What did you rehang today?

Love this thing. Inclusions were deemed acceptable upon close inspection. I could've shave it out, but I like this one meaty. The wood is insane, it's out of a thick board i think I've mentioned before that was very, very tensioned. It was a big board, it bound their (Woodcraft) saw with an upward warp when they were cutting it with a Festool miter saw, lol. And then on my table saw it pinched like a mother. I think it might be from a very, very large limb or severely bent tree. I think this is going to try out for camp hatchet, though.

The wood has chilled out and has a great timber when knocked. The haft is octagonalized to the grip, You can see how parallel the grain runs both edge and flat. I rived a stave out of aforementioned large board and it worked out good. 16".20190221_043145-1512x2016.jpg 20190221_043125-1512x2016.jpg 20190221_043209-1512x2016.jpg

The head was in fantastic condition, steel feels real good under file. No idea of the vintage but the oxide later is very hard and substantial. I like Plumb steel a lot, too. I very, very excited to get to know this fellow. I'm happy with how it turned out.
 
Here's a couple of the finished haft. Green ash has a tendency to yellow a bit so, for the first time ever, i stained it with minwax "red oak" stain. Then applied blo. What do you guys think??
57h5kse.jpg
XwDhPJi.jpg

Even though I left the swell huge until after i seated the head a fairly large chip came off during pounding.
ms8pXoA.jpg

It was a little disappointing but this is, after all, an experiment. I wonder how the green ash will hold up!?
 
muleman77 said:
You did a nice job carving that.
No experience with ash, green or otherwise, but I'd be concerned about the pin knot right in the middle. Looks to go all but through.
Click to expand...
Yeah it does go all the way through. It was fairly hidden though initially and it was the driest one i had on hand so i used it. It too will be interesting to watch and see how it holds up. I wouldn't bet my life on it but my guess is it'll be alright. Green ash seems to be fairly flexible and that may end up a detriment. It's fun to try different things!
 
Yankee Josh said:
Yeah it does go all the way through. It was fairly hidden though initially and it was the driest one i had on hand so i used it. It too will be interesting to watch and see how it holds up. I wouldn't bet my life on it but my guess is it'll be alright. Green ash seems to be fairly flexible and that may end up a detriment. It's fun to try different things!
Click to expand...
Beautiful job on the handle. I’ve done 2 hatchet handles out of ash. I found small hidden knots in each. Both have held up fine.
 
I managed to get the Keen Kutter onto a new haft today. I found an Ames haft that had pretty good grain at the local hardware store (only one out of 15 they had that was worth anything). I cut about 2 inches off the end and thinned it out a bit. Anyway, it came out pretty good. My only disappointment was that despite getting a good bit of the wedge in, it really compressed down to almost nothing. It is a very tight fit though and seems to be holding up after an afternoon of limbing hickory. Gonna roll with it and see how it does.

IMG-5690.jpg

IMG-5695.jpg

IMG-5697.jpg

IMG-5689.jpg
 
DB_Cruiser said:
I managed to get the Keen Kutter onto a new haft today. I found an Ames haft that had pretty good grain at the local hardware store (only one out of 15 they had that was worth anything). I cut about 2 inches off the end and thinned it out a bit. Anyway, it came out pretty good. My only disappointment was that despite getting a good bit of the wedge in, it really compressed down to almost nothing. It is a very tight fit though and seems to be holding up after an afternoon of limbing hickory. Gonna roll with it and see how it does.

IMG-5690.jpg

IMG-5695.jpg

IMG-5697.jpg

IMG-5689.jpg
Click to expand...
Looks really good! Fine looking Jersey and decent grain on the haft too. It looks like you left the tongue proud initially prior to driving the wedge. I do as well. I let it come up through at first like this20190210_153316.jpg
Ends up the same as yours but with a little more wedge in. Like this. (I seem to have deleted the other picture of the axe above cut flush so i had to substitute it) 20190112_142206.jpg and also sanding enough off around the top inch and half of the tongue is important to make it wide enough to accommodate some width from the wedge. I've got some hangs that look like that and they are very strong. Provided the bottom of the eye is full it'll last. Great job!
 
Thanks! And yes, the tongue was about 3/8" proud when I drove the wedge in. I thought I had sanded the kerf out enough, but I misjudged that. However, the bottom of the eye is filled well with only a small gap at the front. The ears and back are full contact and very tight. I feel pretty confident it'll hold up after the thrashing it got yesterday. The head is getting a BLO soak now. I'll be hitting with bees wax next weekend.

Edit: Oh, I think I understand what you're saying about sanding the tongue. I did the kerf, you're talking about the outside. In hindsight, that's the better option. Noted for next time!
 
Last edited:
DB_Cruiser said:
Thanks! And yes, the tongue was about 3/8" proud when I drove the wedge in. I thought I had sanded the kerf out enough, but I misjudged that. However, the bottom of the eye is filled well with only a small gap at the front. The ears and back are full contact and very tight. I feel pretty confident it'll hold up after the thrashing it got yesterday. The head is getting a BLO soak now. I'll be hitting with bees wax next weekend.

Edit: Oh, I think I understand what you're saying about sanding the tongue. I did the kerf, you're talking about the outside. In hindsight, that's the better option. Noted for next time!
Click to expand...
You got it! The outside. Sometimes i find those Ames handles to have almost the perfect shape tongue for a normal size eye. It's tempting to not sand the top because it fits right up through so well. But it is imperative to remove some for the above mentioned reason. That looks like a real nice older KK. Does it have the etch or the letters? Seems like being an older one with an overlaid bit that it would have the etch. Either way it looks awesome.
 
It's the letters. Unfortunately, most of them were ground off, but you can just barely see the lower edge of the ER in "KUTTER" above and to the right of the "Made in USA" mark:
IMG-5599.jpg

This one replaces my 3 1/2 pound Vietnam made beater axe. My brother and I have some fond memories of using it to make firewood on a cold New Years, so he's got the beater now.
 
muleman77 said:
Heres a boys axe handle on a full size KnotKlipper. Put together and used a bit over the last week.

RPUOXri.jpg


gjvRrgk.jpg


8xQ84Hg.jpg


9acpJ0s.jpg


1NrOUTY.jpg


dr0ocWF.jpg


5ddFdVj.jpg


ejEgSiO.jpg

Dyz4dtc.jpg


FRtu3Kn.jpg


hfiyIuz.jpg


Performed well, and held up good.
KID4wM7.jpg


M2W3Trh.jpg


UYz7ORL.jpg
Click to expand...
MM77 that is really a gorgeous hang. It's gotta be fun and feel good to swing that axe... It's fun to look at i can tell ya that!
How big was the eye on that haft? Did you order that online or pick it from a store?
 
It was a pretty normal boys axe size, I didnt measure it though. I got it at my local saw shop.

Pretty fat handle, so it was an easy fit on the bottom. Just needed the bigger wedge. I've put a few full size like this together. All good so far :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top