Axe Heads and Handles

Since iron-headed axes were first forged, blacksmiths looked for a reliable means to attaeli them to wooden handles. Having one's axe head come off of the shaft during a swing had variable consequences. If a man was up in a tree trimming branches, it would be necessary to climb down and reattach the two parts. If anyone was standing too close to him when he swung the axe, the other man could be seriously injured by the flying axe head. At the very least, the loss would interrupt the worker's progress. Further, if he was in a battle and lie lost his weapon, his life would be in danger.

Axe heads were attached to axe handles in a variety of ways. Axe heads forged between 600 B.C. and 1800 A.D. had round or slightly oval "eyes," or sockets. This was the part of the axe head opposite the blade that the end of the axe shaft fit into. The first method of attaching the shaft to the axe head was by simple friction, a method that covered more than 95 percent of all axes made. The axe handle was carved to match the diameter of the eye or even to be a little bit bigger. The axe head was placed on a firm stationary surface, such as log, with the "eye" facing up. Then the handle was pounded into the eye, using a wooden mallet. If there was a snug fit, the axe stayed in one piece. This was usually sufficient if the wood was aged and dry.

If the wood was not sufficiently dry, it might shrink enough so that the axe head would come loose. If one had a pleasingly shaped axe handle and was reluctant or unable to obtain another handle, then that handle would be used to "make-do." The owner of the axe would attach a two-inch wide piece of wet rawhide around the end of the shaft and pound it back into the eye. As the rawhide dried, it would form a solid bond between the handle and the axe head. To be certain it would not slip, the owner might have submerged the whole axe head into a container filled with oil. This would cause the wood and the leather to expand to form a tight fit.

Since this handle problem was a constant, axe makers came up with a new idea: they forged the socket, or eye, to be slightly wider at the top, than at the bottom (Figure 1).

This method could be exploited in one of two ways. The axe handle could be carved so the top of it had a slight swelling, or cone shape. And the bottom was made small enough to slide completely through the eye. Therefore when the shaft was slid through the eye of the axe head, from the bottom of the handle end to the top, the top of the shaft came up snug into the eye. Since the top of the shaft was bigger in diameter than the bottom of the eye, the shaft could not come loose. Pick axes today are usually still fitted in this manner.

Another method that was used more often was to push a normal shaped shaft end through the bottom of the cone-shaped eye until the shaft was fairly snug. Then a wedge was driven into the top of the shaft. As long as the wedge was in place, the shaft could not be pulled out of the axe head. This technique is still used today with modern axe heads and handles (Figure 2).

In another variation of the technique, Northern Europeans started forging "ears," onto the bottom and top of the socket on the sides of it. This gave a slightly better grip by the socket (Figure 3).

To continue that theme, the socket was extended downward from the body of the axe head opposite the blade. This method was used on fighting axes to keep the axe head light (Figure 4).

On many tool hatchets the socket was extended up to three inches long. The greater the weight of the axe head the more likely it would loose grip from the handle when it struck a piece of wood or other object. A larger socket stabilized the axe head. Having larger sockets was discontinued around 1800, at which point axe sockets were being made as wide as the edge of the axe blade (Figure 5).

In 1896, the "Haines" pattern hatchets were made, and the socket was reinvented. The Haines axe was a lighter axe, which reduced fatigue in the user. The Haines was another example of the extended sockets (Figure 6).

In Eastern Europe, the Austral-Hungarians took the socket to an extreme. These sockets were used on "goose wing" and other large "side" axes. These axes had a chiseled edge and were used for putting a straight edge on a large tree trunk or piece of wood, which resulted in wooden beams. The socket was constructed so it was not completely straight. By having it slightly crooked, when the shaft was pounded in, the bend in the socket kept the shaft from being able to be pulled out, or having the axe head "fly off the handle" (Figure 7).

During the seventeenth century in the American Colonies, there was a variation of attachment that was used as late as 1900 on hatchets. The hatchet head did not have a socket. The shaft was carved with the top of it shaped like a wedge. Flanges, or still straps, were extended down from the sides of the axe head for about four inches. Two holes were drilled through each flange. The handle was seated into the wedge-shaped part of the bottom of the hatchet head, and the holes were drilled through the wood. Metal rivets were inserted through the wood and out the other side. The ends were hammered flat, and the axe head was secured (Figure 8).

Another way also came from Eastern Europe. It was used primarily on the spiked hatchets carried by firemen and the pioneers/engineers of the German and Serbian armies. The axe head had an oval socket. The handle was carved so it had grooves on the front and back part of it at the top of the shaft as it was held in the hand. After the handle was in place, fitted wedges, or flanges about three inches long, were hammered into the grooves. This did a good job of holding the axe head in place. A further step was to drill through the flanges and wood, insert a steel pin, and hammer the end flat. Now the axe head would never slip off. This method was used until about 1930, when these axes were discontinued (Figure 9).

The last method was employed by people who could not make any other method work as reliably as they wanted it to. They drilled a hole through the side of the axe head and the shaft and then out the other side of the axe head. A bolt was pushed through the hole and a nut was screwed on the end of it. Then the axe head was attached to the handle, so it would never come off.

There were only two parts to an axe or hatchet, the axe head and the handle. As long as the parts stayed together, they made a formidable tool that has lasted for twenty-five hundred years.

Author

James D. Gamble has written three books on the subject of axes, including Axes of War and Power, his most recent title (available from the EAIA Booklist).

Copyright Early American Industries Association Jun 2004
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