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Axe handle repair

fred

fred

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Back on the old forum, so sadly missed, I started up a thread about making a new handle for my small hand axe. The original handle had split through the axe head and had come loose. I had mentioned that I had a friend who is a bodger and has a nice collection of green and seasoned wood, and was going to see if I could get some ash from him. A certain cheeky chappy on the old forum (I wonder who that could be?!) commented on needing evidence of the ash being used. There was a terrible unwarranted suspicion that I would just go to a hardware store, purchase a new one, and pass it off as my own creation! The very cheek of it! Well below is proof, yer 'onour, of an original creation by myself...




So here's the wounded soldier.




And here's the lump of seasoned ash.




I took a slice of the ash using the table saw, and cut that in half, used the old handle as a template and then cut a shape using the band saw (Record BS250).




Here's the outline shape next to the original handle.




This outline was then shaped with a plane...




chisel...




To produce this.




Finally, various grades of sandpaper, both with a bobbin in a power tool and by hand.




Next, two slits were cut in the handle head, and the axe head fitted.




An off-cut of copper from a recent sculpture project...




from which 2 small pieces were cut, with ends tapered so it was easy to hammer into...






and then cut and sanded down.




and here is the finished item, after a coat of linseed oil.

:D

Cheers,
fred
 
As a self confessed hand tool phobic, who am I to comment ?...but in the dim days of my boy sprouting days, something tells me that hickory was the preferred timber for the haft, shaft or handle of an axe.

Or maybe my memory is playing up.

Certainly a great looking result and a nice job for a copy lathe :lol:

Bob
 
Choice of wood was discussed in the original thread on the old forum. Along with hickory, ash was mentioned as a suitable wood.

cheers
fred
 
Very nice Fred looks really good.

Hickory is used by most commercial manufacturers but ash should be fine?

Rod
 
I think you'll find that ash is more than fine. It's more up-market. Hickory is soooo common darling.

Chin chin
fred
 
Yes Bob - discharged yesterday afternoon
Nice to be home but unfortunately cannot stray very far from the loo!
May take a while for my digestive system to get back to normal after not been used fully for 3 months?
I was warned that this part of the proceedings would be bad and so far they have been proved to be right.
The Consultant said "when your bowels are working there will reach a point when you will wish they hadn't started" - I think I've reached that point already? :)
Some people choose not to have the Ileostomy reversal - I can see why!
I'm sure it will get better? Please??


Rod ( whose rear end feels like he's eaten the hottest curry in the world!!)
 
Oh Rod...you have my sympathies especially on the D front...having lost 10kg in 10 days over Christmas and seriously dehydrating myself in the process. Have you tried baby wipes? They are supposed to be much more 'friendly'.
 
Merci pour le input David. Glad to be using geographically correct repair methods!

Glad to hear you are getting better Rod. Although I have no idea what your ailment is. Without any prior knowledge it sounds like you got the wrong end of a very bad curry?! Hope it's too serious and you're up and about in the workshop asap. As for myself, i'm on the wrong end of a double prolapsed disc and not been in my workshop for about 2 months.

Cheers,
fred
 
My apologies, Fred...went a bit Off Topic there.

I've enjoyed your post as I have do something similar..well, not quite as interesting as yours ...an old garden fork that belonged to my grandfather. The shaft is broken but it looks an interesting job at the handle end splitting the wood.
 
No worries Roger, it was a worthwhile wander! :)

I've restored an old garden fork earlier in the year, just in time for the start of the pottering about in the garden season. The hardest bit was getting the old shaft out, as the rivet that secures the wooden shaft in the fork needs to be removed.

However, once I had sussed out what side to hammer the rivet out from, it became easier. When I say rivet, it's more like a nail that has been driven through, with the protuding part cut down and burred over after it's been heated up with a localised gas flame. Once I had found which side had the burred over part, it was heated up to soften the metal and then driven through with a punch and lump hammer. The burred over end should be the one that is smaller and not as neat and round as the rivet/nail head.

Hope that helps you mate. And maybe we can continue this in a new thread? I like restoring old hand tools, both for the workshop and garden, and would like to see how get on with your grandfather's old fork.

Cheers
fred
 
Fred, thanks for sharing. I have some ash logs in store and an old head that needs sorting. I may be back with need of some help when the tuit comes around.
 
I wish it was a curry but back in March I had a bleed and was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer. Successfully operated on in April and was "fitted" with a temporary Ileostomy to allow my new join (where they had removed the tumour) to heal. Quite a major op - 7.5hrs in theatre but thankfully they had caught it in time.
Last week I had the Ileostomy reversed in a much smaller op ( 1.5hrs) where they effectively put everything back inside.

So folks, despite those biannual stool checks, if ever you see any blood in your stools don't hang around, get it checked out immediately - a number of gents in the hospital, whilst I was there, were facing a much bleaker future where their cancers had spread!!

Rod
 
Rod":19pp3mik said:
Yes Bob - discharged yesterday afternoon
Nice to be home but unfortunately cannot stray very far from the loo!
May take a while for my digestive system to get back to normal after not been used fully for 3 months?
I was warned that this part of the proceedings would be bad and so far they have been proved to be right.
The Consultant said "when your bowels are working there will reach a point when you will wish they hadn't started" - I think I've reached that point already? :)
Some people choose not to have the Ileostomy reversal - I can see why!
I'm sure it will get better? Please??


Rod ( whose rear end feels like he's eaten the hottest curry in the world!!)
Click to expand...

Rod,
glad to hear that you are back home. Took my brother over 6 months to recover from the reversal. Just get a portaloo in the workshop and get back to the bench
 
Fred, thanks for sharing. I have some ash logs in store and an old head that needs sorting. I may be back with need of some help when the tuit comes around.
Click to expand...
No you won't. It's easy mate, as long as you have the original handle as a template. If I can do it...
However, if you are in need of help, it would be a pleasure mate.

despite those biannual stool checks
Click to expand...
If ever there was a more appropriate forum to use that expression ;)
And I wonder how many of us are now pacing about in the kitchen checking the joints on the seats.
But seriously, sorry to hear it was that serious, and glad to know you've made it through and are getting better. Have you got something waiting for you in the workshop?

Cheers,
fred
 
Looks like a fine job ! Is the copper wedge thing a common thing ? ' I've never seen it done before.
 
It's usually steel, iron, or hardwood. I just happened to have some copper offcuts lying around, originally from an old immersion heater, that were left over from a sculpture project. I expect anything harder than the wood itself is good enough.

Cheers
fred
 
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