It is time for my next chapter in axe refurbishment. I am concerned about ordering a new haft that I may not be able to hang and seal right away. How long would you let a haft set before hanging? I have an unheated shop and a crazy work schedule. Any thoughts?
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When to order a new haft?
- Thread starter Ohioan614
- Start date
It is time for my next chapter in axe refurbishment. I am concerned about ordering a new haft that I may not be able to hang and seal right away. How long would you let a haft set before hanging? I have an unheated shop and a crazy work schedule. Any thoughts?
I like to let my hafts set out in the garage for awhile, because what the manufactures consider dry and dry for my climate are two different things.
They do occasionally warp a little. Quick fix with a heat gun.
I like to let my hafts set out in the garage for awhile, because what the manufactures consider dry and dry for my climate are two different things.
They do occasionally warp a little. Quick fix with a heat gun.
hang it verticaly from a string, help prevent warps, dont lean against something, promote warping.
You could also treat the handle with BLO even before hanging if you live in a really wild climate.
Whenever I wander through a local (or anywhere) hardware store and spy a 'top drawer' haft I buy it on the spot. Good handles (decent grain orientation and minimum runout) are not common and often represent 'one of any given hundred'. Much like old wisdom of when to bang down hardwood floors if you hang a new handle during the humid months expect it to loosen sometime but hang it during the dry months it should be good for a very long time. As a precaution in times of high humidity I often put a new haft in the oven (at 150F) for 1/2 day just before install.
Select your prospective haft soon as you can and do not worry about the consequences of hanging it later.
Select your prospective haft soon as you can and do not worry about the consequences of hanging it later.
I still have a few hafts I bought 20 years ago, waiting for the right head. I also have a couple I bought at garage sales even more ancient. I keep them dry and horizontal. If they lean, they could warp, just like a hafted axe.
I'm in the same boat. Decent handles were impossible to find for 20+ years around here. During the 1980s Garant Canada pretty much displaced all of the small local/regional haft makers via large numbers and marketing good-looking products (that were also inexpensive) but then in the mid-90s promptly starting offering only flat slab handles from 7/8" stock. This paucity of decent hafts lingered for decades until recently. Interestingly the Garant brand hafts have now all but disappeared from store shelves.
Like you I find the occasional unused old hafts at garage sales and liberate them. Some of these are old as the hills but I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to use one except maybe now they're becoming collector's items in their own right.
I'm in the same boat. Decent handles were impossible to find for 20+ years around here. During the 1980s Garant Canada pretty much displaced all of the small local/regional haft makers via large numbers and marketing good-looking products (that were also inexpensive) but then in the mid-90s promptly starting offering only flat slab handles from 7/8" stock. This paucity of decent hafts lingered for decades until recently. Interestingly the Garant brand hafts have now all but disappeared from store shelves.
Like you I find the occasional unused old hafts at garage sales and liberate them. Some of these are old as the hills but I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to use one except maybe now they're becoming collector's items in their own right.
I also sort through local stores for hafts. It works well for me on the hatchet handles, boys axes, cruisers and recently I have come across a few 32" straight single bit hafts. With the full size DBL bits and curved single bits all anyone carries is 36". I feel like a fish out of water with a 36" haft.
Its good to hear up your way you can find a decent haft again. Maybe there is a change in the wind and soon we might be able to purchase hafts of various lengths also.