Hewed out another Ash handle

Adirondack case guy

Well-known Member
This 12lb. splitting maul has a real odd eye in it and I could not find a commercial handle to fit it, so I cut another blank out of a Ash plank and formed it to fit the head and my hands. I left it beefy down by the head where it gets all the abuse, and tapered it down towards the top. I still need to form a guard from 18G steel to further protect it down by the head, like the one I made for my splitting axe. Then some red paint, like the axe.

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Loren
 
I bought one of those oval shape horse collar looking things for our axe. Kinda interesting how for an axe can bounce with one of those on. Took it off.
 
I used to make some handles out of black ash, using a Stanley Sureform. Now I have some green ash planks just for handles, need to make one for a small cruisers axe, double bit.
 
Good job. You have a real handle now. All I have seen around here lately are made from poplar. How dumb is that? Ash, hickory, apple, and dogwood are tough to beat.

BTT, when I was a kid and mentioned that guard would be nice I was informed if I learned to swing it properly I wouldn't need it. Grrr!!!
 
Grew up, and still have, splitting wood with a maul like that, except it has an oval hole for the handle.
And before I can remember someone used the sharp side to break up concrete, so that edge is peened over.

Dusty
 
I used to hear that a lot too. We had to split a lot of 36" wood for the maple suryp evaporators, and about the only blocks that split straight from one end to the other was Ash.
I have seen leather protectors laced around the handles, wire tightly wound around them, and even some form of really tough twine wrapped and then stapled and coated with shellac. Must have been lots of people that did not know how to split wood properly. I was taught how to give the handle a twist to the RH in my case, just as the axe hit the block to pop the blocks open. That keeps the axe from wedging in the block and breaking the handle when trying to get the buried head out of the block, and most times split the block wide open.
There are also axes and mauls that are perfectly balanced just seem to fit you. This particular maul was made in Mexico and the head was mounted backwards. and the shock from each strike went rite up the handle, and into your arms. The handle broke within a short time and I tossed the thing in a corner of my shop. It remained there forgotten since the early 80's. At my age this thing won't get much use. I have become too dependent on pulling hydraulic levers and pushing buttons to process my firewood -------------------------Loren
 
If I paint one Blue will you come up and swing it splitting wood for a week this summer???? I have some "robin's egg blue" will that work for you??? HeHe. ----Loren
 
+1 on needing the guard. Had that problem every time I used an axe. Would line up the blade on what I wanted to cut, but when I would come down on the power stroke, I'd stretch a little more (somehow) and whack the handle where I should have had the blade tip. A few of those and the handle and the head were in 2 pieces.

Nice wood working Adirondack.
 

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