys Axe head that I'm currently working on, so hopefully I'll have more to post here soon.

 

[FLINT77]

link has some super nice boys ax handles. Very slim with a huge swell.

Not just the boys axe handles. I've been having great luck with the link 32" handles at my local hardware store. The latest batch have had a great shape with a super nice swell. They need some thinning but not bad. The 36" ones they have are horribly shaped clubs though.

 

[Brian Rust]

Yes seems like all the full size handles in my area are huge clubs. But the boys ax handles are great

 

[Yankee Josh]

I've got another pic heavy post. 16 i think. I got this TT wood slasher about a month ago.

I decided to try and polish it. Ended up quitting but i got fairly close. Also i tried to file and sharpen this one playing close attention to the instruction given by Peter McLaren in his 1921 axe manual. A true cresent grind. I deliberately did not go back the three inches he recommended though. I went 2". After a light cleaning.

The crack in the haft isn't as bad as it seems.

The last 1/2" of seating this one was a real battle. I could not remove the handle from the eye so i kept slamming and pounding and cutting with my razor knife and pounding some more! Anyhow this thing is ON there. An incredibly strong hang this time. The eye is just below flush but it couldn't be helped this time.

Now the normal re hang pics.

Being I'm right handed the missing chunk is opposite my palm so doesn't bother me.

Here you can see how the wood is just below flush. I think I'll use a clear 2 part epoxy and fill the 1/16"+ to bring it up flush. Notwithstanding that i think this is probably one of my stronger hangs.

Sorry for hogging the whole darn page. This one was quite a bit of effort as i did most of the polishing by hand. I'm happy with it! Thanks for looking!

 

[Old Axeman]

If it is a user, I would smooth out the missing chunk on the swell anyway. I would also fill the crack below the head. I use wax sticks that are used to repair furniture. Paint stores usually have them and they come in different shades. Easy to apply and the shelf life seems to be forever.

 

[quinton]

If it is a user, I would smooth out the missing chunk on the swell anyway. I would also fill the crack below the head. I use wax sticks that are used to repair furniture. Paint stores usually have them and they come in different shades. Easy to apply and the shelf life seems to be forever.

That's a clever idea!

I use those fill sticks pretty often for trim work, or when building or repairing a piece of furniture, but I never thought of using them for an axe handle.. I have always filled an occasional void around an eye with bee's wax, but sometimes the color sticks out. Now I can match colors perfectly!

 

[rjdankert]

Hults Bruk 1 1/4 lb. hatchet.

A few years ago a member rehung a hatchet like this one - epoxy with loose head.


Finally got around got around to doing mine today


Took a little patience to drive out the handle


Never tried to inset a handle. Why not? note the handle had a kerf cut in it, no wedge.


Pine wedge


Not a great photo, but there was not enough wood in the front right side of the tongue to fill the eye. We'll see.


Done, about one inch shorter





Bob

 

[Old Axeman]

Quinton-I have always figured that my real talent was finding ways to fix up what I, or somebody else, screwed up. If I am at a loss for a color match around the eye, I use the black stick as it matches the patina that most of my axe heads have. This is all hypothetical of course as all my hangs are perfect, just ask me.

 

[Curt Hal]