I stumbled upon your channel for the first time today. I wanted to say that I like what you're doing. I am an axe connasiuer myself. Have a little collection of vintage heads and I love using them. I liked the way you turned the axe upside to do the wedge. Have not tried that way myself yet but you had good results with it. Thanks for the tips.
Hola nos az visto el aciatico que hace hachas esta en RU-vid te invito a que lo veas tienes que ver como las hace las diceñas las cuñas que hace es un maestro Que Dios te bendiga
I never really thought of the wedge part as being stressful, in fact, I always look forward to this. I don't really feel any aspect of this is stressful per se, except when I first started and I would carve a handle really nicely and then worry that I would shape the tenon too small for the eye. That is until I figured out two things; don't finish the handle until it fits the eye, and use cross wedges if it doesn't fit front to back. This way you don't spend too much time on a creation that you might have to throw out as well as knowing that yo u can salvage the handle if it's only a little too small.
Looks great! I spoke to you on IG about some handles for a couple axe heads I picked up. You have me slightly nervous about the hanging process! I guess I won’t get any better without giving it a shot. Hope to speak to you soon my friend. Thanks for the great video
I agree that wedge driving can be stressful and the more perfectionist you are, the more the stress. The commonest problem is having too fat a wedge. This will be apparent pretty soon after you start driving and it pays to recognize defeat early on and to withdraw the wedge before it all starts breaking up. As often as not this will make a bit of a mess of the wedge, but far better to make a new one a bit thinner, rather than end up with a smashed up, half driven wedge. If you were to use glue, getting out a part driven wedge is a lot harder to do. In order to get the wedge out, I use a couple of vise grips snapped tight onto the wedge to give good fixed points against which it can be levered out.
This is how it shall be done! I remember, in the factory we just used to dam in a ready made square pice wedge and letting the axehead splitting it and then bandsaw it all down to size.. It will newer look as good as this and it's a minor h---l to adjust anything in the process.
Outstanding! You answered a couple of questions I had and made a couple of detailed points I hadn't thought of. Making my first axe handle and watching many RU-vid videos. I have all I need to get started, I have drawn the kerf x 2 so many times its crazy. I am going to try a cross wedge. I just watched your short intro cross wedge. Great music. Thanks.
When setting the wedge did you say that you don't want the wedge to hit the bottom of the kerf, or did you mean the bottom of the eye? Thanks for the video, I've been struggling with the wedge on a user double bit that keeps knocking loose on the trail.
Hello, Paul; Thank you, very nice video. Very nice axe, I'm partial to the Jersey-style patterns, they just look like an 'axe' to me. Your work is really beautiful. I see your update & I agree. One point, not a criticism. I don't want my wedge to bottom out in the kerf, I think that stops the purpose of a wedge. So I would make the pencil mark at least 1/8-1/4 inch short of the kerf bottom. If the head loosens the wedge can be driven deeper, if it has the room. I don't really care about the aesthetics so much tho. It is a tool, function is more important to me than looks. I've never thought about fitting the wedge length-wise, it looks really good. As for metal wedges I think they work OK but they seem to damage the handle, IMO. My last axe I used a round metal wedge (barrel, cylindrical),. It was too soft but It really swelled the haft proud. I hope I can drill the center, tap & thread it, & pull it Urban Lumberjack style, if needed. So far I'm not real pleased w/ the House Handle I used. The one I got was not what I meant to order so I may change it after I use it a while. Where do you get your handles, this one looks good. Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!
Great question. I don’t have an absolute answer but my impression is the wedge should have done it’s job before it gets to that depth. There shouldn’t be enough room for it at the bottom either. You will invite cracking to the handle with a spread at that depth. A great wedging is not a substitute for a poor fitting tongue. The wedge is just going to lock your great fit in place. Hope that helps. Others are welcome to chime in.
Wood shrinks, even cured wood still shrinks over time (but not as much anymore and takes decades/centuries) You keep the steel wedges as a back up in case your head gets loose in a year or 5, you jump it up the handle a bit (because again, the handle shrunk) and then add the steel wedge. So the head will last a couple decades more.
You're right...the wedge is the most stressful part. A problem that I've had is the wedge not going down enough, even with much persuasion. How do you know when the fit is too tight before driving the wedge? Is there a certain amount of space to look for to make sure the wedge can drive deep enough? What is your technique? I hope the question makes sense. Great video!
There’s a lot of nuance in answering these. I’ll try to shed some light on them. I am eyeballing and using experience for that. If you’re consistently not being able to drive your wedges deep enough then you need to have a thinner wedge or cut your kerf wider or both. I like to have half of that kerf filled with my wedge. I’ll draw lines on the wedge to monitor this. I want really good compression in that eye. And I like for the wedge to push out the exposed section of the tongue to really secure the head. I also no longer use glue. I am preferring to be able to adjust the axe if needed. Hope that helps
Hola nos az visto el aciatico que hace hachas esta en RU-vid te invito a que lo veas tienes que ver como las hace las diceñas las cuñas que hace es un maestro Que Dios te bendiga
Tacking on to your point about shaping the wedge for the specific eye shape, I always chamfer the top edges of my wedges with a knife or file. I find that helps the integrity of the wedge
I just got through sinking a new wedge in a 200 year old broad axe. The first thing that I did was size it to the eye of the axe. I did this with my GBA Wildlife hatchet. I then let it soak in linseed oil overnight. I sank it in the handle with my 2# dead blow hammer. It did not split.
How come wedges are wider than the eye? How do people even hammer it down without breakage? I can find no answers for this. I mainly just want to know why the wedges are wider than the axe eye
The eye wall of an axe head is tapered. The lower part of the eye is compression fitted on the handle. This serves as the greatest hold of the fit. Then the wedge with expand the handle tongue against the rest of the eye wall. It's a wedge shape to allow for a tight fit that runs deep into the kerf cut to hold the position. I hope this makes things clearer.
Hi pal, defo the most stress part of hanging an axe. Alot of my wedges mush up not sure if it's the sizing of the wedge or bad seating technique. I'll defo try your idea of hitting the bottom end. Cheers neebs
Thanks for watching. I have certainly changed my opinions on it as well. I updated my feelings in the description. At some point l'll redo the video to reflect my current method. Always good to know more than one way to do something.
That's a beautiful rose wood wedge! Does anyone know of a good source of exotic wedges? Love getting my handles from House Handles, but their wedges are trash poplar. Ive always had to make my own, but would love to buy some in bulk.
Thank you so much! There are other channels on RU-vid that show people putting a new handle on an axe head and it’s not even tight. It’s actually quite loose. And to counter that they fill it with epoxy, just to get this cross wedge in on an exotic redwood looking handle. And everyone is commenting on it saying they want to do that. I was in a conversation with someone and they said this axe is for display only purposes but they’re not telling anyone that. Anyway, thanks for your video.
I think I know the account you may be talking about. I have thought the same thing when I've seen people do that. I need to update this video. I no longer use glue. I prefer to have the option to pull the wedge and adjust the fit if necessary. As long as you get a good fit and well shaped wedge it will hold. Obviously you need to condition the handle and wedge too. Thanks for watching
@@StumptownAxes lol well you kinda look like a stocky Jim Carey now with the graying beard and what not. Hope that isn’t offensive. Just kinda reminded me off him. Thanks for the info by the way
I just carved my first handle today! I tried to do the wedge and I thought it got. but a few test swings in and she popped lose........ going to try again this weekend! ill keep this in mind!
I think depth and compression. you want that wedge pushing the tongue against the walls of that eye. You may need a wider wedge if it's just popping out.
@@ice_stormz_12minimum you’d need a vise or something to hold a piece of wood and then just a coping saw should work. Then just shape a little bit with some hand files.
@@Dickremoulade I updated in the comments I no longer use glue but that’s just my way. Plenty still use it, I just prefer the serviceability. Good luck
