Questions about making an hatchet handle

[Curtis Niedermier]

So I have this little hewing hatchet, and it needs a new handle. I figured I'd make one instead of buying one, and since I have a hickory in my yard that's about to come down and I'm planning to rive some leg blanks for a few small stools from the log, I figured I'd go ahead and keep a piece for the hatchet handle.

So I have three questions about this:

1. Which way should the growth rings be oriented? If you're looking at the top of the handle, where it comes through the eye of the bit, should the rings run from the cutting edge to the heel/back, or should they run from side to side the "short" way?

2. If I make it from green wood, can I go ahead and seat the bit, or do I need to let it dry first? I watched a cool video of a fella making an axe handle, and he went straight from shavehorse to install. Will it shrink enough to cause a problem as it dries?

3. Let's say I want to shape a curve in the handle. Are most hatchet or axe handles that are curved made that way by steaming and bending? Or can you just shape it and not worry about the runout? I assume with a hatchet with a 16-inch-long or shorter handle (not sure how long I'll make it yet), the issue of a little runout isn't too big a deal since it's so short and there won't be a great deal of curve anyway. But in a longer axe handle I'm not sure, and I'm curious.

Thoughts?

[Robert Hazelwood]

1. Usually the rings go from cutting edge to heel.

2. In my experience shrinking can be a problem, even if you let the blank dry for a while. For my last axe, I shaped the handle and got the head 80% fitted, then stuck the head-end of the handle between the fins of an electric radiator heater for a day or two to gently dry it out and let it shrink as much as it ever will, so that it can only expand in use. The rigged the handle up so it didn't touch metal and scorch. After drying, I immediately completed the fitting and installed the head and wedge.

This is basically what Windsor chairmakers do with leg tenons in my understanding. It worked well for my axe.

3. I don't think steam bending is typical; it is carved to shape. Ideally you can select a blank with a curve that matches your design, but I think you are basically correct about a short handle on a smaller head being able to tolerate a little run out, especially if it occurs towards the back end of the handle. Breakage usually occurs near the head in my experience. Hickory is pretty resilient.

[george wilson]

The most important thing in making a hatchet handle is to NOT accidentally mount the hatchet head on the wrong end. This causes bruising of the user's fingers,and possible lessening of the cutting ability of the hatchet in general. An often unconsidered aspect of having the hatchet head on the wrong end of the handle is the emotional aspect: The mounting frustration of the user may result in a total disconnect with reality,and sometimes triggers attempts to use the hatchet as a spoon. This bizarre condition is not yet understood by the scientific community. Some major scientists have labeled the unusual behavioral pattern as an attempt by the user to return to childhood since he has become unable to cope with the frustration encountered.

[Stew Denton]

George,

Your comments are much appreciated, and may explain frustrations I have encountered over the years. As a young fellow I replaced the handle on my boy size hatchet. My woodworking skills were none too good at that point, and I may have accidentally installed the head on the wrong end. I believe that now, many years experience trouble shooting industrial problems gives me tools to evaluate this situation. If I have indeed mounted the head on the wrong end I can correct the problem and thus solve many serious emotional frustrations.

I am thinking that I can pull up some photos on the net, and compare my hatchet to the photos. I am hoping to find a photo that has one end of the hatchet as being labeled "up" so that I can hold the hatchet the correct way for the comparison, as friends have said to me that I don't know which end is up. Knowing which end is up strikes me as being important in a case like this one.

I can say, though, that many years experience with the hatchet has shown me one very important factor. It cuts much better if you point a particular end of the head toward what you are trying to cut. People may not have noticed, but I have found that most hatchets have an end that is somewhat flat with the other end terminating in what looks kind of like a knife edge. It has been my experience that the knife edge seems to cut better than the flat end. I am now to the point that I remember that much of the time when I use the hatchet. I hope my experience with this observation will help some of the more junior members of this site.

Stew

[steven c newman]

tool tubs.jpg
Might find something in here?

Will try to dig up a photo of a Official Scout Camp Axe that is sitting in the tool tote. Made by Plumb, and has the BSA logo . Uses a screw to tighten the wedge.
IMAG0002.jpg
Handle shot...
IMAG0004.jpg
It does indeed have a brass woodscrew to tighten the wedge with. Flatbladed screwdriver was needed.

[Stew Denton]

Steven,

Thanks! I could make the comparison directly to your hatchet. I am EXTREMELY relieved, because my handle fits my hatchet in the same way your appears to fit the head. I was able to figure this out with only about 10 minutes of comparison time!

The bad news is that now there is no easy fix for the emotional issues. Maybe it's possible, however, that even accidentally considering installing the hatchet head on the wrong end, in my youthful inexperience, could have caused some less severe otional scarring. Even so, in my current mental and emotional state I have never tried to use my hatchet for a spoon, but my psychological problems have been more like trying to use a pocket knife blade for a screwdriver.

I think I will sleep well tonight. It is good to work though these problems and issues that could cause deep seated emotional problems, and I feel better. These problems could leave a person extremely scarred for a lifetime, and in addition cause a more serious problem....blisters.

Stew

[lowell holmes]

I always liked the feel of a hatchet handle in my hand. It seemed like the balance was just right.

[Stewie Simpson]

This post reminds me I have an early made Robert Sorby No.2 Shingling Hatchet that I need to make up a new handle for.

This type of Shingling Hatchet was listed in the Robert Sorby & Sons, 1907 Tool Catalogue.

[Tom Stenzel]

George,

(in part)
I can say, though, that many years experience with the hatchet has shown me one very important factor. It cuts much better if you point a particular end of the head toward what you are trying to cut. People may not have noticed, but I have found that most hatchets have an end that is somewhat flat with the other end terminating in what looks kind of like a knife edge. It has been my experience that the knife edge seems to cut better than the flat end. I am now to the point that I remember that much of the time when I use the hatchet. I hope my experience with this observation will help some of the more junior members of this site.

Stew

One day I was working away in the kitchen when SHMBO came in. She told me - and I am not making this up - that kitchen knives are made in the the EXACT SAME MANNER. Imagine my surprise! You could have knocked me over with a soft Arkansas stone. Afterwards the food wasn't anymore edible than previous. But the work was much easier.

Then again, detecting the difference in the sharp side and the not sharp side on my kitchen knives is somewhat dubious at my house.

-Tom

[John K Jordan]

Then again, detecting the difference in the sharp side and the not sharp side on my kitchen knives is somewhat dubious at my house.

I'm told this makes a difference with chain saws too.

I once visited a neighbor on my way to trim a tree, chainsaw in the back of the truck. He looked at the saw and ask me how it cut. I had put the chain on backwards after sharpening.

JKJ

[george wilson]

I was walking around in the museum one day and went into one of the operating 18th. C. kitchens. The interpreter was talking while using a butcher knife's BACK side to peel a potato. Not paying attention to what she was doing. I got all but one of her knives and took them to my shop where I sharpened all of them. They were horribly dull! Then,I returned them,hoping that the FEEL of a sharp edge cutting a potato skin would tell her if she was using the cutting edge rather than the back,even while talking to the public!!

[Pat Barry]

I was walking around in the museum one day and went into one of the operating 18th. C. kitchens. The interpreter was talking while using a butcher knife's BACK side to peel a potato. Not paying attention to what she was doing. I got all but one of her knives and took them to my shop where I sharpened all of them. They were horribly dull! Then,I returned them,hoping that the FEEL of a sharp edge cutting a potato skin would tell her if she was using the cutting edge rather than the back,even while talking to the public!!

Oh my! Don't tell us she sliced her thumb wide open during the next demo.

[John K Jordan]

Oh my! Don't tell us she sliced her thumb wide open during the next demo.

I have a knife sharpening machine that puts such a good edge on a knife you might be able to drop a piece of paper and slice it in two before it hits the ground. When I bought it the dealer told me when sharpening someone's knife to be sure to warn them that it is not just sharp, it is SHARP. Someone who tests an edge with a thumb might wish he hadn't.

A fresh edge on a good SOG, ahh...

JKJ

[John K Jordan]

1. Which way should the growth rings be oriented?...
2. ... green wood...
3. ...shape a curve...

Curtis,

A blacksmith who makes reproductions of Viking axes told me the handle was strongest if orientated so the rings are long ways in the head, from cutting edge to heal. He likes to use ash.

The old time farmers way to make handles was with riven hickory segments to guarantee the strongest grain alignment. Put the blanks in the barn loft to dry and in three years you are ready to go. I did this a long time ago and now have a bunch of dry handle blanks.

I personally would hesitate to make one from green wood because of the shrinkage. If in a hurry, the microwave drying method could work if the hatchet handle is short enough. However, the power distribution inside a microwave is NOT uniform but has hot spots (the reason for the rotating platter) so just because the wood might fit diagonally it might not work well since the stationary wood would likely be heated unevenly.

When I made an adz handle I used a split blank, bandsawed the general outline, then shaped with a drawknife and spokeshave. I picked a piece of wood that after splitting had a bit of natural curve to closer match to the shape I wanted. I have no idea about steam bending - does heating reduce the strength? But I wouldn't worry about the absolute strength of a short handle as much as I would a long handle on something with high impact, like a big sledge.

I have also turned an axe handle on the lathe, using an off-axis method to get the general cross-section shape then did the final shaping with a very aggressive drum sander. I made a froe handle the same way. Shovel and hoe handles I just turn round. (all these from dry wood) The hand tool method was a lot more relaxing and healthier than the power sanding method.

BTW, I've heard for years that you should use the hickory sapwood for handles, not heartwood. However, more recent reading indicates this may well be a myth.

You ever get down to TN? I'm north of Knoxville and I'm pretty sure I've got some dry hickory that will work for your handle.

JKJ

[Stew Denton]

Hi John,

In addition to the factors you mentioned, I believe running the growth rings "front to back" rather than from "side to side" makes the handle more impact resistant should, perish the thought, you accidentally hit an object with the handle just below the head, rather than with the head itself. A lot of hammer handles and sledge hammer handles have been broken that way.

Stew