What did you rehang today?

G-pig said:
This ones about 90% done. Little more fine tuning on the handle, hammer that wedge every day for a week or two, trim the extra off and that'll be it.

This one'll be going up for sale too.

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have to ask, why hammer the wedge everyday for a week or two? that's unnecessary for all i can tell, unless there is something im missing... the wedge is either seated to the bottom, or its not.
 
have to ask, why hammer the wedge everyday for a week or two? that's unnecessary for all i can tell, unless there is something im missing... the wedge is either seated to the bottom, or its not.
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I believe this is because G-Pig carves his own handles somewhat 'green'.
 
If the wedge goes all the way to the bottom when you first hammer it in, in my opinion it's not a correct fit. Wood fibers will compress, which is why I leave it to tighten every day for a while. So I never aim to bottom it out, unless I'm hanging something like a Hudson bay with a short eye, and I can't afford to.

Also, if the wedge bottoms out, you don't have to option to tighten it later. I would always shoot for at least a little extra room to do that, because when you actually use axes, there is swelling and shrinking, and again those fibers will work loose a little bit. Being able to tap the wedge in a little bit further with a cold chisel with the end ground off to about the width of the wedge or something to that effect is very useful.

Also, as Joshiecole mention, sometimes my material isn't 100% seasoned.
 
gotcha. i should have clarified my post more, instead of such a short version.

i cut the kerf to a particular length, the wedge to a particular length and mark the "bottom" point on the wedge, so that the wedge will be about 1/8" or 3/16" from bottoming IF the line on the wedge drove flush with the top of the handle.. i hammer the wedge until it WILL NOT go further and the wedge has mangled and split(usually). i am not worried about bottoming the wedge, and the top 1/4 of my wedge is cut too thick to enter the eye. the hickory will only compress so much, and reaching that point is my objective, before the wedge bottoms.

i consider that fully seated. wont go deeper because of wedge action, not because its bottomed in the kerf. i agree that if the wedge bottomed before stopping from wedging action, then its not seated properly. i had that happen a couple times early in my hanging career. i developed my kerf and wedge design from hanging, and only hanging. i try to get the two to coincide as closely as possible to the bottom without actually "bottoming" out. thats what i mean when saying "seating and bottoming" getting the wedge as close to the bottom as possible without stopping from interference.

my point originally is that i personally want the wedge so tight, that it wont move a week later if i pounded on it more. luckily, i havent had anything work loose since about the 5th hang or so. took some trial and error to figure out what worked for me personally. the most important factor, i think, was deciding to cut my own wedges.. instead of using the supplied wedges most of the time. since then, no problems. i did have a couple stock wedges back out a smidge after heavy use in the beginning. they were to steeply cut. i cut them more acute, but thicker. the wedge does not taper to a point, but starts at about a kerf width, and fattens slightly in the first 3/16", then tapers in a fairly acute angle. much more acute than stock wedge. somewhere in between a stock wedge and a window/door shimming type wedge.

im sure your method works fine too. i was just curious, as i didnt understand what was happening. i also have never made a handle out of lumber i would consider "green" in any regard. not a dig, just havent done it personally. always up for learning other techniques, thanks for explaining.
 
Yup, if the wedge still moves, then it's obviously not tight enough. I just find that I can get it significantly tighter by not cutting it for a couple weeks. It will be tight and not budge, and then a week later, I'll manage to drive it in another 1/8" inch or something like that.

I see where you are coming from, because the deeper the wedge goes/the closer it is to the bottom without being stopped by the bottom, there is more wedging power. I haven't fussed over my methods for a while now, because I've found that I can get them pretty tight.

I only make handles green because of a lack of patience-- most of the time my handle stock is freshly cut, and I don't want to wait a long time for it to season. Ideally, the roughing out is done well still green anyway, and the near-finished handles are allowed to dry; that I do sometimes. Occasionally though, I will fit them a little bit before I really ought to.
 
i may just try leaving one proud for a few days or a week and bang on it a little more and see what happens.

the only issue i might have is that the wedge is generally completely mangled when i stop seating it, which kinda limits the ability to transfer the hammer blow into the wedge any more. i would have to stop short of completing my normal seating to leave it intact enough to seat more later, which may kinda skew the results of the experiment.

im gonna play around with it and see what happens. i have 6 or 7 laying around waiting to be hung, so plenty of donors.
 
G-pig said:
Yup, if the wedge still moves, then it's obviously not tight enough. I just find that I can get it significantly tighter by not cutting it for a couple weeks. It will be tight and not budge, and then a week later, I'll manage to drive it in another 1/8" inch or something like that.
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I've experienced the same thing. Sometimes I'll use that to my advantage. Drive the wedge in just short of it absolutely stopping (you have to have a feel for that). Then cut it off flush. Two weeks later drive it in further with a piece of 1/4" x 2" flat bar used as a punch. Once the wedge is driven down below the top of the protruding haft the haft expands over the top of that wedge - locking it in for good. I've never had one of those come loose.
 
That looks great, and looks a lot like an unmarked True Temper (I think, anyway) I hung a while back. It looks like there are some lines on the handle from ridges in the eye...is that correct or am I seeing things?
 
Thanks guys, glad to be aboard.

The markings on the other axe

Really cool
 
Two excellent hangs there, Deadbox.

DeadboxHero said:
I rehung the other as well. It took up most of the day.



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I do the same thing with the pencil, marking my advance and highlighting the areas that need work. Watch those dings on top of the eye. They can protrude into the eye opening. If they do just file the burrs off with a half-round file or small round file.
 
Thanks guys, I wish they were mine. I did them for a friend who's retiring.
 
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