What did you rehang today?

I got this little Plumb carpenter's hatchet in some tools my grandfather recently gave me. It had a handle that was obviously not original and poorly fit. So I decided to recycle a sledge handle that had broken and make a handle for it. This is the first handle that I have "made". I know, I know, I didn't start with a log. I truly admire you guys who can take a plank and turn it into a handle. The eye didn't end up fitting as well as I had hoped but it will pass and I learned A LOT. It was a fun project.

I know the grain is completely perpendicular but it's what I had and I figured if I screwed it up I wouldn't be losing much. So here it is:

 
Very nice. I carve and reshape old sledge and maul handles into excellent handles for smaller tools and it is quite rewarding to save that vintage wood and avoid spending on new stuff. The cool thing about reusing old sledge handles is that you can usually choose the grain alignment for yourself. Just line it up and carve.
 
quinton said:
Rehung a Tommy Axe yesterday from a tension wood stave that has been dried by the woodstove since December. The stave weighed 8.56 lbs. when it started, and ended up at 5.91 lbs. when dry.

The Hickory tension wood has some great grain at 4-5 growth rings per inch.

I started to make a straighter haft similar to what came in the Tommy Axes, but at the last minute decided to use more of the stave with a curvier haft.. The haft feels nice and balanced in hand, and there is plenty of clearance to use the claws on the head if needed..
Click to expand...

That's a great looking haft, exceptional hickory also. :thumbup:
I have not been fortunate enough to have one of those Tommy axes come my way yet. I would like to own the trio someday, just because I like hatchets. I would assume those are hardened polls also. I want one!
 
Tymowens said:
I got this little Plumb carpenter's hatchet in some tools my grandfather recently gave me. It had a handle that was obviously not original and poorly fit. So I decided to recycle a sledge handle that had broken and make a handle for it. This is the first handle that I have "made". I know, I know, I didn't start with a log. I truly admire you guys who can take a plank and turn it into a handle. The eye didn't end up fitting as well as I had hoped but it will pass and I learned A LOT. It was a fun project.

I know the grain is completely perpendicular but it's what I had and I figured if I screwed it up I wouldn't be losing much. So here it is:

Click to expand...

Looks good. I don't mind the grain running like that at all on a straight haft. May be an advantage even.
I have always liked those old hatchets that had collars.
Not sure who is going to get more pleasure from this gift, you or your grandfather who has to be quite pleased.:thumbup:
 
garry3 said:
That's a great looking haft, exceptional hickory also. :thumbup:
I have not been fortunate enough to have one of those Tommy axes come my way yet. I would like to own the trio someday, just because I like hatchets. I would assume those are hardened polls also. I want one!
Click to expand...

Thanks, Garry.. The poll is hardened, and the bit is harder than most.
 
garry3 said:
That's a great looking haft, exceptional hickory also. :thumbup:
I have not been fortunate enough to have one of those Tommy axes come my way yet. I would like to own the trio someday, just because I like hatchets. I would assume those are hardened polls also. I want one!
Click to expand...

I may happen to have one around here somewhere....
 
Tymowens said:
I got this little Plumb carpenter's hatchet in some tools my grandfather recently gave me. It had a handle that was obviously not original and poorly fit. So I decided to recycle a sledge handle that had broken and make a handle for it. This is the first handle that I have "made". I know, I know, I didn't start with a log. I truly admire you guys who can take a plank and turn it into a handle. The eye didn't end up fitting as well as I had hoped but it will pass and I learned A LOT. It was a fun project.

I know the grain is completely perpendicular but it's what I had and I figured if I screwed it up I wouldn't be losing much. So here it is:
[/URL]
Click to expand...
Nice job and fully functional piece of wood. No need at all to fret about integrity of the handle. By virtue of it being a straight handle the end grain orientation is infinitely less vulnerable than would be orientation in that plane be on a curved handle.
 

I rehung My lil' Norlund hatchet today. I bought the head at a flea market more than 25 years ago for $10.:) It was the first axe I ever made a haft for and hung. I also made the sheath for it. It has been a faithful companion over the years, but the head started to loosen up a couple of years ago so I figured I would rehang it today..

I also hung a Tru-Test hatchet on a used haft that I reworked, and a sweet, Vulcan Dynamic hammer my son picked up a few months back.
 
This is the Hurd RazorBladed boy's axe that I posted earlier. I sold a Plumb boy's axe this week on eBay and the nicest part was the superb original slim handle with a great swell. Not a thing wrong with it except that it needed to be re-tightened. The winner requested that I cut off the handle and ship just the head. I was about to protest and try to convince them to save the handle, but rethought that as I needed a good boy's axe handle and would never cut this one. Instead I shipped the head and reduced the shipping cost, kept this beauty and used it to handle the Hurd head. Here it is. I really like it, it only needs final sharpening. The total tool weight is 46oz. I only sanded and oiled the handle. It is a real winner of an axe, and probably pretty unique. You all know that I sell a lot, but this is a keeper I think.



 
Looks good. I sometimes take a larger drill bit and champfer the hole wider to round the sharp edge, just like GB and the other Swede axes have.
 
Tymowens said:
This is the first handle that I have "made". I know, I know, I didn't start with a log. I truly admire you guys who can take a plank and turn it into a handle. The eye didn't end up fitting as well as I had hoped but it will pass and I learned A LOT. It was a fun project.
Click to expand...

I'm always on the lookout for handles that can be re-purposed. I've put a few hammers and boy's axes onto such things. Often the wood is better than what you can find in the bin at the hardware store, usually needing only a good cleaning and some BLO once the job's mostly done. Recently I rehung a 1 1/4 pounder onto a boy's axe handle for my wife to use for kindling, then took the cracked "cruiser" handle from that head and cut it down to fit a GBA head I got for $2.00.

I did find a source for some quarter-sawn hickory locally. Quite expensive, really, because it's not native here. I would have about five or six handles out of one good big plank, but up until recently I didn't have any new axes. (Poor me.) Now I have a new one but have a handle already lined up for it. I'll post that here once it's done; it's over in "It Followed Me Home" at the mo...
 

Hung this Vaughan Sub-Zero yesterday. I cut a House boy's axe haft down to 25", and octagonalized it.
 
jblyttle said:
Here it is. I really like it, it only needs final sharpening. The total tool weight is 46oz. I only sanded and oiled the handle. It is a real winner of an axe, and probably pretty unique. You all know that I sell a lot, but this is a keeper I think.

Click to expand...


Great looking haft. You were smart to save it.

I'm curious. How many of us sharpen after hanging vs. sharpening before hanging? I prefer to finish the axe head and finish the haft as separate items, then bring the two finished pieces together. This is mostly because I like to file in the vise. But some prefer to hang the axe and use the haft to clamp it to the bench for filing. That works well, too.

Which way do the rest of you prefer to do it? Sharpen first or hang first? Why?
 
Same. Fit,shape/repair,sharpen,hang. Sometimes bounce between head and handle before final wedging. Find I do a better job if I can have the head alone in the vice. Allows me to step away and come back at it with a fresh eye.

Hadn't thought too hard about it though. Once in a while I will clean up the handle and then hang it before sharpening if the head already has a solid grind on it. Just the final edge then.

Good question.
 
Agent_H said:
Nice. That will do work. How did you go about octagonalizing the handle?
Click to expand...

With a farriers rasp. Go about? First, I rasped flats down the back and belly. Then flats down each side. It's then just a matter of connecting the flats, eyeballing as you go.
 
I often do the major edge repairs and get it to almost sharp before I hang it. Even before vinegar - that way the shiny steel gets turned somewhat again. Then I actually do the final sharpening after it's hung. Final sharpening for me is just using a stone, so I don't have to clamp it. Also applies to any mushrooming. I'll knock that down and then pein it a little to make it blend. So all the grinding and repairing is before vinegar, where any shiny iron turns dark again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top