How to plant an ax on an ax handle yourself?

The quality of a hand tool is one of the important criteria for its evaluation when choosing. A practical, convenient and reliable tool significantly increases labor productivity, facilitates the process itself and eliminates the possibility of injury. This is especially true for a tool such as an ax.

Its use provides for an intense dynamic load, characterized by a special trauma hazard. With inept handling of the gun, the ax often flies from the handle and traumatizes the worker. To prevent this, it is necessary first of all to learn how to plant an ax on an ax handle.

About varieties

Today there are about ten varieties of chopping tools. And before you put the ax on the hatchet, It is necessary to determine whether it is of the type: carpentry, combat, tourist, or it is a tool of a woodcutter. Although all axes consist of a handle and a metal part, each type of gun is different in its purpose and design features. To each apply special advice on how to properly plant the ax on the ax handle. The photo below, for example, presents the features of fastening the metal part to the handle in the carpenter's ax. In other types of gun it is somewhat different.

How are the axes fastened?

There are several methods for attaching the handle to the metal part:

• Welding. Provides reliability and strength of the tool.
• Production of an ax in the form of a single implement. Characterized by rigidity and strong impact.
• The method of gluing in a special chamber with the help of epoxy materials. Polymer materials are used for axes, which are difficult to glue together at home. Such work requires drying chambers.
• Pushing the metal part onto the handle with further wedging. This method of connection is considered the most ideal for doing at home.

Successful work requires a good qualification, time and the idea of how to plant an ax on an ax handle. The most With this you can cope with the availability of skills and the necessary tools. In case of failure, if the metal cutting part is unreliable on the handle or if the structure is loosened over time, the procedure of setting and wedging should be repeated again.

How to plant an ax on an ax handle?

Despite the seeming simplicity of the connection with the help of padding and wedging, it is not easy to perform this work. It has its own nuances, which should be taken into account. To facilitate the process, professional carpenters are recommended to follow a step-by-step instruction that contains the following steps:

• Preparation for work;
• The manufacture of steel and wooden articles for wedging;
• Nasazhivanie and wedging.

Recommendations of experts will help the novice to understand how to plant an ax on an ax handle.

Start. Preparatory stage

Before you start, you need:

1. Acquire an ax handle. As a material for its manufacture, according to experienced carpenters, dried birch is ideal. This tree is very popular, because it has all the necessary properties for this. When choosing the handle, account must be taken of the thickness of the product and its shape.
2. It is recommended to check the ax handle on the grip convenience. Ignoring this aspect will lead to the necessity during the cutting to perform unnatural compensating force movements, and this, in turn, is fraught with fast fatigue.
3. Fit the acquired ax handle to the ax lug. The work consists in using a knife or other woodworking tool to cut the handle to the desired shape (straight or conical). Eyes with a conical shape are considered the best, since they provide a very reliable fastening.
4. Make a cut at the top of the handle. This work is done at the end. Propyl is a longitudinal groove, which is performed using a hacksaw on the tree. You can make one (along the end) or several cuts (three side and one longitudinal). It depends on how the master decides to plant the ax. According to professionals, the most efficient is the sawed longitudinal with four side. An important nuance at this stage is the width and depth of the cut. The resulting groove must necessarily be hidden in the eyelet, otherwise when the wedge is disengaged or when the ax is used, its handle can split. The width should correspond to the thickness of the wedges. But at the same time, they should not be included in the cuts as too easily (the sawing procedure loses its meaning), and tight, as this may entail splitting an ax handle.
5. Before you put the ax on the ax handle, you need to align the axis of the blade and the axis of the handle in one plane.

Preparation of wedges

A reliable fastening of the cutting element with the handle is possible provided that the wedge is of high quality. For this, the master will need wooden and metal wedges.

They can be purchased at a hardware store or manufactured independently. The shape and dimensions of the wedges must correspond to the type of cut and the material from which the ax handle is made. For a wooden wedge, wood of dried birch is suitable. For a metal product suitable hard tin (shovel).

Stuffing

Often novice home masters ask questions: how correctly to plant an ax on an ax handle, how to hammer wooden and steel wedges?

Padding is a simple process. This work should be started if the handle and wedges have already been fully prepared.

The first is to score a longitudinal wedge. This is done with light hammer strokes. Strong knocking is undesirable, since it can flatten the tree, reducing the stability of the connection. After the wedge is filled with propyl, the remains must be carefully cut using a hacksaw blade. The work is considered successful if, during the test, the ax attached to the handle is held tight and does not stagger.

Rasklinivanie

According to the conviction of the beginners, the wooden wedges should be of the same wood as the ax handle. But this is not so.

• First of all, the wood must be strong.
• It is also necessary to consider the direction of the fibers. It must be parallel to the narrowing of the wedge. This direction will prevent the breakage of the latter when driving into propyl. A broken wedge does not perform a qualitative opening of the ax handle in the sides. Successful wedging is considered when the wedge has filled itself completely all the space of the cut and it can not be removed.
• When making wedges, it is important that the dimensions of the cross pieces correspond to the size of the eyelet.
• In some cases, the eyelet may have clearances. They can be corrected with a gauze or bandage impregnated with epoxy resin. Epoxy material protects the wood from wetting and performs a reinforcing function. To perform the reinforcement it is necessary to wind several layers of gauze around the upper part of the handle before inserting the ax. The resin is poured into the cuts and fills all the existing voids and cracks. After its hardening, the wedges are clogged. At the same time, the first ones are driven by wooden, and afterwards by iron wedges. The distance between them should be at least 0.3 cm. The iron wedge at the end of one edge is bent to cover a wooden.

Which side is the ax to be pinned on the ax?

The features of the ax mounting depend on its shape. For standard Soviet-made products, the characteristic characteristic is the conical shape of the chopping part. This strengthens its wedging qualities and eliminates mistakes when pushed onto the handle.

According to the rules, the ax should be worn in such a way that the wedge and end of the handle protrude 0.5 cm behind the eye. This is possible if the ax is planted with its narrow part towards the wedge, and wide - towards the ax. With such a planting, the worker can, if necessary, plant the loosened chopping piece back into place, tapping an ax with something hard. After that you need to re-score the wedge, but already deeper.

In carpentry, the back landing of an ax is often used. It is necessary in those rare cases, if the ax is not used as the main tool, but as an auxiliary tool to grind something or plan it. The reverse packing method is mainly used for sledgehammers and cleavers. For them, wedges are not provided. All the load goes to the extreme part of the handle, which holds the metal part of the ax.

In conclusion

Depending on the shape of the metal chipping part, it is decided which side to put the ax on the ax handle. It is important that the instrument is comfortable and ergonomic at the same time.

Following the step-by-step instructions, you can quickly prepare the ax to work independently.