The right hatchet for a carpentry ax. Top Axes by Customer Reviews

• Methods of fixing axes in axes
• Preparatory stage
• Spreading and wedging
• Conclusion on the topic

A lot depends on how to plant an ax on an ax. The quality of the tool, the responsible approach to its preparation and maintenance determine whether the work will be convenient and how good the result of its implementation will be. This is especially true when it comes to hand tools, the use of which involves significant and continuous dynamic loads.

Photo 1. The ax can be designed for different work, the final result of which depends on the quality of its attachment on the ax.

There are dozens of types of axes, each has its own design features and purpose. A carpenter’s ax is significantly different from a tourist’s one, the lumberjack’s ax is not at all like a battle ax. But one thing in common is a fundamental structure. The ax and the ax itself, its metal part, the main components of this universal tool. And the way they combine with each other largely determines the quality of the ax.

Methods of fixing axes in axes

Modern technology allows much even for such an instrument as an ax. There are several ways to mount an ax in an ax:

• welding;
• manufacture of all-metal tools;
• bonding using epoxy glue, the hardening of which occurs in special chambers;
• wedging and after it wedging.

Figure 1. Different relative positions of the center of impact and the capture point at the ax.

A high-quality welded or all-metal ax is completely reliable in terms of integrity. Breaking it is quite problematic even if desired. The only problem is that such a tool is very hard to work with. He is tough, the recoil is very strong, his hands feel it from the first blow. Professionals believe that such an ax dries hands.

The ax glued in the factory has good cushioning and holds extremely reliable. But, firstly, it doesn’t use wooden, but plastic hatchets, more precisely, hatchets made of polymer compositions. Secondly, to produce manually, without special chambers, high-quality bonding with epoxy glue is very difficult and not even always possible.

Under normal conditions, it is customary to plant an ax on an ax. The next stage is wedging, it finally determines the reliability of the connection. This approach, of course, has pronounced disadvantages. It requires good qualifications, a lot of time for work, does not always give the desired result. But, on the other hand, this is the most affordable way to connect, it does not need any special conditions or particularly sophisticated tools. And if the design is shaken, all operations can be repeated.

Despite the seeming simplicity, it’s not so easy to plant an ax on an ax; there are a lot of nuances and ways to do such work.

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Preparatory stage

Each work, even the simplest, consists of several stages. Ax assembly is no exception. In order to get a tool ready for work, you must:

• pick up an ax;
• to fit it correctly under the eye;
• make the required number of cuts;
• prepare wedges, wooden or metal;
• plant an ax;
• wedge a hatchet in one way.

So, before planting an ax on an ax, the latter must be selected and purchased. As for the material, professional carpenters and lumberjacks recommend well-dried birch. This material is quite common, and also has properties that create convenience when working with the tool. Harder woods are good for decorative options, but not for workers. The most convenient form of hatchet, which gives the least return on hand, has long been determined. Ideally, when the CD axis (Fig. 1) intersects with the capture center P or there is a slight shift back and up. In two other cases, an impact requires unnatural movements to compensate for recoil.

To fit the ax under the eye means to trim it to the required shape. To do this, some woodworking tool, for example, another ax, a sharp knife and the like, is useful. And there is one point that must be taken into account necessarily.

The axis of the ax blade and the longitudinal axis of the ax must be in the same plane. Simply put, the blade needs to be aligned with the ax.

A few words about the eye. It can be either a direct form or in a certain part of the ax conical. The conical shape of the eye is considered more suitable for good attachment. Before cutting the ax, you need to carefully adjust the shape.

It was the turn of cuts on the upper end of the ax. Their number is determined by the selected method of wedging, of which there are many. It can be just one longitudinal groove, maybe two or three lateral, one longitudinal.

Many consider professional one longitudinal and four lateral. This can be seen in photo 1, but these are far from all the options. You can choose a certain offset of cuts and a longitudinal cut divided into several parts. Many people decide this issue on the basis of their own ideas about the mechanical properties of such compounds.

Figure 2. Scheme of the ax head on the ax.

Particular attention must be paid to the depth and width of the cuts. The depth should be such that the resulting groove is completely hidden in the eye. Otherwise, the ax can be chopped when wedged or when working. The width of the cut should be correlated with the thickness of the wedges. The wedge should not go into the cut too easily, then it will not make any sense, but should not go in too tight, then it will not be possible to drive it inside.

Wooden or metal wedges (Fig. 2) can be bought or made independently. Both methods work equally well. They are inexpensive, but if there is nowhere to buy, you can simply cut them out of well-dried birch. The shape and dimensions must correspond to the parameters of the cuts. A metal wedge can be made from sufficiently hard tin, for example, from an unnecessary shovel. (fig. 2)

If the preparatory stage is completed correctly, then no further problems should arise.

• The main types of axes
• Optimal material for an ax
• The main ways of lining
• Ax Care: Best Practices

For chopping firewood, building a log house, finishing boards - the versatility of an ax is amazing. It is quite clear that every master wants to have a good ax so that it does not break and does not stupid. If you know how to plant an ax on an ax, in what conditions to store it, it is possible to extend the life of this tool.

The main types of axes

Axes can be light, carpentry, heavy, small, large.

The main types of ax:

• strong guy;
• yermak;
• a carpenter;
• woodcutter;
• lumberjack;
• a knight;
• taiga;
• bogatyr.

The first and second options are ideal for hiking or cycling, with an overnight stay in an open field or forest. They will help when cutting through a clearing or fighting shrubs in a overgrown cottage. Good carcasses of small animals. Lightweight products with a short hatchet.

The carpenter has a comfortable one and a half handle and an average ax.  It is suitable for processing logs, chopping firewood and cleaning areas from large shrubs.

The name of the fourth speaks for itself. It is good for splitting, although carpentry also performs well.

A lumberjack is a two-handed ax that rolls erect columns of trees. Firewood chopping and carpentry are also included in its functionality. But it is too heavy and therefore uncomfortable.

The Knight is a powerful tool for splitting thick sections of trees. It is also convenient for them to carve carcasses of large animals.

Taiga is so named because of its feature - a long handle, due to which it is convenient to make clearings in the thicket.

Bogatyr is a heavy ax with a long ax, designed for large trees.

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Optimal material for an ax

The ax nozzle on the ax: a - fitting, b - nozzle, c - wedging; 1 - ax, 2 - ax, 3 - wedge.

All axes, regardless of type and purpose, consist of a peephole or an eye, a butt, a blade on which there is a sock, chamfer and heel. Also, to protect the wooden ax from blows, a beard is located under the blade. On ancient battle axes, the heel was lengthened, which is very convenient when fighting.

The hatchet needs to be made of hardwood; needles are not suitable. It can be beech or oak. Very often, birch, acacia or mulberry are used. Just keep in mind that the wood you need is not old, but not freshly chopped. Slanting is practically not allowed for an ax. This can lead to delamination and damage to the tool.

The wedge is most often made of soft wood, which is not entirely true. Soft wood tends to dry out, which is practically not observed in hardwood. There are also steel wedges.

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The main ways of lining

Necessary tools and materials:

• hacksaw;
• sandpaper;
• solution of drying oil with ocher;
• colorless varnish;
• brushes for varnish;
• timber of quality oak;
• gauze;
• epoxy resin.

Most often, the lining is done by hammering an iron wedge in the ax from the butt to the blade. Sometimes a little splitting the tree with iron, they hammer a wooden wedge. The most reliable method will be: adjust the handle under the eye and remove it from the ax. To make cuts with a hacksaw: one; two - in rare cases, if the eye is large; or three. Files are made two-thirds of the width of the ax. Then you need to clean the ax with sandpaper and apply drying oil with ocher. After drying, you can continue to take the ruler and nozzle of the ax on the ax. If there is no dry and high-quality oak or beech in the house, you can look for old chairs in the pantry or in the attic. Usually they are made of oak.

Next, you need to cut wedges for cuts from a bar of high-quality oak or beech. After fitting and fitting, they can be postponed for now. Gauze is needed the most ordinary, medical. Fold four times, soak in epoxy. While the resin is still solid, wrap gauze over the end of the handle with gauze so that after the nozzle of the ax, the gauze hangs under the blade.

An ax sits tightly on top, and gauze is cut off.

She should not be visible from under the ax. This is done for high-quality tool shrinkage. Pour epoxy to the bottom of the cuts. The resin on the gauze and in the cuts will be absorbed into the wood and will not allow it to get wet and rot. It also plays the role of a filler for microcracks in wood.

This method of high-quality and almost eternal ax attachment is called the five wedges method.

Despite a lot of practical advice (used by many), I have never seen clear instructions on how to do this in the form of successive steps. Preferably with a photo.

In fact, I did not come up with anything, but only combined what I read in an understandable and consistent way. The result is a very reliable way to attach an ax.

I'll start over.

Examining the axes of eminent masters, I noticed that they are not wedged as usual on hozmagovskih axes. Not one long, vertical wedge, but several. I was particularly impressed with the axes of Artemyev, Vereskunov and, oddly enough, the Work of Vach. 5 wedges

Therefore, if the ax is large and the eye is long, it makes sense to make not one cross cut, but two. It’s as if dividing the eye into 3 equal parts and then something like the Vereskunov’s ax Krepysh will turn out (photo taken from the author’s site). Such a wedge is made with 5 wedges, two transverse and 3 vertical ones. I warn you right away that I didn’t succeed either the first or the second time just as beautifully.

We need an ax, a carpentry ax weighing 1 kg or more (it has a large eye), several wedges, epoxy, gauze and crazy hands.

The 5 wedge method is further enhanced by the use of gauze and epoxy. In this example, I combine the 2 recommended nozzle methods in one.

1. A place for landing an ax.

When cutting a landing place, you need to make the ax protrude about 1 cm from the eye, then you will have an additional piece of wood, which after splicing will be larger in diameter than the eye and therefore the ax will hold more reliably.

2. Saws.

The saw cuts in the ax must be made with a hacksaw on a tree, to a depth of at least 2/3 of the depth of the eye + the height of the protrusion above the eye, see point 1

3. Wedges.

We cut wedges from solid wood, preferably beech or oak (they go to furniture in particular chairs, do not throw out old chairs).

I had to read recommendations that for wedges it is necessary to use the same tree from which the handle is made. I want to say right away that this is a mistake. The tree on the wedges must be strong no matter what tree you use on the handle. The wedges will have to be hammered with a mallet or a hammer. Moreover, the effort will be very significant and if the wedge is made of birch, then it will break. The direction of the fibers should be parallel to the narrowing of the wedge, otherwise, upon impact, the wedge will break without reaching the desired depth. Respectively, not wedging the ax as it should, and getting it out of there will no longer be possible.

Trying on wedges.

Cross wedges must be made to the full width of the eye, and not to the width of the shaft that protrudes outward, because the ax will crush to the sides after splitting. Vertical wedges must be done in such a way that their total length plus the thickness of the transverse is equal to the height of the eye.

Whether we like it or not, we will never succeed in making an ideal eye and an ideal hatchet for this eye. Therefore, there will always be small gaps, even after a perfect splint. To avoid them, I use gauze or bandage soaked in epoxy resin. Epoxy resin, in addition to being a good glue, has an invaluable property. It does not shrink, and the presence of gauze acts as a very elastic reinforcing material that does not allow the epoxy to crack. Also, the epoxy is resistant to water and impregnating the wood does not allow it to get wet.

After solidification, a very strong monolith is obtained, which fills all the smallest irregularities and cracks, which at the same time has high strength.

4-5 layers of gauze are made depending on the size of the gaps on the ax and put on top of the ax face.

The number of layers is selected so that the ax sits tight, but without too much effort.

After that, the ax is mounted. After planting, gauze is cut from above and excess cut off.

Pour into cuts, resin. The amount should be such that 1/4 of the depth is filled. But this must be done only after the nozzle of the ax so that the resin does not flow out. Filling the cuts with resin makes a lot of sense. Quite often, especially if a cut has been made of insufficient depth, when driving a wedge, an ax gives an inconspicuous crack (and sometimes very noticeable) inside the eye. A crack can make itself felt later, at the most inopportune moment. So the resin will fill the crack and prevent it from developing. Well, in general, it will also allow you not to leave voids in the gap after driving a wedge. We rub the wedges with epoxy resin and carefully hammer, first transverse. And then vertical.

If everything is selected correctly, then the process ends. The remnants of gauze can putty the hole, if any remain.

We wipe everything that has leaked out and set it to dry. The next day. Feel free to cut off the protruding parts of the wedges, sand the remnants of gauze and resin and use. Your ax will never dry out and will not loose. Do not believe? Try it yourself.

How to plant an ax on an ax?

How to plant an ax so that it does not fly off the ax during intensive felling and reliably serves the owner? On sites on the Internet there are many ways to attach an ax to an ax, but all of them are not practical. With intensive chopping, the ax quickly flies from the ax. To prevent the ax from flying, the following conditions must be met:

1. First of all, you need to choose the material for the ax. The best hatchet from well-dried whole bere s. It is durable, does not beat off (does not dry) hands and is always at hand. The ax of mahogany, beech and other similar material, especially iron, as some experts on the Internet suggest, I do not recommend. This hatchet beats (dries) hands and is uncomfortable in work.

2. We plant the ax on the ax in the usual way.

3. Cooking thin berezovykl and n  from a dry birch, with a second ax we outline a place for a wedge in the middle of the end of the ax and hammer it. Cut off the excess remnants of the wedge with a hacksaw along with an ax so that the distance to the ax's eye is 3-5 mm.

4. Cooking ironic  from tinplate and cut with a chiselas shown in the figure. A shovel is best suited for this purpose. Reversing teeth  in different directions, as shown in the figure.

5. We outline the second ax for a place for an iron wedge. It should retreat from the birch wedge by 3-5 mm. We hammer an iron wedge so much that it can be bend on a birch wedgeas shown in the figure.

The ax is ready to go. Keep it always dry. This design is reliable. The jagged teeth become strut, crashing into the ax, and the bent part of the iron wedge reliably holds the birch wedge, preventing its exit.

Each gardener should know how to plant an ax on an ax and make it yourself. The selection of an ax is a rather serious problem, because the specifics of working with this device is associated with high risks. Not always those axes that are presented in construction stores correspond to the needs of a carpenter, so more often a specialist has to make an ax with his own hands.

An ax is an indispensable tool in the private sector, so you need to be able to properly prepare it for work and maintain it in “combat readiness”.

The choice of wood blanks

According to the growth and strength of the master, the length of the ax itself is determined. The quality of wood is very important. Lighter versions of axes have a weight of 800-1000 g with a handle length of 40-60 cm. Heavy tools weigh 1000-1400 g, while the ax length is 55-65 cm.

Most axes today have a fiberglass handle, which you can’t do with your own hands in everyday life. But an excellent wooden hatchet can be made with one's own hands with the mind quite no worse than the factory one. Moreover, the tool will also be comfortable to use and, importantly, economical in terms of money.

The most commonly used material from which the ax is made for an ax is birch. Its wood is quite strong and has excellent impact strength, that is, it increases the impact force. Among the minuses can be called: susceptibility to decay, increased absorbency and moisture return. This material is mainly used for carpentry axes.

For tourist axes, it is advisable to use maple wood. It does not decompose and almost does not dry out. However, its toughness is lower, but for hiking in the forest it is quite acceptable. Since it is very difficult to manually process birch wood (it is very hard), the choice of the most optimal material for any hatchet falls on ash wood - very strong and almost not subject to compression and expansion.

Acquisition of an ax or how to pick up a pricking part

Of course, when acquiring an ax, or rather pricking its part, you need to focus on the quality of the metal of which the tool is made. It must have a GOST mark confirming state requirements and standards for metal quality. Be vigilant, other signs (TU, OST or MRTU) mean that the manufacturer has made changes to the production technology.

Checking the quality of the metal is carried out as follows: 2 axes are taken and hit with a blade of one of them on the blade of the other. If there is no chipping on the product after impact, then it is of high quality. Another sign of good quality is the specific sound that comes when tapping on an ax, which is at that moment in limbo.

In addition to these checks, you must pay attention to the following factors:

• lack of bends and dents on a well drawn blade;
• the eyes should be cone-shaped;
• alignment of the eye and ax blade;
• moderate thickness of the butt and perpendicularity of its ends to the blade.

However, do not despair if you cannot find an ax that matches absolutely all the requirements. All differences found can be eliminated by sharpening the burrs, boring the eye and giving the butt a symmetrical shape.

Necessary tools and materials

In order to properly plant an ax on an ax you will need the following:

• hacksaw;
• sandpaper;
• solution of drying oil with ocher;
• colorless varnish;
• brushes for varnish;
• quality oak bar;
• simple medical gauze;
• epoxy resin.

Ax making

In order to make a hatchet with one's own hand, a log with a diameter of 140 mm is taken, preferably from the root part of the tree. When choosing the length of the log, one should take into account its decrease due to the cut of the ends that have cracked after drying, presumably it should be somewhere 200 mm longer than the length of the upcoming ax. The log splits along (in half) and is cleared from the bark. In total, two blanks for hatchets come out, which are stored at room temperature with a humidity of about 12% for a year to ensure better drying and the greatest safety of the hatchet.

When creating the upcoming handle for an ax, you must have before you an example of the desired hatchet, or use ready-made drawings. Using a small ax, a chisel and a knife, a blank is trimmed until you reach the desired shape or size of the reference sample.

Further, it should be noted that the model of the blank must be oval, as the round handle promotes increased muscle tension in a person when working with such an ax, and also reduces the accuracy of the blow. The back of the handle should be curved and thickened (in case of slipping, it will help hold the ax in your hand). In order for the upper end to freely enter and exit the hole of the blade, it must be trimmed accordingly, while its top should protrude from the hole by about 10 mm. The trimmed ax at the very end is sanded to perfect smoothness with coarse, and then fine-grained sandpaper. Then the finished workpiece must be proliferated.

How to put an ax on an ax

How to plant an ax on an ax? Everyone who has ever planted an ax on an ax knows what an important stage it is, because the safety of an employee’s life depends on the correct installation of an ax.

So, initially on the upper end of the wooden handle it is necessary to make one longitudinal and two transverse cuts. The recesses are made with a hacksaw approximately 2/3 of the height of the blade eye plus 1 cm provided for the protrusion.

Then 5 wedges made of solid wood (oak or beech) are made: two of them should be equal in width to the blade eyes, two side ones should abut against the eye, and the average longitudinal wedge should correspond in width to the distance between the two transverse ones. Reducing wedges must go parallel to the fibers of the tree.

Then the simplest medical gauze is taken, folded in 4 layers, impregnated with epoxy. Until it hardens, the impregnated gauze is wrapped around the end of the ax so that its ends hang under the blade, while the end of the handle must fit very tightly into the eye, then the excess gauze is then cut off.

Resin - performs the function of repelling moisture and clogs microcracks in the wood.

The final stage is that the cuts are also poured with epoxy somewhere at 1/4 depth, and wedges are also impregnated with it, which are then tightly inserted into the ax. First, cross wedges are driven in, and then longitudinal ones.

At this, the ax nozzle on the ax ends. After about 2 days, you should cut the protruding parts of the wedges and sand the resulting bumps. An ax planted in this way will serve its owner for a very long time.