hawk handels

[RBrown]

We all see the pics and theres lots of information on making a hawk but what about the forgotten part the handle. Round handles would be easy enough if you have a lath but what about the tear drop shaped ones. How do you go about making them? Iv ran a number of ideas around in my head but not sure how feasible they would be.

[highlander]

vise and a drawknife

[element]

I make my handles with draw knives. I have a strait blade draw knife and
a curved one for round or oval stock. Usually i start with strait stock because
its much more predictable the way the grain is going to shear. I use only White ash for my axe handles because it has incredible resistance to breakage
and abuse.

[A.S.T.]

I also use vise and a draw knife along whith a wood rasp for final shapeing. I start whith a square section and the round it up just like you would square stock when forgeing. nok the corners off makeing it 8 sided then 16 etc.

A.S.T.

[jimbob]

I use a shaving horse a draw knife and a spokeshave. I use fire wood that i split a billet out of

[HackKnives]

I am an interloper. I have a woodshop mixed right into my metalshop so I always use my beltsander to form out tendons and such.

Doing it by hand- I always ink the head and use it like a stamp onto the top of my stock (wood)then just remove anything with ink showing.

Takes 3 minutes with a belt sander but you always have more pride doing it by hand if you have the time. This a showpiece or a working hammer?

[dablacksmith]

and ime lazy and buy my handles whsl.. if you only need a few you can get um from crazy crow... there are other places but thats what i would do...me and wood dont work well together ... i hammer it and it just falls apart!

[element]

You need to forge those metal wedges and drive them in the handle to
-wedge- the axe in place.

[Don A]

That's the good thing about the tear-drop single taper eyes... you don't need a wedge.

I buy mine from Dunlap Woodcrafts:

www.dunlapwoodcrafts.com/

Call or email for hawk handle info.

[rsilver4]

When I made mine and I made quite a few,I would cut to size using a table saw,then use a 4 1/2" angle grinder to get the basic teardrop shape then finish onthe belt grinder.you need a taper to match the hawk drift-Regards Butch

[S.Willis]

I cut to size then use spokeshave and farriers rasp.

[Duckpond]

i make my own axe, hammer and other handles. I rough out the shape with a table saw, then mark the piece with the shape i want. I use a draw knife to get moe of the shape, and then a spoke shave and rasp to clean up. I finish with sandpaper and linseed oil.

[new guy]

i made a couple of axe/hatchet hadles from a split fire wood billet. them used a small hatchet to shape it roughly and hand planed it to final shape. i shaped the end with a knife and then hammered it in and gave it a good pass with a blow torch to sear out the grain and give it a golden brown color. i always finish with mineral oil and let it dry and give it 2 or 3 more coats.

[element]

New guy, Seems you like to make handles;) I suggest you forge yourself a draw knife or buy one. Split your rough blanks oversize pieces with a froe, Clamp your blank in a vice or make yourself a shaving horse if your really serious about this. I like fitting the axe head before final shaping of the handle. Finish with rasps, belt sander, hand plane ect ect. Get some white ash if possible.

[new guy]

Element: i really do. i was in the process of making draw knife today. but i trashed my angle grinder and could not finish the blank. and i don't have a froe. i have a wedge and a hammer and i don't have a vise big enough. i do have a bench hook though. i do usually put the handle on before final shaping. get it about 75% there and put it on. its too bad i have not made my own tools to put a handle on. but does restoring an old felling axe count? i'm in the middle of putting a new edge on and re heat teating it. the old axes from the 1930's and 40's were made way better than the new axes. almost as good as a homemade one. that handle i made saurday along with the edge guard i made sunday. my scout troop loves how well that hatchet chops now. might have to set another up like it so i can actually use it once in a while.

Edited April 15, 2009 by new guy
forgot a photo

[blazerbud]

I'm curious how the handles are commercially made. I think that it would be possible to use a router duplicator set up on a wood lathe. A device like this holds the router perpendicular to the shaft of wood. A master handle is chucked up and it is traced over its entire length, and in 360 degrees rotated by hand, while at the same time the shaft being cut is rotated under the router bit. The lathe is of course not used under power, it is simply rotated by hand.

[Charlotte]

Commercially the handles are turned on a lathe having two different centers. The same way axe handles, are made.

Splitting out, draw knife , spokeshave, and rasp are the favored methods for doing it by hand.

Btw, get next to a working farrier and get one of his used rasps to do the rasping with.

I use the oldest rasp I have to hot dress cut stock. New rasps are used on wood.

Edited May 8, 2009 by Charlotte
Edit spelling

[Steve Sells]

I broke off the Ice flow portion of this thread and moved it to the Everything Else dept.

Glad you were able to rescue the hammer !

[Stumptown Forge]

Is there any information out there on the correct length of handle for those throwing?

[bigfootnampa]

All these ways will work but the shaving horse and drawknife combination is far the best way if you are making many. It is pretty amazing how quickly you can work with these two tools and a little practice. You can literally make a pickup truckload of shavings in a day. Split out double lengths and shave away! Having a double length lets you clamp on one side while you work the whole length of the other handle. Use the ends for the handhold part and shape the heads at the centers of your blanks... that way you are always shaving downhill with the grain.