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Thread: Tightening a hatchet head

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    Columbus, Ohio, USA
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    Tightening a hatchet head

    I feel like I should know how to deal with this, but this is new to me....

    I needed a hatchet for something, so my Father gave me one that he does not use.... This is from Sears, probably in the 70's or 80's, but I am guessing.

    hatchet_side.jpg

    I used it today, and the head started pulling off. This is the top view

    hatchet_top.jpg

    I looked here (https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment..._publications/) six down is "An Ax to Grind, A Practical Ax Manual".

    Also available as a set of HTML web pages

    https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment...232823/toc.cfm

    Couple of things that I noticed were:

    I should not use metal wedges, but it says that I should use something called Swel Lock (bottom of this page https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment...823/page13.cfm). And I see that it is still available.

    Just trying to decide what I should do with this thing.

    My gut reaction is to simply pull the head then install a new wedge.

    I am a bit unclear on what to do with that swel-lock stuff. It looks like you dump it in where the wedge will go and then drive the wedge.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
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    South West Ontario
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    You may need a whole new handle if it's too loose. Swelling wood for axe handles is a temporary fix. Those little corrugated metal wedges can be added at 45 degrees to the main wood wedge. I see nothing wrong with them except you need several as they don't do much.
    So a properly fitted new handle & wedge that is left a little proud of the axe gets my vote.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Pitonyak View Post
    I feel like I should know how to deal with this, but this is new to me....

    I needed a hatchet for something, so my Father gave me one that he does not use.... This is from Sears, probably in the 70's or 80's, but I am guessing.

    hatchet_side.jpg

    I used it today, and the head started pulling off. This is the top view

    hatchet_top.jpg

    I looked here (https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment..._publications/) six down is "An Ax to Grind, A Practical Ax Manual".

    Also available as a set of HTML web pages

    https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment...232823/toc.cfm

    Couple of things that I noticed were:

    I should not use metal wedges, but it says that I should use something called Swel Lock (bottom of this page https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment...823/page13.cfm). And I see that it is still available.

    Just trying to decide what I should do with this thing.

    My gut reaction is to simply pull the head then install a new wedge.

    I am a bit unclear on what to do with that swel-lock stuff. It looks like you dump it in where the wedge will go and then drive the wedge.

    I typically replace the wedge with one slightly larger. If I think I need a cross wedge I add a small metal wedge. If you file the top part of the hole a hair larger before reinstalling the handle the wedge will flare the handle out to fill the space, giving you a really tight mechanical grip that rarely comes loose.
    Making furniture teaches us new ways to remove splinters.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
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    If you can get the wedge out you might be able to re-seat the head a bit further down on the handle where it fits tightly again. Extend the wedge slot if necessary, then refit a new wedge.

    I recommend drying the end of the handle prior to fitting the head, with gentle heat. I like to place the end between the fins of a radiant heater for a few days. This ensures the wood will be at minimum MC when you are fitting, and will not be able to shrink after the fact.

  5. #5
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    Columbus, Ohio, USA
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Hazelwood View Post
    If you can get the wedge out you might be able to re-seat the head a bit further down on the handle where it fits tightly again. Extend the wedge slot if necessary, then refit a new wedge.

    I recommend drying the end of the handle prior to fitting the head, with gentle heat. I like to place the end between the fins of a radiant heater for a few days. This ensures the wood will be at minimum MC when you are fitting, and will not be able to shrink after the fact.
    Well, that is brilliant. I would not have thought of doing that, but, now that you mention it, it makes a lot of sense.

    So, I think that I will pop the head, remove the wedge, make a new wedge, dry the wood, possibly extend the cut a bit, then refit.

    if that does not work, then I need to decide if I will make my own handle, or, purchase a new one and fit it.

    Any thoughts on that swel-lock stuff? I did not even know that it existed until recently.

  6. #6
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    Sep 2016
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    My workbench
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    We used to let our rigging axes soak overnight in a pan of motor oil. Not the whole thing; set it vertical with the head half covered with oil. I'm still using one that was treated that way twenty years ago, and it's still tight.

  7. #7
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    Apr 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Kjolsrud View Post
    We used to let our rigging axes soak overnight in a pan of motor oil. Not the whole thing; set it vertical with the head half covered with oil. I'm still using one that was treated that way twenty years ago, and it's still tight.
    Hmm, I could try that if my first attempt fails...

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
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    SW Michigan
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    You could try to shave the handle below the eye and see if you can get the head to seat a little farther down. Then see if the wedge will go in a little farther. If the wedge is already bottomed in the kerf you can try to pull it and replace. Sometimes wedges are glued. Not a good idea if you need to pull it. Replacement handles are pretty inexpensive if it comes to that. I have never used swel-lock, but I suspect as one poster noted it would be a temporary fix.

    Now if you are in a hurry pound some nails, washers, keys, whatever you have in the top. Or if you are not in a hurry, just wait until summer.

    Edit to add: If you replace the handle check the eye before you do any filing. It might already have the top of the eye larger than the bottom. Also, some heads had an "hour glass" shaped eye.
    Last edited by robert dankert; 02-22-2017 at 8:37 PM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    West Chicago, Illinois
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Kjolsrud View Post
    We used to let our rigging axes soak overnight in a pan of motor oil. Not the whole thing; set it vertical with the head half covered with oil. I'm still using one that was treated that way twenty years ago, and it's still tight.
    I have used this method, and left it in for a couple days. If the axe is that old this will help, but you may still end up replacing the handle. I didn't use motor oil, I used boiled linseed oil. Both will work, BLO smells better.

  10. #10
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    May 2009
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    houston tx
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    FWIW, commercial swelling solutions are just mineral oil. I use linseed oil to tighten anything that needs swelled. Not BLO, as it dries faster.

  11. #11
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    Bring it over here, tomorrow...IF you haven't fixed it yet. I have one other trick I can use to tighten things up.....

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Tokyo, Japan
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    Remove the head.

    Examine the eye (the hole the handle fits into). The walls should be smooth without irregularities. The right and left sides (wide sides) of the eye's walls should be slightly wider at the top than at the bottom. Sometimes, the eye will neck down at the center, and expand out again towards the top. This is acceptable within reason, but straight is better. Sometimes the walls will be (concave) hollowed out. This is very bad and must be corrected. In any case, the right and left walls should be wider at the top than at the bottom, and straight in between.

    Use files to remove irregularities, forging flaws, bumps, etc. It doesn't need to be perfect. If a lot of material must be removed to correct the eye, it may be more cost effective to buy a new hatchet since truing a badly-out-of-wack eye can be a lot of work. Forging a good eye is the most difficult operation in making an axe, and is seldom done well.

    Next, check that the tenon is not badly damaged. If it is seriously damaged, the only fix is to replace the handle.

    If the tenon is still usable, shim the OUTSIDE of the tenon with manila folder cardstock, or other dense, thin cardboard. You may not need to shim the entire tenon, but worst case, cut out a single piece that fits and will wrap the tenon. Insert this paper into the eye with extra material projecting out the bottom of the eye the width of your hand. While gripping this projecting paper to keep it from being pulled further into the eye, tap the handle/tenon into the eye. It should be a very tight fit. If not, double up on the paper.

    Paper is processed wood and so should offend neither purist nor neanderthal man. But one way it differs from wood is that changes in moisture content do not make it to swell/shrink as much. The paper will not only tighten up the tenon, but will provide a more precise fit between tenon and the steel walls of the eye increasing friction. This will make the tenon tight right away, while making it more resistant to shock over time.

    Wedge it as you see fit.

    The eye is essentially a steel tube that will expand/contract with temperature changes, but is totally unaffected by changes in humidity. The wooden tenon it contains, on the other hand, will swell with increased humidity. That expansion is constrained by the steel eye. After a few hundred cycles, the tenon's cells at the surface will be permanently crushed, and the wood will take a "set." This will cause any wooden handle to eventually come loose over time. This eventuality can be delayed by slowing down the cycle of shrinkage and swelling. Varnish or polyurethane will do the job.

    Thin down some varnish or PU 100% with thinner. Soak this into the tenon's end and the handle's butt (and handle overall too if you are so inclined) in several (4~5) applications. The thinner helps the mixture soak into the grain instead of just sitting on the surface where it will be damaged and stop providing moisture intrusion.

    Stan
    Last edited by Stanley Covington; 02-25-2017 at 7:36 AM.

  13. #13
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    Play around with the different suggestions and you will probably fix it.

    Put a new handle on it and you will fix it.

    So, I would play with it a bit and if it didn't work, put a new handle on it. I've run into this with hammers. A new handle always works.

  14. #14
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    Jan 2009
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    How can it be that there are 12 replies on how to tighten your hatchet handle?

  15. #15
    Drive a metal wedge or two perpendicular to the wooden wedge and away you go. Cheap hatchet, simple and effective solution. An axe is a wedge and a wedge is the simplest tool known to man. Don't complicate it!

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