Handles, Helves, Hafts: call them what you will.
I have recently been fitting more handles on my axes. An accountant would recommend that I cut them out on the band saw and then rip them into shape on my belt sander. But I enjoy carving them by hand...
View ArticleAxe handles part 2 – geometry
In the last post I explained my reasoning behind the various ways that the grain can be oriented in an axe handle. However if the handle is straight then it makes no difference and any of the methods I...
View ArticleTesting Grain Orientation
In my last blog post I wrote about grain orientation in carving axe handles, making the assumption that having the rings running parallel to the bit of an axe (1) would be stronger, however speaking...
View ArticleBowl Knife Handle making
A quick tutorial as to how I fit the handle on a bowl knife; there are lots of ways to do it and a couple of jubilee clips would do fine, but I like the finish this method gives. It is a bit over the...
View ArticleCygnet handle
Another tutorial on making and fitting a Cygnet handle, on my smallest bowl gouge, the Cygnet. This does not come with a ferule as the shorter length and handle means that extra reinforcement is not...
View ArticleKnife handle making – using dowel
I have been trialling this method of knife handle making for a while now, the dowels will be for sale on the site soon but for the moment any Sloyd ( small/ standard/ laminated) blade will come with...
View ArticleTwca Cam Handle
I get asked about these often, they really are very easy so just a few pictures, as my spoon blades are are forged with a round tang as well this method is directly applicable. Roughen the tang section...
View ArticleAxes, adzes and reamers
It feels like most days I receive emails asking when I will start making axes again, finally I have some news. Firstly though a quick update, two months ago I crushed my thumb in some machinary and it...
View ArticleAspiration vs Perspiration
This post is about the motivation behind my toolmaking. First and foremost there is the need to provide a living for my family and however idealistic I may sound later on there are economic realities...
View ArticleAxes and Adzes, Again.
I had a great day last week with Richard and Jules Heath, they came to forge axes. It has been a while since I have taught axe making in my workshop, concentrating on larger groups at the Green wood...
View ArticlePerfection
“Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.” Vince Lombardi Jr. I heard this...
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Detail knife handle
After reading a request by a customer for information on how to fit these blades I remembered that I haven’t ever shown how to fit small straight blades so put this together today. As it was spur of...
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Keeping the elephants away
A man boards a train, and finds himself sitting in a compartment opposite another passenger who is reading The Times. Every time the other finishes a page, he tears it from the paper, rolls it into...
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Keeping the elephants away – part 2
I have now processed the results of my sets of experiments and even found time between grinding to conduct a new one. To recap though, I wanted to see if there was anything you could soak a loose axe...
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Axe Handle
Some of my earliest ever blog posts concerned axe handles and handle geometry; surprisingly on re-reading them I was not cringing as much as I though I would, I still stand by pretty much all I put...
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Cygnet handle
Another tutorial on making and fitting a Cygnet handle, on my smallest bowl gouge, the Cygnet. This does not come with a ferule as the shorter length and handle means that extra reinforcement is not...
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