Scouting, Volume 33, Number 2, February-March 1945 Page: 24
32 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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KEEP YOUR HEAD! - He a Handle
■IBmBM
I ost woodsmen select their axes with the same
care that an artist uses in choosing his brush, or
a professional golfer, his club. The thickness, length,
weight and hang must be just right. But frequently
it is difficult to buy just the right handle — nowadays,
in fact, it is difficult in many places to buy any kind
of hatchet handle. Here are directions for making a
custom-made handle. Using these directions, and your
own likes and dislikes, you make your handle just
as you want it.
The best handles are made out of well seasoned
hickory, osage orange (hedgewood or bois D'arc),
ironwood or ash. Use a straight grained block, about
2% inches wide by IV2 inches thick, by 15 or 16
inches long. The block should be free from knots.
(In the captions, the word "side" refers to the 2V2
inch sides of the block, and "top and bottom" to the
IV2 inch sides.)
First make a cardboard template, and then trace
it on the two sides of the block of wood. Rough out
the top and bottom, then shape the part that fits
the eye.
Then rough out the top and bottom as shown, and
shape the part that fits the eye. Draw the center lines
(fig. 4), and as you thin down the handle to fit your
own requirements, insert the handle in the axe from
time to time, and make sure the blade edge lines
up. Finally, rub down with linseed oil, and clear
shellac, using the same cloth,
Bf Q, MdU
National Director, Health &
Safety Service
HOLD IN PLACE
WITH PEGS. NAILS,
OR VISE
TKACE TEMPLATE ON EACH SIM OF THE O
WOOD. ROUGH OUT TOP AND BOTTOM W/TJV £.
A SPOKE SHAVE OH KNIFE.
DRAW A l/NE THE LENGTH OF THE
TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE ROU&HED-OUT
PIECE. WITH SPOKE SHAVE,HfiUFE
AND RASP OR FILE, THIN DOWN THE
END TO FIT EYE OF AXE HEAD.
IThe first step is to make a tem-
• plate of cardboard — by using
either the old handle, the handle of an-
other axe, or by eye, using this sketch,
which is drawn to a half scale. Lay out on
the cardboard, the I inch squares as shown,
plus the two % inch areas, and the 1/2
inch areas. Then sketch in the shape of the
handle, and cut it out with scissors, or razor
blade.
INSERT THE HANDLE
IN THE AXE EYE,
FROM TIME TV TIMS
AS YOU WORK DOWN
THE HANDLE WITH A
SPOKE SHAVE, RASP
F/LE,STEEL SCRAPER,
GLASS OR KNIFE.
KEEP THE AXE EDGE
LINED UP WITH THE
CENTER LINE OF WE
HANDLE,ATALL TIMES.
FINISH OFF WITH
SAND PAPER, OR.
&LASS.
PROJECTING J
END OF HANDLE
ABOUT I'
*4.
HEAD
FITS
HERE
u
WEDGE
ABOUT
4" LONG
W"
WHEN SHAPED,
REMOVE HANDLE
FROM THE HEAD
AND SAW A NARROW
"V" SLOT FOR A
HARDWOOD WEDGE
J^5AW OFF LEVEL
WHEN WEDGE
IS DRIVEN IN
AS FAR AS IT
CAN GO.THE
EAD SHOULPFfT
'GHZ BEFORE
THE WEDGE IS
DRIVEN IN. WHEM
DRIVING WEDGE.
NOT REST THE
HANDLE ON ANY
FACE.
-14-34
K
24 SCOUTING
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 33, Number 2, February-March 1945, periodical, February 1945; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth313111/m1/26/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.