old roofing/rigger's axe issue

[Gregory Mosher]

Hi folks, I have an old shinglers hatchet (or riggers axe, not sure which, feels too light to be for a rigger's) and I'm having an issue now with the handle.

It was my grandfather's, it's been sitting in the barn for probably 30 years I would guess, may be made of either ash or oak. I brought it inside to the house for a couple of days (I liked the straight handle with a palm swell that grandad carved, I'm going to be making a new handle out of ash for my framing hammer which is currently curved.) I looked over at it, and the handle is now checking and small splits running up the side, and a few days now after that happened, the head is coming loose on it now as well.

Grandad used it for a very long time but it always held strong, and he continually sealed it, I believe with BLO. Made out of good quartersawn stock etc. it should of been dried, for a very long time. Is it possible where it was sitting in the barn off of the floor in the top of hayloft, (in a dry spot out of the sun etc) the finish just faded away, then began drawing moisture somehow, so 30 years later when it came into the house and it dried out, that it just checked and came loose? I love this hatchet, and would love to save it, especially the handle. Grandad has passed away some 10 years or more ago and it still has the hand filing marks in it, multiple colours of paint on the handle etc. any advice on the how/why this happened, and is there any way to tighten it up again?

Thanks in advance.

Gregory

[Jim Koepke]

With shovel handles having the same problem soaking them in BLO expanded the wood, in some cases even closing the checking.

jtk

[Bill Houghton]

Wood is always adapting to its environment, taking up and releasing moisture. Always (except when it rots). Finishes merely slow the process, and oiled finishes don't slow it much. You brought it into your probably very dry winter house, and it started releasing water at high speed. Try, as Jim suggests, soaking it in oil again.

[Stew Denton]

Gregory,

After you soak it in the oil, take it back outside.

What happens is that the moisture content of wood is dependent on the relative humidity of the air. If the relative humidity of the air is very low, the wood will start to dry out. As it drys out, the wood shrinks, and it looses moisture most rapidly out the end grain.

When that happens, the ends of the lumber dry much faster than the middle of the lumber, the ends begin to shrink more quickly than the center, and the boards, or in your case rigging ax handle, begin to to crack due to the uneven shrinking at the ends.

Relative humidity depends on the temperature of a given sample of air, so when it is cold outside the relative humidity is at a certain point. When you heat that same air, as when you go into a warm house, the relative humidity of that same air goes down, so the wood brought in from the cold begins to dry, shrink, and cracks form in the ends.

To stop this, it is necessary to get the wood to dry evenly, which means to stop, as much as is possible, the moisture in the wood from migrating out the end grain, and forcing it to dry out the sides of the lumber instead of the ends. Thus, folks use sealant in the ends. Often a tarry like stuff can be used on the ends, and companies also make special paint for this exact purpose.

This summer when I worked on my deck using very wet treated lumber for decking, I used solvent based spar varnish, because that was all I had, and places that sold the special paint were a long way away. The spar greatly reduced the cracking/checking of the wood, because is provided a pretty good moisture barrier, and I used two coats.

The rapid drying explains exactly what you are seeing. The wood shrinks quickly at the ends, the head gets loose, and it checks. To help this do as suggested above, then seal the ends of the handle with something, and if you don't have a lot of other choices, solvent based spar varnish, two or three coats will help greatly. I think oil based polyurethane would work also, and finally a water based spar or polyurethan might also work. Finally slow down the drying rate, by introducing it into the dry inside air slowly, a few hours at a time, then take it back outside, gradually increasing the time indoors. Or, you could store it in a garage or out building.

Stew

[Bob Glenn]

Thirty years of seasonal changes in Nova Scotia have made the wood inside the head expand and contract many times, having a crushing effect on the wood fibers inside the head. Eventualy the wood loses it ability to regain its former shape. Hopefully soaking in BLO as described about will help with the problem, but not fix it for hard use. Lacking that, a new handle may be in order.