What did you rehang today?

Man, there are lots and lots of great hangs lately! These are some beautiful axes and a lot of really great work.
 
Square_peg said:
Beautiful! Size? Hatchet or House Axe?
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Technically both, 1.25 lbs head on a slimmed down house axe handle. I've noticed that older hatchets used to be available with longer handles. I even came across an ad with options up to a 22" handle for 1, 1.25, or 1.5 lbs heads. In this case the handle came out to 18" and was left intentionally thick enough for a firm grip throughout the length.
 
Hacked said:
A Kelly Woodslasher hatchet I've been working on for a little while. I still need to pop in a wedge and add a few coats of BLO but I'm fairly excited about this one.

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Looking good, post up pics after you wedge and get a few coats of blo on it please sir. I like the hatchet handles that have some heartwood in them.
 
rockman0 said:
Looking good, post up pics after you wedge and get a few coats of blo on it please sir. I like the hatchet handles that have some heartwood in them.
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For sure, hopefully I'll get a chance soon. Really busy as of late, I'm actually surprised I even got it this far.
 
rockman0 said:
This looks like it might be a better option than leather dye. Powder form. You can mix with water or rubbing alcohol. I think the alcohol would be the way to go.
http://www.kedadyeinc.com/order-your-dye-kit.php
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Yeah alcohol based leather dye ... thin it with alcohol if necessary (probably worth trying). I've had handles where the leather dye would come off on my hands, so I think it has something to do with the wood. However, I only use a tiny bit of dye and usually I apply it with a rag which is also soaked in BLO. I think that maybe you get a little better carrying effect, but regardless, nothing seems to penetrate Hickory well, at least not when you just rub some on the surface. I typically finish my handles down to 0000 steel wool before I dye them and they get more BLO over the dye until they won't take the oil anymore - theorizing that the oil is possibly sealing over the color, or helping to carry it in far enough not to come off. But most likely if you're really sweating or the handle gets wet, you'll get some color on your hands.

My Plumb Jersey has the most dye I've ever used on a handle, that is, the whole thing was covered in enough dye to get the full color from it. And it still looks like this. It's worth noting that I have some go-to axes, and some I like to look at, so I'm not going to say I've used it as much as others. For whatever it's worth.

jerseys_plumb_kelly by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

Last thing is, I use vinegar sludge (vinegaroon) first. It can actually be made to be a pretty dark dye, but it raises the grain a little. I rub the vinegaroon on first, wipe it off, then steel wool the handle until it's slick, then apply leather dye wherever I think looks good, then BLO until it's taken all it wants. So because I get some effect from the vinegaroon, I use very little (I mean a few drops maybe) leather dye, just to bring the color back. So it's not as if I am full on dying my handles (except the Plumb of course). This is the technique used on the other Jersey in this picture. This is an axe I use everyday, and I've never had color transfer from it.
 
cityofthesouth said:
Yeah alcohol based leather dye ... thin it with alcohol if necessary (probably worth trying). I've had handles where the leather dye would come off on my hands, so I think it has something to do with the wood. However, I only use a tiny bit of dye and usually I apply it with a rag which is also soaked in BLO. I think that maybe you get a little better carrying effect, but regardless, nothing seems to penetrate Hickory well, at least not when you just rub some on the surface. I typically finish my handles down to 0000 steel wool before I dye them and they get more BLO over the dye until they won't take the oil anymore - theorizing that the oil is possibly sealing over the color, or helping to carry it in far enough not to come off. But most likely if you're really sweating or the handle gets wet, you'll get some color on your hands.

My Plumb Jersey has the most dye I've ever used on a handle, that is, the whole thing was covered in enough dye to get the full color from it. And it still looks like this. It's worth noting that I have some go-to axes, and some I like to look at, so I'm not going to say I've used it as much as others. For whatever it's worth.

jerseys_plumb_kelly by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

Last thing is, I use vinegar sludge (vinegaroon) first. It can actually be made to be a pretty dark dye, but it raises the grain a little. I rub the vinegaroon on first, wipe it off, then steel wool the handle until it's slick, then apply leather dye wherever I think looks good, then BLO until it's taken all it wants. So because I get some effect from the vinegaroon, I use very little (I mean a few drops maybe) leather dye, just to bring the color back. So it's not as if I am full on dying my handles (except the Plumb of course). This is the technique used on the other Jersey in this picture. This is an axe I use everyday, and I've never had color transfer from it.
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Thanks COTS, appreciate you sharing your process, I'll try it out next time I stain one. Love that pair of Jerseys!
 
new old Council 2.25lb boys axe head on a 26" Wetterlings handle. Feels amazing in the hand and really sends plates flying!




and the project bench
 
I hope hammers are OK ! Cause today I just hung my first hammer ( my first hammer, not hammer hang ) I found this Latin around out back when I was around 15, and my dad gave it to me but it's been without a serious handle ever since. ( I've tried making handles for it out of branches that never worked out ) and I sorta lost it in the garage until recently ( luckily I had oiled it and rubbed it down with beeswax )

Anyway here it is
It's a Hart tools 25oz California framer ( which I believe is an early one because it's simply called the framer , instead of being a called California special ) the handle is a ( 17" for some reason ) Vaughan & Bushnell California framing handle that I hung then re profiled/ thinned down, I still need to really smooth it out but I like it so far. Hopefully I can hang some axes here in the near future.
 
Homestead Jersey I finished dolling up. The handle wasn't quite right, but I refined it a bit and am happy with it. Up for sale now, fingers crossed.

 
3.5 lb Homestead on a 27 1/4" carved ash handle, has a little gap in the back of the wedge that needs to be filled in. It's my little big monster!
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DarthTaco123 said:
3.5 lb Homestead on a 27 1/4" carved ash handle, has a little gap in the back of the wedge that needs to be filled in. It's my little big monster!
ABF8D8BE-86F9-42A9-9BA6-FE0F55625B0C.jpg
]
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Nice looking axe DarthTaco - especially that "Foal's foot". That won't fly out of your hands easily.
 
Thanks! I got just a bit too thin towards the butt, thought shock transfer was going to be an issue but the big ole swell makes up for it.
 
I made a handle and hung a trusty ol' hammer for a guy at work the other day. I'd never hung one of those before. the eye was smallest about 2/3 of the way towards the top, then flared out on both top and bottom, but more on the top. I initially drove the wood wedge in and there was still some decent gaps, but the step wedge seemed to fix it. I wish I had a pic of the old handle, he used the hell out of this thing.



 
JPA88 said:
I made a handle and hung a trusty ol' hammer for a guy at work the other day. I'd never hung one of those before. the eye was smallest about 2/3 of the way towards the top, then flared out on both top and bottom, but more on the top. I initially drove the wood wedge in and there was still some decent gaps, but the step wedge seemed to fix it. I wish I had a pic of the old handle, he used the hell out of this thing.



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I've got a very similar 4lber from my grandpa that has the same type of eye, I'm not 100% sure, but I believe mine is a barco industries ( made in 1994 )
 
JPA88 said:
I made a handle and hung a trusty ol' hammer for a guy at work the other day. I'd never hung one of those before. the eye was smallest about 2/3 of the way towards the top, then flared out on both top and bottom, but more on the top. I initially drove the wood wedge in and there was still some decent gaps, but the step wedge seemed to fix it. I wish I had a pic of the old handle, he used the hell out of this thing.



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Very nice! I have done several of those and due to the taper I find the metal wedge is much more of a necessity than on axes and hatchets.
 
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