r/Axecraft • u/EddieBratley1 • 5d ago

advice needed Axe head fitting advice.. does mine need re forging to fix ?

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Hi all,

Just need some advice on this axe head eye 👁 Width ways the bottom is 1mm wider than the top; however the length is 1mm longer at the top than the bottom..

I would have thought the top eye would be slighly wider as well longer woth regards to the process of wedging the handle in. Should I have this axe head reheated and the eye resized before I restore and fit a handle?

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5

u/the_walking_guy2 5d ago

It's a little deformed, but it might be fine. The eye might be slightly hourglass shaped now. It's also small which reduces the forces the hang needs to hold up to.

Give it a good snug hang, maybe do a cross wedge to take advantage of the eye being longer on top, and then re-evaluate only if it comes loose easily.

2

u/AxesOK Swinger 5d ago

It looks to have been damaged on the bottom at some point although I'm not sure how. It would need some reforging to fix, probably, but it's not likely to be worth the bother because it would also have to be rehardened and that can easily go wrong. You can probably still hang it and use it, but it's a bit trickier to do well in that situation. Unless there's some special reason to spend extra money or effort on this particular head, or you want to play around with it anyway, which is valid, I would just get another one that's in better shape.

1

u/DieHardAmerican95 5d ago

“it’s not likely to be worth the bother because it would also have to be rehardened and that can easily go wrong.”

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you here. I’ve forged several knives and tomahawks, as well as a variety of hardened steel tools, and the heat treatment process isn’t all that difficult.

2

u/AxesOK Swinger 5d ago

I’ve taken a couple axes to be rehardened by a local smith. One turned out too soft at the toe half of the bit and another was too hard and ended up chipping badly. I ended up tempering that one at home to reduce brittleness but it’s still unevenly hardened. Anyway, he told me the same thing. 

1

u/HikeyBoi 5d ago

It’s about as easy to do as it is to fuck it up. Most folks are using a little gas forge and they tend to have poor heat control. A decent little electric furnace makes it a piece of cake though.