How to make a beautiful ax with your own hands. Instructions on how to make an ax with your own hands - a step by step description of the creation and assembly

Owners of country estates are often interested in the question of how to make an ax with their own hands. This tool is necessary in any household - it is used both for splitting firewood and for building household outlets. But not all tools that are commercially available are good at work and reliable. And some of them may even be dangerous during operation.

The ax is necessary for splitting firewood, and for the construction of farm buildings.

Most of the owners of their own country houses prefer to do everything with their own hands, including the construction of necessary buildings and many tools in the household. Self-made things are often much more reliable and convenient than those sold in stores.

How to make an ax with your own hands

To make an ax, you must act in a certain order. The first thing is accepted for the manufacture of ax.

The ax handle is a tool handle. From what will be its length and especially the shape, will depend on performance. It does not fit a simple stick with a circular cross section - it is inconvenient to hold it, the arm is too tense and quickly tired. It will be more practical to make an ax handle of a slightly curved shape, with an oval cross-section and several straight sections. Its tail should be made wider and tilted down. This provides the ability to more securely hold the ax handle during operation.

Phased manufacture of ax handle:

For the manufacture of ax handle is better to use maple wood.

1. How to choose and prepare the material.

To make a strong piece for an ax, it is better to take birch, oak, maple or ash. Traditionally, wood harvesting for ax handles is carried out in the autumn, even before frosts come. It is necessary to fold the selected logs to dry in the attic, in a place dry and devoid of light. Billets are stored in such a way for at least a year, and experts recommend drying such a tree for up to five years.

If, however, when chopping wood, the ax handle suddenly broke, a temporary version of the undressed tree can also help out. Fresh wood will help if you need to chop firewood urgently, but after a while it dries out. After reducing the handle in the volume, it begins to freely “walk” in the ax of the ax and is no longer suitable for work.

2. How to make a template

For convenience, you can make a template. For him fit cardboard, thick paper. With it, the contours of the designed part are transferred to the surface of the material, after which the tool is easier to manufacture with the dimensions that are necessary. If you already have an ax with a nice handy handle and you want to make a spare one in case this one breaks, you can use it as a model. Press the handle of the tool to a sheet of cardboard and circle with a pencil. Then the template is cut along the contour with scissors.

3. How to make a blank bar

For the preparation will need a dry material. From it it is necessary to heft the bar, the movements are performed along the fibers. The length for harvesting should be done 10 cm larger than the size specified for the finished product. The width of the front of the workpiece intended for the device in the eye of a metal part must be several millimeters larger.

On both sides of the bar impose a pattern and transfer to the wood contours. The template is located in this way: an allowance of 1 cm is left in front of the bar, about ninety millimeters in the tail section. An allowance is required in the shank to prevent the handle from cracking during the installation of the blade. After the tool is ready and assembled, the stock is cut.

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How to heave an ax

To bring the handle of the ax to the desired size, in the upper and lower part of the bar perform cross cuts. Select the depth so that the bottom of the cut does not reach the intended for the ax handle about 2-3 mm. Along the cuts, excess wood is chipped off using a chisel. Then, a rasp sawing is performed right up to the contour line. They can also round corners, bends, transitions of wooden parts. Sandpaper is used for final sanding.

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Processing by special structures

Wood for the ax must be saturated with linseed oil.

In the manufacture of the ax itself, it is necessary to ensure the wood is well impregnated with water-resistant compounds. Among them, the best are flaxseed oil and linseed oil. Either of these compounds cover the ax in several layers, well drying each before applying the next. It is necessary to apply oil until the surface ceases to absorb it.

Oil paints and varnishes are not recommended for covering ax handle - this makes it slippery. If you want to leave bright markings on the handle so that an ax thrown into the grass would be clearly visible, mix a little dye into the drying oil. Use better red, yellow or orange dye.

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How to choose a metal canvas

It is unlikely that someone will be able to independently make a metal cloth with an eye on the house. It is better to buy ready. Buying material, you should pay attention to such moments:

• the eye must have a conical shape;
• steel should ideally be marked with GOST;
• inspect the blade for the absence of dents, bends, notches;
• the butt ends should be perpendicular to the blade.

The eye of the blade must comply with the cross section of the ax.

Spend a longitudinal axial line and another perpendicular to it on the end part of the ax handle. Cut a groove along the longitudinal contour to the depth of the eye. The slot is made in order to make it easier to wedge the ax handle. After that, put a butt to the butt. Take the centerline for the reference point and draw the contour of the eyelet.

Now take a knife or a plane and cut the landing part of the part so that it repeats the shape of the eyelet. The ax handle should be slightly behind it - about a centimeter.

Slide the iron part on the wooden, helping with a hammer. Hammer blows should be applied as carefully as possible to prevent the wood from cracking. When the butt finally comes out over the border of the butt, it is necessary to check how firmly the blade is planted. It should sit tight, without slipping.

Selection of the right material for the ax is very important; it is impossible to make a reliable ax if the wrong wood is chosen for the ax handle.
  You can use only hardwood of deciduous trees for the ax handle.
  The wood should be well dried: standard drying of sawn timber to 8-12% moisture is not enough, it is advisable to take wood dried in special chambers or stand up for a long time in a very dry place - on radiators or on a stove. Additional drying makes it possible to avoid ax loosening due to drying out when moisture is lost in conditions with variable temperature and humidity — winter / summer, damp forest / heated apartment.

The choice of wood for the manufacture of ax

Ash

Ash, in our opinion, is one of the best materials for making ax handle. Ash wood is fairly affordable: well-dried ash lumber of the required quality is used for finishing and furniture manufacturing. In a large tree-trading organization, you can usually choose a bar of the required size and quality.
  The strength of ash is beyond praise. In terms of wood density, hardness and durability, it approaches the oak, but it is quite elastic. The shafts of spears and the axes of battle axes were usually made of ash. Currently, ash handles are made of tool and gymnastic bars.

Ash wood is beautiful and can vary greatly in appearance. In one tree there is wood, differing in color and pattern of fibers. In the manufacture of ax, we focus not on the beauty of the pattern, but on the location of the fibers, which provides the greatest strength. We can only suggest to choose an ax on the ax more darkly or lighter from the number in stock.

Jatoba

Jatoba Tops and Ash Trees

Jatoba wood has a high impact strength and is well suited for the manufacture of sports equipment and tool handles, suitable for the manufacture of bent steaming parts and is often used in furniture production. The wood is very strong, hard, viscous, surpasses the strength of oak wood. Jatoba is beautifully processed and has an unsurpassed appearance. Perhaps this is the most beautiful wood from which it makes sense to make ax handles.
  Jatoba is great for making ax handle, especially if the ax is required not only functionality, but also high aesthetic data.

Hickory

Hickory, also called American walnut, is widely used to make the handles of axes, hammers, picks and other tools in America and Canada. The wood is strong, resilient, durable enough.

Oak and beech

Have a beautiful structure, durable, durable, fairly easy to process, are available. Unfortunately, both rocks have flaws when making the ax handle. Oak is too hard and dries your hand when chopping. However, when we planted a felling ax on a long (about a meter) on an oak ax, the recoil was not transferred to the arm - the length of the ax absorbed the blow. The beech is perfectly cut, has a beautiful surface, but is very hygroscopic. For protection against moisture, simple oil-impregnation of the beechwood will not be enough.

Birch tree

Birch ax is most common in Russia, although birch wood is hardly the best option. It is possible, if you use the punctured dies of the butt part of twisted birch, cut and dried in a certain way, you can get a great product. But the availability of such material leaves much to be desired: even if there is an opportunity to choose a birch trunk felled in winter of the required quality, there is a place for drying with the necessary parameters, the drying time will still be more than a year. In addition, birch easily absorbs water and deteriorates by microorganisms, therefore, in addition to thorough initial impregnation, further care is required during operation.
  It is possible to recommend making a high-quality ax handle from a birch only to those for whom the process of self-production is valuable and who are willing to spend considerable time and effort on preparing wood.
  The quality of massively sold birch hatchets is extremely low, they are not suitable as material for ax handles and sold birch lumber.

Maple tree axes

Maple proved to be a good material for the manufacture of an ax. In addition to sufficient strength and elasticity, maple has a beautiful texture and is well polished. Made from maple ax has a remarkable appearance.

Durability

The strength of an ax on a fracture is ensured by the location of the fibers along the ax and the strength of wood. Obliquity is unacceptable, with the exception of blanks made from punctured dies of rolled wood, in this case, during manufacture, considerable strength can be achieved by taking into account the arrangement of layers.

Ax life

The durability of a properly made ax is determined by the resistance of wood to impact and compression. The part of the ax in the eye has very significant loads, over time it can wrinkle and the nozzle of the ax is loosened. The service life is determined by the type of wood (the harder, the better), drying (poorly dried hatchet "cracks" very quickly), density of the nozzle: precise fit and dense nozzle (by striking or pressing) significantly increase durability. Properly made axes can work with a heavy load for years without requiring repair.
If a properly made and impaled ax is loosened, it can be repaired. In the case of a straight nozzle (when the ax is placed on top of the tapering end of the ax, and then split up), the ax should be laid down and the additional wedge made of solid wood should be hammered. It is also possible to use a flat or round metal wedge.
  When the ax is reversed (the ax is passed through the conical eyelet from the top to the outside), loosening does not occur, as the load is directed towards the expanding end of the ax and the ax is only more densely seated.

Each country house has a number of necessary tools for different works. To build a house, chop wood, or chop meat you need an ax. It can be purchased at the store or make yourself. A purchased instrument may be inconvenient or unreliable, and this is not safe. The tool, made by hand, is notable for its special convenience and reliability. Before you make an ax handle with your own hands at home, you need to know what the ax looks like, what parts it consists of, and decide on its purpose.

Types of axes

The tool is usually classified by type of handle.

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

Independent manufacture of an ax

Components of the ax: ax, metal blade and wedges. How easy and convenient it will be to work with the tool, it depends on the length and shape of its handle, called an ax. Consider how to make it right and the right size. To do this, select the material and the template to heft the workpiece.

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

The choice of metal nozzles

It is impossible to forge metal tightly with your own hands, therefore it is bought in a hardware store. Tips for choosing the piercing part:

1. High-quality blade should be solid, without chipping, chips and dents.
2. Metal mark according to GOST.
3. Butt ends should be perpendicular to the blade.
4. The eye must be tapered.

Ax Attachment

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

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

Sharpening and hardening blades

The performance of the tool depends on the sharp blade. Therefore, you need to know how to properly sharpen the ax. For each type of work is selected its own angle of processing blades.

Sharpening is done on an electric grinding wheel, smoothly moving the blade along the circle at an angle of 45 degrees. To ensure that the quality of the cutting edge does not deteriorate, the blade must not be overheated. To do this, near the grinding machine set capacity with water. It is periodically lowered blade for cooling. At the end of the work, the blade is ground. To do this, use a grinding block or sandpaper.

It's no secret that the ax is an indispensable carpentry tool. In addition, the ax is particularly useful in the household: from cutting wood and ending with the repair of the home.

This article deals with issues related to the manufacture of an ax of the taiga type, because finding such a useful tool on the market is quite difficult, and it will cost a lot. The article provides additional useful information that tells you which ax is better to choose for those or other needs.

What should be the taiga ax?

Such an ax, due to its special parameters, which are radically different from the characteristics and sizes of “classic” axes, is an indispensable aid in performing many tasks, such as:

• Tree felling. Whether it is carpentry work or simple preparation of firewood for the winter - a taiga ax will help you accomplish the task quickly and efficiently;
• Rough log processing - branch cleaning, other similar work;
• The tool as a way of “survival” - any catalog of axes will confirm the statement that the taiga ax is ideal for hunting, preparing pens and traps;
• Creating a hut and flooring, the construction of a wooden house in the shortest possible time;
• Firewood preparation.

In cases where the performance of work requires special precision, the best option would be a forged ax with a long blade. Cutting trees with such an ax is not very efficient, but accuracy plays an important role.

Distinctive features of the ax of the taiga type

Most people do not see the difference between the taiga and the usual ax. So what are the differences between these two types of axes?

• Blade roundness length - the taiga ax is lighter in weight;
• Long beard - additional protection from warping and breaking. As a rule, absorbs up to 60% of the impact force;
• Special sharpening - allows you to use the ax as a standard splinter, when choosing the right blow. At the same time, the leading edge of the blade is twice as wide as the rear. The edge of a regular ax has the same thickness gauge;
• Special tilt angle of the ax handle - reduces hand fatigue, increases overall efficiency during operation.

Making the head of the taiga ax

It is necessary to purchase an ordinary joiner's ax, whose head will weigh 1400-1500 grams.

Front cut down the ledge of the blade flush with the butt. We form the roundness of the back of the blade - the Bulgarian will help us with this. It is necessary to cut down all the metal so that there are no corners left.

Go to the inside of the blade - carefully cut out a semicircle, which is necessary for a more comfortable grip. In addition, this manipulation can significantly reduce the weight of the head. To further reduce the weight and increase the maneuverability of the ax, it is necessary to cut the upper corners of the butt.

Sharpening is performed using an emery machine. For best results, a large circle with an average grain is established. In addition, should be sharpened on both sides.

Making ax handle for taiga ax

It should be noted that the choice of the right wood is the key to success in the manufacture of high-quality taiga ax. The ideal options would be maple and ash. Options easier - birch and pine. The latter is perfectly polished and honed, but extremely unreliable because of its fragility.

Below is the instruction:

Selection of chocks - without knots, defects. Processing and drying - the tree is cleared of bark and splits in the middle. The wood should be dried at + 25 °, while the moisture index should be 15%. Aging lasts two months.

Creating a form - we need a hatchet or a large knife to remove the main wood. In addition, do not forget about the chisel and a small hammer - these tools will be needed for smaller works.

How to put an ax? Gauze should be used, as well as epoxy resin. After three days, the taiga ax will be ready to go.

The last step is sanding and varnishing. The ax will be not only useful, but also beautiful, such as in the photo from the advertising catalog!

Photo axes with their own hands

How to make a good, reliable ax with your own hands at home?

Having remade a usual ax, it is possible to give it the special properties necessary during the work. This ax will serve much longer and better than the usual shop. A hunter in the taiga cannot do without a reliable ax, which should be as versatile as possible. There are many axes for sale: from large and medium construction and carpentry to small hatchets, suitable for various household needs. But the taiga ax should have special properties that can be given to an ordinary ax by remaking it.


  An ax with a soft and weakly hardened steel should prefer an ax with “dry” steel. When chipping the blade, this flaw can be easily removed with a sharper sharpening. The shape of the sharpening should be parabolic, but not razor and not straight (Fig. 1). The ax with such a sharpening does not jam in the wood, it splits the wood well, it is less dull. With sufficient sharpness, this blade is quite suitable for carpentry. Much of the understanding of rationality is given by the forms of old Russian axes, as well as the axes of the woodcutters of the Carpathians, North America, in which the upper edge of the blade never forms an angle greater than 90 ° with the axis of the ax. All axes produced for sale have a wide blade and a protruding upper edge (Fig. 2). The hatched part dramatically reduces the efficiency of the ax, since at the moment of impact this part tends to unbend the ax, creating in it. unnecessary vibration, and thereby dampens the force of impact. To eliminate this disadvantage, the shaded part is removed. The easiest way to do this is by drilling a series of contiguous holes along the cutting line, and remove the hardened part with an abrasive.
The straight blade of the ax must be changed to a convex one (Fig. 3), if the width of hardening the blade allows. The straight edge is designed only for carpentry, and when such a blade cuts, then simultaneously touching the entire edge and striking the tree at a right angle, has a weak penetrating ability. Each point of the convex edge enters the wood at an acute angle (Fig. 3), a cutting effect occurs, with the result that the penetrating power of such a blade increases sharply. Despite the fact that the weight of the ax after processing will decrease, its efficiency will increase. The author proposes two variants of axes (see fig. 4 and photo). One of them - lightweight, designed for running hunting, small trips, also for commercial hunting in the presence of a saw. The total weight of such an ax is 800-1000 g, the length of the ax is 40-60 cm. The other is heavy, for commercial hunting and long-distance trips, during which considerable work has to be done. Its weight is 1000-1400 g, the length of the ax is 55-65 cm. The choice of the length of the ax is determined by the quality of the wood, the height and strength of the hunter.
  Of course, axes hand-crafted by blacksmiths are better both in steel and in angle and in balance, but there is one very capricious detail - a wooden ax. This part must be made by special technology. It is much longer and more difficult to forge an ax, a wedge and an ax landing than to forge an ax (even, probably, a Damascus). It is much more difficult to check how high the ax and the landing is and to check the quality of the ax itself. In addition, the ax handle requires special daily care and certain conditions of detention. If all the items are not met, then the result is always the same: Either the ax flies, or the ax handle breaks. Properly preparing the ax, you can begin to manufacture ax. It should be thin. The smaller its weight relative to the weight of the ax, the stronger the blow. The ax handle must be flexible: a hard ax handle dries the hand. In section, it has an ovate, but flattened shape with a sharper anterior and rounded posterior edges. It is best to manufacture the ax from the butt of an ash, maple, elm. You can use and svilovatuyu small-layer birch. The most suitable butt thickness for billet is an ax handle - 35-40 cm. A raw butt should be chopped, then dried with sealed ends.



Ax with a longitudinal arrangement of the layers (Fig. 5) stronger. In front of the ax attachment, the center of gravity is found on the ax (Fig. 6). Usually this point (C) is located at the base of the eye. Then determine the middle line of the ax AB, passing through the middle of the butt and the tip of the blade edge. This line is the tangent along which the ax will move upon impact.

  If you put the blade point B perpendicular to the middle line AB on the plane, then the end of the ax will have to touch the same plane at point C. The middle line of the ax handle (OL) is drawn, point P is on this line and is 3.5-4 from the SV plane. see Cutting the ax is clear from fig. 5, where the shaded parts of the workpiece must be cut. The distance from the bottom edge of the eyelet (point K) to the point of maximum bending of the ax handle (point O) is 10-11 cm. At point O, the hand holds the ax during carpentry work. At this point, the circumference of the ax is 12–13 cm, and the thinnest place at the end of the ax is 9–10 cm. The thickness is finally adjusted to fit the arm. The ax is terminated by a thickening in the form of a "fungus" fixing the hand (clearly seen in the photo). Such an ax is indispensable in cold and rain, when on the hands of gloves or mittens. "Fungus" allows at the time of work to relax your hands. The strength and accuracy of the blows of the “relaxed” ax cannot be compared with the blows of the ax, which has to be held tightly, being afraid to let it go. On the blank under the "fungus" is provided in advance thickening; it is processed as a last resort in order to exclude chips from ax insertion. Getting to the nozzle, you need to place the workpiece. When adjusting the ax, one should constantly check the landing angle by applying an ax to the plane (in Fig. 6 this is the CB line). In the ax handle, fitted on two-thirds of the depth of the eye, propyl under the wedge is made to the same depth (Fig. 6), after which the seat is finally adjusted. Before driving a wedge, an ax with a mounted ax is useful to dry for two to three days.
  Immediately after fitting (or after drying), the ax is removed from the ax handle, the fitting parts are abundantly greased with BF-2 glue and the ax is finally mounted. On the previously prepared wedge of solid wood (ash, maple, elm, apple, pear) also cause glue and wedge clog. So that the wedge does not break when blocking, it is made short. To completely dry the glue, the ax must be dried for 24 hours on the battery or at the stove. Finally, the ax handle is treated by hand, sanded and impregnated with linseed oil or linseed oil.

Ready ax remains sharpen. The ax will save a lot of time and effort if its blade is always sharp. It is useful for this to have with you a plywood cut to the breast pocket, glued on both sides with waterproof sandpaper - coarse and micron. Such plywood is enough for the whole season, if the ax does not require a serious regrinding.