Your axe handle has been hand-made by Rod Cumberland, professional lumberjack and axe distributor and handle craftsman for more than 30 years. While I specialize in racing axe handles for professional lumberjacks, I make handles to order by length, species, size, etc. I have made hammer handles, mauls, peavey stocks, sledge, picaroons, double-bitter and more and have sold them in the EU, Australia, New Zealand, and across Canada and the United States.
My axe handles are primarily made from Canadian White Ash and American Hickory. Peavey stocks are made from Ironwood (Hop Hornbeam) but I have made handles from many species of wood. Only hickory, oak, elm and ash have ring porous vessels that absorb shock, and these species are best in handles in axes, sledge hammers, baseball bats, etc. that strike other objects. This wood absorbs the shock throughout the handle through these hollow straws or vessels and greatly reduces this vibration from the operator’s hands.
Non-porous hardwood species such as birches, maples and ironwood are tight-grained and these vessels are fewer and dispersed throughout the wood. Their cell structure conducts this vibration, making them less suitable for these applications. However, these species are better suited for applications that involve lateral stress, and are ideal for prying and lifting, and are a favorite choice for forming handles in peaveys and throwing axes.
I have several handle patterns I use for competition axes, including a pattern from a renowned axe factory in the world in Masterton, New Zealand specific for Tuatahi axes and another made solely by the man who taught me the trade, Bob Hetherington (see our website at “East Coast Lumberjack.com”). However, I also have patterns for regular customers like 15 time world champion Mitch Hewitt and Canadian’s women champion Danielle Tkach who like larger or smaller handles. However, being a custom shop, if you send your pattern, I can duplicate the handle you prefer.
Choosing a GOOD axe handle
After considering the best species of wood for your application or end use of the handle, next, when you are choosing an axe handle, look down the handle to see how straight the handle has been made. Good handles are straight from the eye to the end, and usually the grain in these handles should also run straight along the handle. Obviously, no tree grows perfectly straight and grain will always have some sway, so although some tolerance is acceptable, ensure it is minimal. Second, check that the grain runs the length of the eye, not across the eye. Handles with grain across the eye tend to shear along growth rings just below the axe head or at the knob and do not make as strong of handles as the former (Check out my Youtube videos on line).
Axe handle strength is inversely related to the number of growth rings in a handle. In tests at the UNB Wood Science and Technology Center on ash handles, strength tests increased as the size of growth rings increased. Technically speaking, these handles have more late wood (without vessels) which are thicker walled cells and add greatly to the strength of the handle.
I purchased a large truckload of American Hickory (pignut and shagbark) in 2014 from Connecticut and spent that year learning a great deal about this handle wood. It definitely has many advantages over ash, but a few disadvantages. Ash dries much faster, and tends to check much less and works easier with a spoke shave, but in my opinion, is not quite as tough as hickory. Hickory takes a long (and I mean LONG) time to season/dry. I have made a few handles from unseasoned/dried hickory and some have checked quite badly on me. However, once dry, the lateral strength of hickory is incredible. Thus far, my sons have only been able to actually bust one hickory handle. Initial tests show that this handle wood will be the best I have used for durability (check out my Youtube channel – 4 part series on handle wood). However, a word of caution to lumberjacks in the cold north country – ash has much better flex in cold temps and will outlast hickory when things are frigid – so if you plan to run your handle at subzero temperatures, be forewarned that hickory wood can shatter in these conditions. Ash is the species for northern climates when temps drop below minus 20C.
Properly hanging an axe handle
All good axemen should know the fundamental skills of finishing an axe handle using a draw knife, spoke shave or wood rasp. While I do finish handles if requested, every axeman or woman have their own personal preference for width and shape of axe handles. If my handles are not exactly how you prefer them, don’t be scared to take your rasp and finish the handle as you’d like. After you rasp or draw knife the handle, finish your work by sanding it with 100-180 grain sandpaper, or wood with slightly higher moisture content by scraping it with a piece of glass. Always check that the eye of the axe is large enough to fill the eye of the axe intended to be hung. A wooden wedge can take up some slop in the eye, but for proper fit and less maintenance of your handle once the wood completely dries, you should have an initial tight fit prior to wedging.
There are two general rules you must follow to properly hang a racing axe. First, the length of the axe blade should be lined up perfectly with the length of the handle. As you begin to fit the handle, occasionally look down the edge to ensure it lines up perfectly with the handle. If it doesn’t, mark on the remaining wood to be removed which side of the handle needs to be shaved down to allow the axe head to line up. Typically, it not only requires wood to be removed further down the “head” portion of the handle where the axe head will eventually rest, but it will also require wood removed at the top of the handle on the OPPOSITE side to allow the axe head to shift orientation to align with the handle.
The second alignment to ensure is that the toe of the axe blade, the heel of the axe blade and the front of the handle knob are all in a straight line. To check this, use a piece of twine or string. Hold one end at the point of the axe head edge at the toe of the blade, stretch the string and place the far end on the front of the handle knob. The string should just touch the heel of the axe, and this guarantees that the axe head will strike your block perfectly to ensure the whole cutting edge penetrates the wood evenly.
DO NOT SCORE the handle where the axe head will eventually rest. Doing this will actually create a stress point where the head eventually rests on the handle. If you pound the axe head on the final few millimeters and the handle wood “peels” down, remove the axe head and rasp this edge away and ensure the handle is smooth at this point. I have seen hundreds of time where handles have been broken at this point, and the axeman blames the handle, when in truth it is how it was hung that caused the problem.
As you rasp the top of the handle to fit the axe head, keep trying the axe head on the handle. Tap it from the BUTT of the handle gently to coax it down the handle. When it fetches up, remove it and you can clearly see where the head is fitting tight on the handle. Remove this wood, ON BOTH SIDES before you retry the handle, checking alignment each time. Once the axe head slides on snugly within a centimeter or two of the top of the handle reaching the top of the axe head, you are ready to tap it on. Turn the axe upside down and with gentle blows to the butt of the handle, tap the head on the remaining distance. If any wood curl occurs at the base of the axe head, tap the handle out and remove it. Once it is snugly on, and the axe head lines up perfectly with the axe handle, as well as the toe, heel and knob, you are ready to wedge the axe. To wedge a handle, I usually use the same wood that the handle is made of. If the wood is damp, drive the wedge in as far as it will go without breaking, and leave it for several days in a dry place, lying flat, or hung from a nail. NEVER lean an axe handle against a wall, as this will cause the handle to warp. After several days when the handle dries further, tap the wedge in completely and then cut off the excess. The handle is now ready to be pinned. Lumberjacks and jills sometimes use boiled linseed oil OR wood glue to secure the wedge. I use neither – because I may need to drive the wedge further at some point, and these two methods limit your opportunity to do so. Also – eventually you may need to replace the handle, and the wedge comes out far better if not glued.
To pin an axe head, use a 3/16 spring pin or appropriate size for the hole in the axe head. Drill a 5/32nd hole through the head and handle and insert the spring pin. Grind off any excess steel from the pin that may protrude from the surface of the axe.
Troubleshooting hung axe handles
- A loose axe head: The most common maintenance of an axe is tightening a loose wedge. Some axemen will insert a metal wedge, crossways to the wooden wedge to take up the slack, or insert a tabbed wedge that can easily be removed. If the gap is substantial, remove the old wedge and insert a new, wider wedge. If the gap is slight, I will use an axe file, place one edge on the existing wedge, and then tap the wedge further into the handle. DO NOT SOAK the axe/handle in a bucket of water. This is the lazy man’s solution and in the long run will only make the problem worse……and you will need to keep soaking it again and again, and causes the inside of the eye to rust.
- Crooked handles: If you don’t store your axes or handles properly, or in some cases, a finished handle will bend or warp slightly towards the inner grain. Don’t be overly discouraged, as most handles can be bent back to the original shape. Find a good, solid place to insert the handle/axe where you can apply firm pressure on the handle against the bend. I will use as vice, a car tire, etc. to pry against. Check the exact location on the handle for the sweep, and be sure you bend the handle AT THIS LOCATION. If you do, the handle will straighten and you are back in business. If you bend at the wrong location, you may worsen the problem and the handle will need replacing. Be sure to check your handles for shears or breaks at the start of each season. While I might tape a practice axe handle to extend its life, I always replace a competition handle that shows any sign of stress.
- Bumps or imperfections in handles: Handmade handles are just that – made by hand and not by a machine. While these handles are superior in grain orientation and strength, they may not be finished perfectly smooth and straight. I usually leave the final finishing touches to the axeman hanging the handle, because he/she will have to do some work at the upper end of the handle to hang the axe head, and finishing work should occur AFTER this process……not before. A rigid wood rasp is best to remove these imperfections and keep the handle true. Run the rasp along its length over the length of the handle (not across the handle or by using just a portion of the rasp) check the bumps or imperfections frequently to ensure you are removing wood in the right area of the handle. I frequently use a pencil to shade the high portion of the handle to ensure I remove the right wood, and don’t worsen the problem by removing wood from the low area of the handle.
- Splits: If the handle develops a split on the knob, these can be easily fixed with wood glue, or sometimes with a wood screw. Modern wood glue has exceptional bonding qualities and its strength in a crack exceeds that of the surrounding wood. If the split is on the axe head end of the handle – replace it. NEVER toy around with a split at the head end of a handle.
- Handles that break in the same place: Very infrequently, an axeman will call to inquire about axe handles that break in the same place repeatedly. This has happened to me over the past 20 years on only 3 occasions. In each case, the axeman originally thought it might be the handles and fortunately, they all brought me the handles so we could inspect them together. Once you understand how I secure handle wood, it is quickly evident that axe handles come from around the entire bole of the tree, and from different sections of the trunk. Therefore, no two axe handles are the same. If an imperfection occurs in a handle, the odds of other handles having the same imperfections in the exact same place are hugely unlikely. Further, if a handle has an imperfection that is noticeable, I will cull this from my #1 handles and it is not available for sale, and does not receive the “East Coast Lumberjack” stamp. If it’s stamped, it is a number 1 handle and has passed my inspection.
In the first case, handles were breaking at the base of the head. When we inspected the handles, the cause was compressed wood at the base of the handle caused during improper hanging. I instructed the axeman how to properly hang his handles and this problem did not occur again. In the other two cases, both axemen were very strong men, and both were what I’d call “budding axemen”. They were just learning how to chop, and it was a combination of their strength and improper techniques that were causing handle after handle to break in exactly the same way – despite how the grain and handles were crafted.
Like any manufactured product, there are times when things don’t go right. If you have had bad luck with one of my handles, I have no problem troubleshooting your problems or replacing a handle that had an obvious imperfection or problem. This can occasionally happen. However, I have been in business for over 30 years because I care about quality, and also because I do what I can for my customers. If you have a faulty handle, let me know and we can troubleshoot the problem. If it is similar to the above situations, I will learn, and the axeman will learn. If it is simply a bad piece of wood (which rarely happens…..but it might!) I will replace it FREE of charge. You may have to pay for the shipping, but my name for quality is worth more than the price of a handle.
If you would like more information on axes, restoration or handles in general, there are some great spots to go on line. Check out Vintage Axe Revival (Brad Crosby) in Minnesota; Dave Lougheed at Log Head throwing axes in Timmins, Ontario; horsemen in Alberta get great axes hung by Carl Peterson in Edmonton, or one of my favourite characters is Buckin’ Billy Ray in British Columbia who posts videos on axe handles and hanging regularly on Youtube. All these craftsmen utilize East Coast Lumberjack axe handles and can attest to the quality.
If you have any other questions about axe handles, please feel free to call or e-mail. Thanks again for purchasing East Coast Lumberjack Axe handles.
Sincerely,
Rod Cumberland, Owner and handle craftsman