Hatchet decoration. Making a wooden axe. Which side to put the ax on the handle

Among carpentry and garden tool the ax is always one of the most sought after. More universal tool most likely not to be found. For several hundred years, since the transformation of the ax into a modern ax, a whole tradition has developed on how to make an ax with a special sharpening, how to prepare and correct an ax for a certain type of work.

How to make an ax an effective and versatile tool

There are several options for modern execution:

Note! On a special account is a cleaver with a very strong massive butt and a short blade. It is difficult to perform a full-fledged blow with such a cutter, so it can be attributed to auxiliary types of tools.

How to make a universal ax for yourself

The main problem that needs to be solved when designing a tool for your tasks and needs is to make right choice blades upon purchase.

How to choose the right metal

It is believed that only good springy steel with deep hardening of the blade can make such a sound. Actually for cutting edge what is important is the toughness and elasticity of the steel, and not the ability to sharpen the blade to the state of a razor. Just the latter speaks of overheating and supersaturation of the metal with carbon. With such an instance, two or three demonstrative blows can be made to demonstrate sharpness; on the fourth blow, the sharpened cutting edge will split.

Much more successful will be an ax made of viscous manganese steel 50XGA. Such a tool is more difficult to manufacture, but it will serve much longer, and it is much more convenient to work with it.

Universal version of the ax

If you are not professionally building log cabins, where most of the wood needs to be made with a carpenter's ax, buy yourself a good quality product made in the Republic of Belarus. Some of the enterprises still produce conversion samples of axes with excellent performance. It remains only to decide how to make an ax handle. The best option there will be a wooden handle, choose an elm or an old acacia. From scraps you can make a wooden case for an ax.

A forged blade is considered the best, but finding a decent Soviet copy is not so easy. Most old blades have many hidden cracks, so if you come across a suitable specimen, do not hesitate to make a few strong blows to the nearest stump. Traces of cracks will definitely come out on the cutting edge.

The easiest way to make a choice, focusing on the presence of a brand on the cheek. The label must be legible. good tools were made on the forging equipment of old post-war factories.

How to make an ax handle comfortable

The position of the handle depends entirely on the individual structure of the hands, and above all the palms. There are three ways to perform the correct grip on the handle:

1. To work with one hand in a carpentry manner, the grip must be done 2/3 from the end of the ax handle. With this grip, the instrument in the hand must be completely balanced and balanced. To work with a carpenter's block, the length of the ax must be chosen based on the length of the arms;
2. The width of the handle at the point of grip with the palm should be such that thumb and the other four fingers almost touched in the grip;
3. The angle of inclination of the blade to the ax handle must be made at 70-75 °, if you have to work in a vertical cabin, and 90 °, if you need to hew or chop horizontal surfaces.

How to make an ax case correctly

Most simple option is a cover made of leather or wooden lining with a fastener on the butt. Thus, the cutting edge is closed, which allows you to safely carry the tool.

More stylish, you can make an ax case in the style of a holster to simulate military weapons. Most often, such options are made of leather or its imitation with rivet and ornament trim. This option even involves wearing a tool on a belt. The more complex the blade configuration, the more effort must be put in to design the ax case.

The landing of the ax on the handle must be correct. This will provide the worker with continuous chopping of firewood, without being distracted by the ax handle flying from time to time. Most often, beginners do not know many tricks that could effectively help with repairing an ax. Namely, the selection optimal species wood for the ax handle, additional reinforcing materials.

How to plant an ax on an ax handle - preparing a tree

• A wooden unhewn bar is selected, from which you need to make a handle for an ax. A simple pencil outlines the future shape. The ax handle cannot dangle, and must fit tightly into the ax. Therefore, the bar is cut a little larger than necessary so as not to miss the size. You can always reduce it, but for tight shrinkage, wedges may not help.
• Using the method of application, with a pencil, the contours of the eye are outlined, as well as places cleavage.

How to plant an ax on an ax handle - the process of attachment

• To prevent the ax from dangling, craftsmen make wedges, metal or wooden. It is very difficult to make metal wedges; it is easier to buy them in a specialized store. Wooden wedges are made both by hand and purchased.

• Further, the height of the ax is marked on the ax handle. About 5 mm is added to this distance, they can then be cut off, or left. The most deep place on the handle, to which the ax will fall.
• Turn to measure the depth of the cutouts for the wedges. Such recesses will be smaller (shorter and narrower) than the wedges themselves, for reliable shrinkage. Recesses are cut with a metal saw with a minimum drunk wood.

• After the markup is ready, cuts are made, the handle itself is being finalized. Finished rounded shapes with emery of different grain sizes.
• When the ax handle sits comfortably in the palms, work continues in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe cut. Extra millimeters are carefully removed, adhering to a tight entry into the ax.
• The nozzle process takes place with a blunt, non-sharp object. For these purposes, use a board, or a rubber, weighted mallet for tiles, which will not damage the wood and the metal part.
• During the nozzle, the excess tree is removed. From these scuffs, you can determine the amount of surplus that needs to be removed.
• Shrinkage occurs gradually. Grinding excess material done with sharp knife, skins or grinders with petal emery nozzle.
• The tight head of the ax serves as a guarantee good result. When the nozzle has reached its maximum depth, the extra tree is removed, wedges have to be driven in. To do this, the entire structure is disconnected with gentle tapping.
• The ax is not removed with metal hammer and a knife. This is done by focusing on a hard surface.
• To crack in time cleavage did not go deep into the pen, it is being drilled through hole 5 mm.

• Wooden wedges are mounted on epoxy resin, and then it is almost impossible to pull them out. Metal wedges rarely sit on epoxy, but are driven in tightly. To prevent the ax from bursting during the final stage, it must be properly hardened. The nozzle is made with a mallet.

How to plant an ax on an ax handle - important rules

• For the manufacture of an ax handle, a tree with knots is rejected. While working with such an ax there is a high chance that it will crack at the knot.
• The ax handle should be as comfortable as possible, as during operation it will strive to slip out of your fingers. A slight bend is made at the end of the handle to support the hands.

• If the work does not wait and the ax is needed urgently, fresh wood is allowed, but with a warning. After a while, the handle will dry out and begin to dangle. In this case, wedges are placed, seated on seals, but only after complete drying.
• The brightly colored handle is the best alarm if the ax gets lost in the grass.

In order for the process to proceed according to the rules, you need to know what kind of wood is better to choose for an ax handle. The strongest and most reliable will be axes made of oak, acacia, pear, mulberry, ash, dogwood, birch, maple. The wood does not have to be fresh. Only after a year of natural drying in a dark, dry room can a selected piece of wood be considered ready for work.

In every country house there are a number of necessary tools for various works. An ax is required to build a house, chop wood or butcher meat. You can buy it at the store or make your own. The purchased tool may be inconvenient or unreliable, and this is not safe. The tool, made by hand, is particularly convenient and reliable. Before you make an ax handle with your own hands at home, you need to know what an ax looks like, what parts it consists of, and decide on its purpose.

Types of axes

The tool is usually classified according to the type of handle.

In addition to the main axes, there are tools designed for special works. These include: cleaver, carpentry, large carpentry, sculptural ax, as well as figured tools and an ax for concave surfaces.

Self-made ax

Components of an ax: an ax handle, a metal sheet and wedges. How easy and convenient it will be to work with the tool depends on the length and shape of its handle, called an ax handle. Let's see how to do it right and right size. To do this, you need to select the material and extrude the workpiece according to the template.

Homemade product impregnated protective agent, this will help protect the ax from rotting. Impregnation is done in several layers of drying oil or linseed oil. Each subsequent layer must be completely saturated. Coating products with varnishes and paints is not recommended. They will give the handle a sliding effect, and the ax will constantly begin to slip during operation. Sometimes a bright dye is added to the impregnation. Tool handle acquires bright color, and this is good when work is carried out in overgrown areas. The ax will always be visible and will not be lost.

Choosing a metal nozzle

It is impossible to forge metal tightly with your own hands, so they buy it in hardware store. Tips for choosing a stabbing part:

1. A high-quality blade should be solid, without nicks, chips and dents.
2. Metal is marked according to GOST.
3. The ends of the butt should be perpendicular to the blade.
4. The eyelet must be cone-shaped.

Attachment of an ax on an ax handle

The process is carried out in several stages, such as fitting, planting and wedging.

You can eliminate the cracks that occur when fitting a metal sheet using epoxy resin. It is poured into the cuts before driving the wedges. The resin will dry in a day. And only then you can saw off the protruding part.

Blade sharpening and hardening

Performance tools depend on sharp blade. Therefore, you need to know how to sharpen an ax correctly. For each type of work, its own blade processing angle is selected.

Sharpening is done on an electric grinding wheel, smoothly moving the blade along the circle at an angle of 45 degrees. To prevent the quality of the cutting edge from deteriorating, the blade must not be allowed to overheat. To do this, a container with water is installed near the grinder. The blade is periodically lowered into it for cooling. At the end of the work, the blade is polished. To do this, use a whetstone or sandpaper.

An ax is one of the tools that you need to have on the farm. Of course, it can be purchased at the store, but if you want to have a reliable and handy thing, it is better to make a tool yourself. The article will discuss how to make an ax at home with your own skillful hands and properly fit the metal sheet.

How to select and prepare wood

The hatchet is the handle of a working tool. The productivity of labor depends entirely on how easy it is to work with him. Therefore, the usual straight stick in this case will not work. A real ax handle is a curved beam with an oval section and straight sections. The tail part should be expanded and bent down. Only with this option, the hand of the person performing the work will be able to securely hold the tool, while not feeling tired for a long time.

For the manufacture of an ax handle, the following types of wood are best suited:

• maple;
• Birch;
• acacia;
• ash.

Wood should be harvested in the fall. For carpentry tools birch is perfect, and maple is more often used for the hiking option. Its impact strength is less than that of birch. The ideal option ash is considered very durable and rarely changes shape. It is better to make an ax handle from a section of a tree located near the root, and the workpiece should be 15 cm wider and longer than the future product.

Attention! Before the prepared bars are used to make an ax handle, they must dry for at least a year in a dry, dark place, for example, in the attic. This is necessary in order to ready-made the handle did not shrink and did not begin to hang out in the eye.

You can use fresh wood only in case of breakage of the ax handle as a temporary option to be replaced soon.

How to make an ax

In order to make an ax handle you will need:

• wooden blank;
• hacksaw;
• chisel;
• pencil;
• file;
• a hammer.

The manufacturing process itself takes place in the following order:

Attention! You need to make an ax so that the cross section is oval. In this case, it will be possible to hold it without particularly straining the hand and produce very accurate strikes.

Impregnation of an ax handle and an ax nozzle

The upper part of the finished handle must be impregnated with a water-repellent composition. There will be two options:

• drying oil;
• linseed oil;
• ski resin.

Lubricate the tree with the selected agent and leave to dry. The treatment is repeated several more times until the fat is absorbed. Ski resin is able to penetrate into the deeper layers of the workpiece, but it is difficult to find in stores. Therefore, the first two options are more often used.

Advice. A bright dye can be added to the impregnation agent. So the finished tool will be difficult to lose.

Attaching an ax to a handle is done as follows:

Watching videos and photographs will help you better understand the manufacturing technique. Making an ax handle with your own hands is more difficult than buying it ready-made. However, if you have the desire and some skills, it is quite possible to get a quality tool.

How to make an ax handle: video