I've built my share of paddles, worked on a few canoes and have made and sold all kinds of nic nacks for the wife and others. For the sake of trying to match my original axe handle, I've decided to take a crack at making my own.
I'm by no means an axe expert and when it come to making things out of wood I do it as a hobby, not as someone who knows what the hell their doing
. So I'm all open to "constructive" criticism and comment from those who know better.
The handle on my Walters has (to put it in canoe terms) great lines. I'll make a template to the best that I can with a pencil I acquired from my kids.
IMG_0262
Accurate, hell no but it's a start....
I was after just a slightly shorter axe than the original, so I modified my template to make the handle an inch shorter.
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Hard to see but of my pile of wood, I managed to pull this piece out with what I believe is a suitable grain orientation.
IMG_0265
With a template, I can trace with the best of them...
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I'm fortunate enough to have a bandsaw to take off most of the waste.
IMG_0267
Marked of the rest to be taken off.
IMG_0269
Now the fun stuff begins, out with the hand tools.
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I prefer spoke shave over most other tools,
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Had to take quite a bit off with the spoke shave, and really I will likely take some more off later. Picture below shows this mornings progress. Handle is wet, just for show. Really wasn't that hard of a job. I'll tackle what I perceive will make or break this project, the top, tomorrow.

JP
I'm by no means an axe expert and when it come to making things out of wood I do it as a hobby, not as someone who knows what the hell their doing

The handle on my Walters has (to put it in canoe terms) great lines. I'll make a template to the best that I can with a pencil I acquired from my kids.

Accurate, hell no but it's a start....
I was after just a slightly shorter axe than the original, so I modified my template to make the handle an inch shorter.

Hard to see but of my pile of wood, I managed to pull this piece out with what I believe is a suitable grain orientation.

With a template, I can trace with the best of them...

I'm fortunate enough to have a bandsaw to take off most of the waste.

Marked of the rest to be taken off.

Now the fun stuff begins, out with the hand tools.

I prefer spoke shave over most other tools,

Had to take quite a bit off with the spoke shave, and really I will likely take some more off later. Picture below shows this mornings progress. Handle is wet, just for show. Really wasn't that hard of a job. I'll tackle what I perceive will make or break this project, the top, tomorrow.

JP
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