Ax-Handles Made to Order 



The boss chopper wants his ax-handles made to suit him 



The wood must be straight-grained, 

 free from knots and other defects 



Roughly shaping Making the opposite faces of the ax 



the green handle handles as nearly parallel as possible 



AL THOUGH nearly all ax-handles are 

 J-\ machine-turned there is still a local 

 ck-mand in logging camps for the 

 hand-made product. The boss choppers 

 and sled-tenders are exacting in their 

 requirements and pro\icle a good business 

 for the professional hel\e-niaker who caters 

 to their particular needs and whims. 



Choppers generally use an ax with two 

 edges or bits, one edge for clear chopping 

 and the other for chojiping knotty places 

 where there is liabilit\' of striking the 

 ground. The handle for a double-bitted ax 

 is straight and has a "nub" at one end to 

 prevent it slipping out of the grasp. Though 

 simple in design, the making and lilting of 

 such a handle rec|uires considerable skill. 



There is a knack in the choice of tree 

 for ax handles. The wood must be 

 straight-grained, free from knots and 

 other defects, and natur.ilK- tough 

 and strong. Medium-si/cd. 

 thrift\' trees are ijnferred: and 

 usuall>- only the butl-cul <p| 

 some thirty-four inches in 

 length is taken, as the remain- 

 der f)f the tree does not possess 

 the inherent strength and re- 

 silience that years of resistance 

 to the swaying action of the 

 wind has imparted (o the 

 portion nearc-i the gromid. 



This bolt i^ <niartered, and 

 from e.ich piecf the jie.irt is split otf, le,i\ ing 

 no tr.iic to mar the clear wliiteness of the 

 sapwood. If a quarter is large enough for 

 more than one hantiie it is divided accord- 



Finishing off the green 

 handle nnd iwlishing it 



ingly. The bark is then hewed off and the 

 piece flattened and roughly shaped. The 

 final hewing lea\es the hanille i)lank "eight 

 square," though strictly speaking, the 

 cross-section of the handle at this stage is 

 a flattened octagon. 



The eight-sciuared blanks are taken to the 

 shop, where all hewing irregularities are 

 smoothed off with the draw-shave. This 

 is followed by a small plane which makes 

 the opposite faces as nearly parallel as 

 possible. Two knobs are then left on the 

 ends of the blank, one to form the nub and 

 the other to form the part that fits into the 

 eye of the ax. In ri'dncing these to the 

 desired sha|>e the maker uses a crooked 

 knife specialK- tlesigned for cutting ciir\es 

 in woinl. He holds the handle in his 

 laji and shapes the nub. This portion 

 is made larger for winter use when the 

 chojiiier's hands are mittened. 



When the nub is linished the 

 TOl of the h.mdle is sli,i\ed 

 down, the work being done 

 troni each encl toward the 

 middle. Sonu' jirefer that the 

 lower grip of the hanille bedeci- 

 dedK (lattenetl. while others in- 

 sist u])on a more roundetl form, 

 ("hoppers do not w.mt their 

 handles seasoned, as the dr\ing 

 in, ikes the wood more brittle 

 and ri-duces the flexibility. In 

 <ir<lcr that the green handles m.iy be pro- 

 pirK smoothed. howe\er, they are superlici- 

 ally dried on wires over the stove. They 

 are then rasped and sandpapered. 



878 



