Axe handle wedge question/axe handling tips

[Andy Pratt]

The wedge on my camp axe recently loosened, broke and fell out during less than 20 minutes of use, so I'm looking to improve my technique. I re-handled the axe in 2001 (I mark all my handles) and it lasted fine in very moderate use until 2007 or so. Since then, I've had to replace the wedges two or three times, at least once for every hour of real use. I use only one wooden wedge (in the traditional direction), and haven't played around with using metal cross wedges. Are the metal wedges worth it, or do I just need to improve the way I'm doing the one wedge? I've heard people caution not to use cross wedges, as they don't help and can cause the handle to break more easily, anyone have experience with doing it one way or the other?

The gransfors splitting axe I bought a few years back has one cross wedge in addition to the main one, and that's without a doubt the best handling job I've ever seen on a purchased axe.

Just so there's no confusion, I'm doing my wedges like this:
(-----------)

And I'm wondering if it's worth doing them like this:
(-----/-----)

Or like this:
(---/---\---)

If either of the latter, would you pre-cut these areas on the bandsaw to allow the wedges (metal or wood) in, or would you just pound them in (metal)?

Also, does anyone use wood glue on their wedges?

Just to make it available, here are some of the tips I would offer on axe rehandling:

#1 - Buy or make a handle with grain running in the same direction as the length of the head. Try to get as many continuous lines all the way up and down the front/back of the handle as possible. This will dramatically increase the lifespan of your handle.

#2 - Make sure that the handle, especially the head area, is bone dry when you fit it to the head, that way it can only swell wider in use and should stay tight better.

#3 - When seating the handle into the head, hold the axe in one hand, free hanging, and rap the bottom of the handle with a wooden mallet repeatedly. This will seat it much tighter and more easily than trying to bang the head down around it.

#4 - Use graphite or chalk on the inside of the axe head to tell you where the handle needs stock removal when fitting. Go really slow here as it's easy to take too much off too fast (files not sanders etc.)

#5 - Store bought wedges are almost always entirely too thick to function correctly, you can often bandsaw them and get two good wedges from one.

#6 - Always leave at least 1/4" of handle protruding from the top of the axe head when you're done. Most axe heads aren't internally tapered correctly, so this is necessary to give the wedged area the physical shape it needs to hold. Why companies trim them flush at the factory is beyond me.

Hope this last part was helpful, and that someone can give me their thoughts on the cross wedges.

Thanks,
Andy

[Cliff McNeill]

Thanks for tips Andy! Sorry can't help with the wedge question as I am sort of a beginner. Curious to hear from the others.

[Andy Pratt]

I got restless and went at it this afternoon. I pounded the handle off the head and tried to examine it from a woodworking perspective (I last re-handled it before I became a woodworker). I came to the conclusion that the slit for the wedge had compressed too much over the years (especially toward the ends) and was no longer large enough to accept a wedge of sufficient strength to pound all the way through to the bottom. I widened it using a crosscut saw and custom made a hickory wedge for it. I have previously used soft maple and softwood in a pinch and they have always been disappointing. After that I pre-cut two saw-kerfs to half the depth of the main wedge kerf in the following pattern:

(--/---\-)

I then put the handle back on and put a fairly liberal amount of TBIII into all the kerfs. I had previously made cross wedges to fit these two cross kerfs, one out of soft maple, one out of hickory (what was handy in each size). I pounded in the main wooden wedge and then used a junker chisel to notch it parallel with each cross wedge kerf in the handle. I then pounded in the two cross wedges. The hickory one went in great and did an excellent job, but the maple one split over the main wedge and only went in along it's sides. It still somewhat worked, but I'm going to use hickory exclusively from now on.

The end result is that the job looks pretty good so far and I'm more confident about it than I have been with previous wedging jobs. I'm going to let the glue cure overnight and give it a test run tomorrow to see how it worked out.

Here's a thought, what about drilling holes through the axe head to allow drawbore pins to be used to hold the wedges in place? I seriously considered this today but decided against it as I've never heard of anyone doing it and wasn't sure if it was a flawed idea for some reason. It would be difficult to figure out how to drawbore the main wedge, but I figure you could drill an undersize hole in it after wedging and (due to it's thinness) just pound the peg through against the rest. Any thoughts?

I'll post an update after I give it a run tomorrow.

Andy

[harry strasil]

I have rehandled several thousands of Axes, Sledes, hand hammers, you name it, while I was a blacksmith for 55 years or so. I follow my grandfather and fathers technique. The handle must be slightly larger than the eye and driven in by, starting the head on the handle then holding the handle in the off hand by the end and stricking with a 2 lb or so hand hammer till if is solid enough it will drive it thru your hand when hit, the handle is sawn lenght ways of the eye to start with and a hardwood wedge driven in before the excess is cut off, then the excess is removed leaving about a quarter inch of handle to act like a rivet head, then on axes and hatches 2 metal wedges are driven in at a 45 degree angle to the wooden wedge to spread the handle longways. on sledges and hand hammers just one wedge is used.
If you make the handle a slip fit into the head it will never stay tight.

FWIW
Jr.

PS, I never threw old Hickory handles away, they are dried and shrunk as much as they ever will be and I used my metal cutting bandsaw to cut them into wedges for putting in handles.

[Graham Hughes (CA)]

So if I understand this correctly, you're mounting your wedges so they are in line with the cutting edge of the axe--that is, so as the wedge is pounded in, force is exerted on the sidewalls of the eye of the axe? Note that that can, over time, distort and break the eye of the axe head, rendering it useless. Mounting the wedges so the pressure is toward the blade and toward the poll is safer. I wouldn't advise pulling this one out and redoing it, but something to think about. And yes, unfortunately every commercial helve (handle) replacement I've seen has the wedge slot sawn the wrong way.

Apart from that, your update suggests it was just a poor choice of materials. Hickory is very, very good, as is I think ash.

[Graham Hughes (CA)]

That's a funny kind of cross pein you have there. What's it for? (the one with the pein rotated 45 degrees)

[David Keller NC]

Andy - Couple of comments to add to what Harry noted - there is no need to use glue on the wedges, and it will not help to hold the helve in the eye. The reason that handles loosen over time in an axe/adze/maul head can be attributed to a couple of factors - damage and compression shock to the wood fibers in eye, and wood expansion/contraction from humidity changes.

The first one is pretty much unavoidable, but using a closed-grain, hard flexible wood will help. Hickory is ideal. I've done some in white oak in a pinch, but these don't seem to last as long as hickory, and I think that's because the void spaces in the wood from the open grain allows it to compress easily. That's the theory, at least.

The second one can't be totally avoided, but it can be compensated for. In my case, I usually take the time to slightly flare the upper portion of the eye of an axe/maul or hammer with a file so that when the wedge is driven in, the helve will be larger at the top of the eye than the bottom. I also use wedges that have a very thin taper angle - approximately 5 degrees, and I rough the surface of the wedge with 100 grit sandpaper, 90 degrees to the wedge's long axis to assist its grip.

The final thing I do will not get points for elegance, but in general I leave the wedges about 1/4" long so that they protrude from the top of the eye. That allows a bit more "pounding in" when the helve inevitably shrinks a bit and the head becomes loose.

And - Roy Underhill made quite a point of this in one of the Woodwright's books, but it's critical not to let the axe get wet, nor leave it out in the weather. The wood will gain moisture, expand, and since its expansion is constrained, the fibers will be crushed. Then, when it dries back out, it shrinks and the head is then loose.

[Andy Pratt]

Thanks for the tips everyone, good points on not letting it get soaked and flaring the inside of the axe head with a file, I'll have to try that.

Unless I'm mistaken, having the wedge along the long axis isn't necessarily "wrong" it just seems insufficient by itself. Axes always get a lot of twisting and side force exerted on them, and most of the surface area of the handle/head matchup is along the long axis, so I wouldn't be comfortable putting only short cross wedges in, and I can't imagine that would actually hold up that long. I think the ideal solution would have to be (from an on-paper position at least), a combination of a long wedge and short wedge(s). Anyone disagree? I'm curious to hear the other side if someone would argue for only having cross wedges.

Any

[Charles Shenk]

Unless it's a very large axe head, I've found that one wooden wedge and one or two metal wedges at approx 45 degrees is sufficient. My Vaughn framing hammers hold up for years with daily use with this setup.

[Stephen Shepherd]

I always use liquid hide glue to glue both the wedge and the handle to the head. I clean the hole in the head then etch it with garlic, then apply the liquid hide glue.

Stephen

[Ron Petley]

Harry, those are mighty fine looking happers you have their, they look home made as well, anyways good post, leaving me with hammer envey.
If you buy some wood handles sand the finish off of them and you will find you will have a better grip. I find the store bought handles to big around for me when wearing a glove and have to slim them down for a better grip, hence the finish goes as well.
Cheers Ron.

[Ron Petley]

Harry, those are mighty fine looking hammers you have their, they look home made as well, anyways good post, leaving me with hammer envey.
If you buy some wood handles sand the finish off of them and you will find you will have a better grip. I find the store bought handles to big around for me when wearing a glove and have to slim them down for a better grip, hence the finish goes as well.
Cheers Ron.