How To Replace an Axe Handle

[Dano]

Can anyone advise me of the correct procedure of replacing an axe handle please

I recently got an old “Kent pattern” type axe from ebay for a few quid, it is stamped with the word “Eagle” in a diamond and it has some numbers around it, the head weighs just over 1-½ lb and it had a really old short handle on it.

After using my mates SFA at the Moot this year I decided that that was the length of handle I wanted but as I couldn’t find one locally that length I ordered a GB one from Proadventure (next day delivery!)

I have removed the old haft and sharpened the head now I need to fit the new handle, I have it half way on but have had to file the shoulders of the haft slightly where the head was cutting into it, I have removed as little as possible so far and before I continue I need to know the proper process so that it goes on straight and doesn’t split when I wedge it etc, I also have some boiled linseed oil, would this be used in the process? I have heard some say to soak in water before wedging it but I would have thought oil better

Thanks

 

[Aaron]

I recently replaced the handle on a felling axe of mine after another member on here broke it (who shall remain nameless Jason Sears). I soaked the top of the new handle in water for about 15 minutes before driving the wedge in just to soften the wood - has been a couple of weeks now and I have not noticed any shrinkage or sign of the head coming loose - on reflection maybe linseed oil would be better though.

My only other advice would be not to remove too much wood from the handle - the head needs to be a very tight fit (you should have to drive it on with a hammer) or it will quickly work loose. Also check the alignment of the head thoroughly before putting the wedge in - if neccesary insert smaller slivers of wood to correct any bias.

 

[Mike Ameling]

It's a simple idea that way too many people do - soaking a wood handle in water. They do it to "soften" the wood, or to "tighten it up" in their axe/hammer head. But my simple advice on this is to NEVER soak a wood handle in water for any reason!

When you soak a wood tool handle in water, the wood EXPANDS. If that handle is already in a tool (axe or hammer head) then it will try to expand in that axe or hammer eye. This CRUSHES a bunch of the wood fibers! The handle will be tight for a bit, but when it starts to dry out it will be looser than before - because you CRUSHED a bunch of the wood fibers/cells!! So then people soak it in water again to tighten it up - which crushes more fibers and makes it even more loose when it dries out. And if you leave it always soaking in water, then the wood starts to rot.

Scrape/file/carve away enough wood on the end of your new handle until it is almost down to a tight fit. I tap my handle in and then pull it back out to see where it is rubbing. Then take that area down a little more. And don't worry too much about getting the very end too loose. Most axe eyes taper a bit at each end - kind of like an hourglass. When you tap in the wedge it will "fair" out the top of your axe handle slightly - to lock it into place. Plus, you will be putting the handle through the axe eye a little farther than necessary, and then cutting off the extra little bit sticking past the top of the axe head. That extra bit sticking past also helps you get the wedge started.

As you tap in your handle, keep checking to see that it is all lining up the way you want it to. Most people just line the blade up with the handle, and keep it pretty perpendicular to the handle. After you use an axe a while, you may want to carve the handle a bit more to tilt the blade left/right from in line with the handle, or to tilt the cutting edge up/down. But those little ... tweaks ... are best left to people who really use an axe a lot for specific work.

When you drive your handle into your axe head, NEVER hammer the metal head down onto the wood handle. That can damage the axe head. But it also distorts how the handle is moving into the aze eye. Start the handle into the axe eye, then hang onto the end of your wood handle and tap on the end of the handle. This will start to drive the handle into the axe eye. But don't set that axe head down on anything when you are hammering in the handle. Hold the whole thing up in the air and hammer on the end of the handle. It may sound crazy, but it works. And the handle will go into the axe head as naturally as you have carved/sanded/filed it. If you rest one end on anything and then hammer on the other end to drive it in, you could distort/crack the handle.

Then carefully drive in your wood wedge and cut off the excess flush with the top of your axe head. And if you are also using iron wedges, the put the one or two in, but rotated around 45 degrees from the angle of the wood wedge.

Get your handle shaped to pretty close to a tight fit first, then tap it into your axe. That's the best fit.

Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. And NEVER soak a loose handle in water to "tighten it up". It will be worse when it dries back out. Just wedge it tighter, or replace the handle.

 

[MikeE]

Hi Mike, do you cut a thin slot for the wooden wedge first? If so how deep?