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Welcome, and thank you! They'll all work, but, can't have too many axes! Gets so interesting to see which one works best. It's all for fun. More axes, more fun!

Thank you! You're welcome here. I don't put up much often, though I have a lot of "idears." Just have to find time.

Yowtch!... Only nicks while sharpening so far in my life. But that alone is a lesson. Grandson and I, lessons in the woodyard. I accidently brushed my free hand against an exposed blade in my left. Blood rising, he started to turn for the cabin: "I'll get a bandaid, grampa." No need, I told him, reaching for my wallet. Opened it up, took out a bandaid, and he snorted in sudden laugh as I put it on. "You carry bandaids in your BILLFOLD, Grampa???" Yessir. If you're going to play with axes, carry bandaids on you. (Have since I was first told that, just having joined Boy Scouts, age 12). Be prepared!

@@OnceUponAnotherTime When it comes to being prepared, I'm never far from a roll of insulating tape or duct tape ;>) All three of mine were scouts and all grew up to be practically minded, self confident and independent adults. Best thing ever for kids ! My eldest boy, then 4, was watching when I stuck my foot. He went to get Mum, who was cooking dinner and matter of factly announced 'Dads got an axe in his foot ....Go away, I'm busy ..... But Mum, Dad's got an axe in his foot .... Can't you see I'm busy clear off .... But, but he really has got an axe in his foot .... What, really?.... Yes Mum..... Oh ****** ----- Let's just say dinner was rather late that day ;<)

All points well taken. I'll try yours if you try mine? Personally, I held some of your positions on these things. I didn't glue wedges for the first 50 years. Started a couple years ago. Convert. And rehafting, reusing handle? Hasn't been a problem. As for burning, yeah, I was dead set against that, too -- until I learned it was done historically, world 'round, to make wood tools, shingles, even whole buildings bug, disease , rot, warp and weather resistant. It's good for 'em. Makes wood surfaces tougher, harder, too. Not a lot of need for that in an ax handle, I don't think. But doesn't hurt. Did you know Native Americans did it to hold the set they put in an arrow with their teeth? Sets and hardens the shafts to keep them straight, just by passing them through flame in their campfires and they bite them into straightness. But of course, I don't do it for any of that. After learning it was "valid," I started doing it because it looks cool. And it's easier and more dramatic than other coloring methods. And stains don't come with any of the "justifications" (excuses) I listed above. Yet, I've stained them, but I didn't like how stain works on hickory. Oak it would be fine, I think. And oh yeah, baby, not just whiskering, but yep, I'm an old school dent lifter. Worked in a custom wood shop with other clumbsy folks, dinging up your fine woodwork. If material isn't missing, just crushed, even if it's scratched or cut, long as the material hasn't been removed, you can swell it back into place. Also the secret behind some wooden mystery projects, like a wooden arrow through a wooden valentine -- crush the head with a pliers, work it through the hole, then soak it. Comes right back (no structural integrity of course, but volume/shape come back), I've warmed a wet cloth over it with an iron, but too much hassle. A big blop of spit will raise a dent in a antique dining room table without having to stop what you're doing. Come back to that place after 5 minutes or so, hit it with sandpaper. Just... don't tell my customers I mentioned that. -- Second thought, hold on: that's bad advice for anyone who chews or drinks a lot of coffee, ... don't spit on unfinished fine furniture please. I suck at matching stain. :) Fitting barrels into custom gunstocks? Like, restoring an old muzzleloader? Used lipstick on the barrel. But I'd have used something else if I had thought of something else to use. And no, it didn't leave a mark after I was done. Lucky, I guess.

Def agree with the NO GLUE CAMP for sure! A nice medium to soft wood like popular, Purple Heart cedar or even the black walnut I have (it’s soft as hell) works get for wedges - they form into the eye, and basically smoosh to fill in any space in the cut kerf. One thing I have learned and seen others do is shaping the wedge - any square edges, sand them round, even more than a Chamfer. And I like to almost make the wedge the same teardrop shape as the eye (thinner, more convex point in the front towards the bit and a more squared off (still rounded) back of the wedge toward the pole). Basically match the shape of the eye (wider in back near the pole and thinner up front near the bit) A great sealant I have learned for handles before oiling but after final sanding, making a mix of ‘iron oxide. basically taking a piece of steel wool and letting it dissolve in vinegar for a few days. A few coats of this. Once the desired color is reached. Then oil as you would. This really gives it a “40-60 year old vintage handle” look! Good luck boys! Love sharing the axe community!

@@mikenormandy9250 LOL I was in that camp for 50 years. Changed teams. :) Thank you for watching and contributing! Room for all opinions here.

@@OnceUponAnotherTime One thing worth bearing in mind in reading all my comments is that in the UK, certainly in my area, we have relatively little fluctuation in humidity levels across the seasons. I know that some areas of the US and Canada can experience very wide variations that can affect things adversely. Might be it has led me to be a bit glib about the fact my handles tend to stay put for a long time, though they might not fare so well in other climates. I know I'm a reactionary old fart, and that gets worse with every passing year ;<) , but I've got no problems at all with folks gluing wedges if that is what they find works best for them, indeed I've used it in the past when rehanging old hatchets, mainly, that had 'less than optimal' timber for the wedge to go into, but where the handle is just too nice to scrap. I'll even own up to having used epoxy resin ....again, that was a beautiful, early to mid 19th century hatchet on a gorgeous fruitwood handle. The wood was riddled with quite a variety of 'foreign bodies and wedge was toast. I managed to jump the head up about 1/2", get the rubbish out and the handle off. I cut away the wedge area and epoxied a wood slip in place I drilled out the worst of the remaining holes and pressed in custom wood dowels forcing glue into the myriad cracks and then coated the whole lot with epoxy. From there It was much like any other hang, work it down to a good fit, cut a new kerf and rehung it. It took a while to get the wedge right as the wood had become well compressed over the years and the epoxy just did not compress, But I got there in the end and was well satisfied. Safe enough for light use, but gave it to a friend who I know will treat it with respect. Some folks say It should have been kept as found and that I've taken away all the history from it - to them Grumpy Old Grizzly says - go find your own and do with it what you like. For run of the mill hanging, I guess I'll stick with what I learned all those years ago from my Grandfather and what still works for me, purely on the grounds that if it ain't broke, don't fix it, but I'd love to hear what changed your mind about gluing wedges after so long. I restored antique furniture as a paying hobby for many years, but nobody seems to want it these days. I worked full time as a piano polisher for a couple of years, and, like you, have seen more than my fair share of dents. The burning effect on structural timbers dates back to time immoral and certainly works. No doubting that in my mind. There is an even longer history of fire hardening spears, arrows and the like, and of steam/heat bending wood. I've yet to be convinced that it is anything other than cosmetic when applied to handles. To be honest, the only tool handles I have seen burnt have come from a blacksmiths shop and those were accidental. I can see the logic in a sharp pointy thing, where hardness is a desirable outcome, but feel that, though harder, it will be quite a bit more brittle. As you say, any change is not likely to be of any significance for an axe handle, especially when it is subsequently oiled. As far as the cosmetic effect, it's not really to my taste, but then, I am a self confessed old fart ;<) To enter into the spirit of things, I will have a go at burning my next handle and report back in when done. It might be a while as I'm waiting for operations on both hands and am pretty limited on what I can do at the moment. I have sort of done this before, way back, to make new 'old' oak beams for a pub alteration, using heat and a wire brushes steel torture implements and the like to to rake out and accentuate the hard grain pattern followed by beating lumps off it, creating 'old' iron stains and the general application of a myriad of dyes, stains and potions with just a dash of wizardry ;<) I was well paid for it, but doubt if anybody really noticed my work, probably too busy drinking beer and pulling birds. They certainly can't now, it was demolished and is now a new build private house I do agree, staining hickory is not easy. It is dense and seems to not take up the stains well. For staining to look right, it really has to be able to get right down in the wood. Nothing worse that seeing white streaks every time the handle is scratched. hmm just for the fun of it, I'm minded to try fuming hickory with ammonia. I used to do it on oak, but it is another of those processes that depend on the level of tannins in the wood ps your mention of chewing baccy got my mouth all juiced up - I used to go through an ounce of black pigtail a shift down the pit.

I surfed Amazon. Took like, I think 2 months to arrive? Maybe only 6 weeks. But works just fine. If I remember right, was $27 I think.

Glad it was helpful!

Thank you, Micah! I see the price of these Brufers on Amazon is going up. And on eBay? Someone is asking $53. Better grab one quick if you see it under $20. (Prices are all over the place yet).

I totally agree with you, about what is required in a hand ax. The grain orientation in their handle, the metal that used, the profile... too much fuss made of all that. Though, that said, I do have a couple no-name vintage hand axes that won't hold an edge at *all*. Rockwell so low that all my test files cut them, easily. Hardly worth putting an edge on them, so I set them aside for show only. Their steel so mild it's less than 40? 40 at best? On the other hand, I have seven Council Tool axes in all (one Montreal hand ax, three boys axes, two full size Jerseys and a Dayton felling ax) that I bought brand new and had shipped to me. I mean, I know they're from their budget line ("Sports Utility"). But really? -- six of them needed to be rehung??? LOL No complaints. I got more than what I paid for. Just needed the usual TLC. One boys ax even came with dark blue burn marks on its bit. Whoever put the initial grind on it (minimal) had overheated it. Its edge rolled over out of the box, first strike. I took the edge back about 3/16s, maybe a 1/4 inch. Redid the bevel to 20 deg. (It had arrived with around 25 deg). No problems since. Another one, a 32" Jersey with phantom bevels, I was sharpening it when I noticed I could push the wooden wedge in about another 3/8" deeper with my thumb. Wedge was loose, too thin.That and, all but one of the seven were not true to the handle. They were a little tilted, a little out of line. It's the hydraulic press process, I think, that they use on their budget line axes. Anytime you force a head onto a haft with a press, the *possibility* it might go on perfectly aligned is kinda low. (But still, they got 1:7 right! Ain't too bad for chance. Hats off to Council Tool!) 😜 The red-headed, 36" Dayton felling ax was so dang perfect, it's still the way it came -- aluminum wedge and all! All I did was put an edge on that one and it's my go-to felling ax now. LOVE that thing!!!! Lesson: Don't dismiss cheap imports too quickly, and don't automatically assume all big brand name axes will come perfect. Name alone is not a guarantee. That jibe with your experience, too, Grizzly?

​@@OnceUponAnotherTime I'm a bit of a sucker - still buy wrecks and carry out totally un-economic repairs and modifications to get them right - it is great practice and I love doing the work - old age has finally all but stopped me swinging an axe other than splitting firewood for the winter, though I even have do the bulk of that with a log splitter these days. Soft steel - Steel is not the precious commodity it once was and I'd say all manufacturers use a hardenable steel that is at least potentially up to the task, though all too often, hardening and tempering leaves a lot to be desired. Once the axe has been in circulation for a few years, careless re-sharpening with a dry bench grinder or an angle grinder will often ruin temper, and the old practice of burning out a broken handle, will destroy it entirely. For most folks, once the temper is gone it is the end of the road and they will have neither the means, or the knowledge, to correct it. I am fortunate to have my own forge so hardening & tempering or correcting twists and the like are simple tasks. As far as grain orientation goes, I'm not too picky, especially on hatchets, though given the choice, I would shoot for 'perfect long grain', especially on longer handles. Where I am very picky is where there is 'short grain' diagonally running across, rather than parallel to the handle axis. This is what used to be called 'grain runout'. These days the term 'grain runout' seems to have been hijacked and is widely mis-used to describe the contour map grain pattern that, even in a perfect handle, must exist unless the handle has parallel sides all round from end to end. It really annoys me when I see short grain in a handle and I still carry a 4" scar on my leg from a midshaft short grain handle break There is a lot of snobbery and 'beggar thy neighbour' going on in the woodsman or axe 'communities', much stemming from the influence of youtube, facebook Instagram and the like, half the time done by folks that hardly know which end to hold an axe .... I refuse to get involved in all that weekend warrior 'boutique axe' crap. Where such a clear market opportunity exists, there will be plenty of Companies only too happy to fill it, and to pocket your money. I get it that many folks will have neither the knowledge or tools to restore an old axe, but that does rather make them unsuspecting prey, as many will have no idea whether they have a good or bad axe for their intended purpose. To make the best returns, some companies will take short cuts they think they can get away with to lower production costs, without getting too many axes returned as defective by the buyers or too many poor reviews on the internet ... it is all a bit of a balancing act. There just does not seem to be the same pride or workmanship as was present years ago, and this does seem evident from, as you say,in twisted heads, poor eye punching, handle fitting and overall quality control ...... that is really bad when you see the prices they are charging. There is no reliable shortcut to hanging an axe well, best results will always come from careful hand work. Give me the secondhand, time proven designs of the vintage heads every day, even if they will often need plenty of work to get them back in shape. There are great deals to be had buying generic branded cheap axes on wood handles, but only if you can see before you buy, and know what to look for. For every 'princess' there are at least half a dozen 'frogs', and it depends on your skill level what can be put right and what to leave on the shelf. I recently bought three 3lb axes on perfect 30" hickory handles, nicely designed and made. The heads were all badly warped and now live in my 'mend one day..... maybe' box. However, I got 3 excellent handles for the total cost of £25 [about $30], which are already earmarked for other axes. A significant saving... hickory handles are expensive, and hickory wood blanks non-existent, this side of the pond.

Aaaaa-MEN! Same page I'm on, all the way down the line. Glad to meet you.

I had never thought, you know, that House Handle Co. doesn't make its living off individual, one-piece sales. It sells to bigger contracts. But I was in a hardware store (forgot the name, was while I was traveling), and saw a nicely grained boys ax handle. Ton of lacquer on it. But nice shape, big palm swell, snapped it up. Got home and thought, "Wait a minute, it looks just like the unfinished House Handles I get." Had the same lopsided shoulders as a House. One side looking like the lathe didn't cut it all the way; other side just fine. Who cares? You're going to be working on that tenon to hang it anyway. So one side needs more attention that the other. No big deal. It comes out in the end. So I put it up against one of the House boys ax handles and, yep, it was a perfect match. So I adjusted my eyeglasses a bit, held it up close and studied the label. In tiny blue letters, bottom line, you guessed it: House Handle Co. LOL ... Well, duh. Of COURSE it was! They supply larger volume orders to the replacement handle market. BTW, that's why, I think, it costs more when you select an unfinished House Handle. I've seen lots of people scratch their head about that. Why does it cost more to get an ax with less done to it. Because it's a "special selection." You're asking them to pull one from the line, in which their axes are getting lacquered. Why lacquer? Common sense, in light of the modern general home-use market. How long will those hang as floor stock in the lawn-and-garden dept. of a store before someone buys it? Years, maybe? How many hands will be on it before it's purchased? To protect the wood from climate and dirty hands, they have to cover them up. And chances are, it will be purchased by someone who is only going to hang an ax once in their life. You're saving that homeowner a step they don't want to take. Can't count on them knowing how to, or wanting to, finish it up on their own. They'll buy it and pound it on. House knows what it's doing! While the rest of us say, "Yeah, I'll give you 15 bucks for that, even though, first thing, I'll be scraping that thick ugly finish off it.

@OnceUponAnotherTime absolutely right! Spot on assessment. I must have bought 30+ handles from them by now. I have also noticed that on many of the no lacquer options the end wjere it was chucked up into the lathe has remnants of lacquer. Also the lacquer free option seem to be a bit thinner. I suspect when I customer chooses that they pull a finished handle from the stock and sand it free of lacquer. Also an indication as to the small up charge. I am actually fortunate for one of my local hardware stores (runnings) to carry house handles. They don't have the full line but stock the usuals as well as boys axe handles and cruisers as well. Whenever I'm in there I usually stroll back to the handle rack and grab any with good grain/runout. They really are a great starting point when you get a good one. And for the average Joe who just needs to slap a handle in something and get back to work, they are hard to beat.

Big fan of house handles so far. I can’t afford to buy WRT or west coast saw handles right now - and need to find a good lumber yard (don’t have many in downstate NY) to get some 8/4 slabs of Hickory cut. House handles have been great so far for $10-$15 total, a handle and the amount I modify it, I’m a fan! Just take a week or more to get to me LOL

We're on the same page. So, focusing on the Jersey, have you noticed that while modern Jersey tributes are flat-faced thin bits, a lot of the vintage ones have at least a little cheek rise? I have bids on several right now, just for the purpose of comparing them. I am hoping to snag one of each: beveled and non-beveled. My suspicion is, the bevels don't get to play much factor if the head already has that pan-fish-body-like bulge in it. Even my historic Connecticuts (no phantom bevel), notoriously sticky in green wood, are not as sticky as the modern Jerseys from Council. My Collins Connecticuts, a Legitimus and a Homestead, do have a slight swell in the face. And they have the fallout at top and bottom of the head. Just a tiny bit. I notice it when I use them side by side. Anxious, as I say, to get a vintage Jersey with phantom bevels. But the prices go up so quickly and so high. Stay tuned! -- Might win one. Or two or three. :)

Won a couple bids, $13 for one, $20 for the other. Waiting for them to arrive. I think Kelly offered Perfects only for the Dayton, Michigan, Jerseys and Kentuckys. Those first two patterns are for soft conifers and green wood. The Jerseys? Why offer a Perfect Jersey? Thin cheeks are pretty much an essential part of the Jersey's distinctive design. Can't find anything on that. Guessing because it was a favorite pattern? Kelly's either giving a favorite, top-selling pattern more utility as a general purpose ax, offering that as a choice to Jersey devotees, or since it's an extra step in manufacturing, they limited Perfect beveling solely to its top-selling patterns. Just wasting money to do it to other patterns?

That's awesome! I love hearing from other Scouts. It's where I first learned axmanship and "Scoutcraft" (aka "woodcraft." Never heard of it called "bushcraft" until recently, of course, being a "boomer" and all) :) .... and by "recently" I mean, since 50 years ago. LOL

It's great to hear that the Connecticut pattern works well on live oak! I've also had good luck with it on similar hardwoods. And my TT Kelly Perfect? -- Unbeatable, any wood. Apologies for the grand number of errors and blunders in this video. I left it up specifically to keep me humble. And real. :)

Thanks! I'm just starting to learn. Initially, just wanted to cover bits. Now... Well, hey! This is a whole 'nother level of fun.

@OnceUponAnotherTime i need to start learning how to tool

@@_BigLife_ Short learning curve. Very satisfying. Here is my first carving attempt: ruclips.net/user/shortsUdpxOwc-JXA Test piece. Back and front are different. Do it!!! It's a hoot!!!

@@OnceUponAnotherTime just checked it out. I will definitely be giving it away go in the future

Trivial little thing, picked up for $22 here: www.amazon.com/stores/Zoecraftsupply/page/5A3E8B03-67E1-4C77-8813-0384ECCE14F9?ref_=ast_bln

Thank you so much for the kind words! I really don't have anything to say in my channel that many, many people more expert than I have said in theirs. But I made a decision at one point: "Put them up just for my close friends, family and customers -- or allow the public to view them as they like." Chose the latter. I love watching videos others put up, so it's only right that I share mine as well. Thanks again!

Glad it was helpful!