I would advise using greenwood; that is wood from a freshly felled tree, rather than the kiln dried stuff at the timber merchants. It is easier (indeed a great pleasure) to work, you know where it’s come from, and it’s cheaper too. For a few simple handles a pruned fruit tree branch is fine. There’s nothing wrong with a rustic handle simply cut from a coppiced pole, bark left on or off. But please don’t be tempted to cut without permission that which is not your own. Once the shape has been carved or turned it is important that the new handle dries out before fitting. A few weeks in the house should do it, with the last week in the airing cupboard (or similar) for tools which have an eye, like axes and froes.
Softwoods are not strong enough for tool handles, and those which have a striking action in use, such as axes and hammers should be made from a resilient wood such as ash or hickory. Otherwise any hardwood will do.
Historical reenactors will probably want to get the species “right”, a few pointers might help: Sweet chestnut is said to have been introduced with the Romans. Sycamore came to Britain in approx C15, but was a special rich persons garden ornament at first. In some of the highlands and islands of Scotland Birch was the only wood available, and so was used for everything. In much of mainland Britain Box and Yew were much more common than they are today, and were used a lot, as they are both hard, dense woods which polish up well. Most knife blades had wooden handles, and most of these were of box wood. Very few were lathe turned. Most were a simple cylinder until the C14 when some rectangular shapes began to appear. The “fawns foot” shape of axe handle did not appear until the C18. Viking axes have the handle put on like a pick-axe, that is the whole length of the handle is fed through the eye, the end swells out to stop it flying off.
Axes, adzes and hammers
Use ash or hickory wood. Carve the shape you want, remembering that much of the strength will be lost if you cut through the fibres of the grain. If you want a curved handle, start with a curved tree. Stop to grasp it in your hand as you would in use, make it comfortable to hold. An oval section is better than a round one.
If making a “fawns foot” end, keep it wide and flat until the head’s on, as you’ll need this to pound on with the mallet during assembly. When it’s all done, finish carving the end to a nice slant.
Shape the end which will go through the eye of the tool to be just a little too big, as it will shrink as it dries out. When it’s quite dry finish the shaping so it fits exactly. The ideal is such a tight fit that it has to be hammered in with a mallet. Look, mark, shave off a tiny bit - again and again. This should take at least 20 minutes. I can’t bear to see an axe which has had it’s oversized handle simply hammered in so that splinters of wood are forced off the outside (it looks like a partly peeled banana). Not only is this a horrible sight, but the part of the handle inside the eye of the axe has not been compressed as it should be, so there’s a good chance of it coming loose.
Before putting the head on, saw a slot in the end to take a wooden wedge. You will have made this in advance as it too should be bone dry. Use a very hard wood such as heart of Oak, which is traditional, or heart of Yew which is just as good and a pretty colour. The sides must be completely flat, and the top no more than 7mm thick or it will bounce out as you pound it in with the mallet. You may use glue between the wedge and handle, but not between the handle and eye of the tool. Start the wedge into the slot before putting the head on. I place the head over a partly opened vice, then lower the handle with wedge protruding onto it. Then pound away with a mallet hoping that it will go in, but not too easily. The wedge should be hanging free underneath. You will have carved a nice little shoulder to stop the handle from being pounded right through the tool, of course! (Unless you are a Viking.) Next turn the whole thing over and knock the wooden wedge in. If it bends over and breaks, then it’s in far enough. Restrain yourself from using it until the glue is dry.
It’s possible that the head might become loose in time, because the handle gets super dry, during the summer or next to the stove. Do not put it into a bucket of water! This causes the wood to swell, so it’s tight for a while, but as it dries again it’ll be looser than before, because the fibres of the handle will have become compressed beyond recovery during the swelling process. Get a little steel wedge such as are sold for hammers and drive it in at an angle to the wooden wedge. Nails and screws are no good.
Froes traditionally have handles about one and half as times the length of the blade. Because of the way froes are used, they are more likely to loose their handles. Start with a big wooden wedge, and have plenty of steel wedges ready!
Tools with tangs.
For these tools it doesn’t much matter which hardwood is used, although it should still be dry. When fitting the handles, do not heat the tang to burn a hole, or the tempering will be spoiled. Drill a hole using a bit the same size as the tang when viewed from the side, then it’ll be a nice tight fit. A perfectionist will use different sized bits, so as to create a tapering hole which fits the tapering tang. Blow the dust out of the hole, and then smear plenty of epoxy glue (such as Araldite) onto the tang before tapping the handle onto it with a mallet. Once the glue has set it will not pull off.
Ferrules will stop the handle from splitting, if this is likely because you will be hitting the end of it. Otherwise they should not be necessary. Some people use them because they haven’t drilled a large enough hole for the tang, so when they hammer the handle on it would be inclined to split; in this case the ferrule can be quite a loose fit as well, as final assembly will expand the wood inside it to fit. Ferrules can be simply made by cutting up copper or steel pipe, remember to file or sand the sharp edges. If you intend doing a lot of hammering on the end of a chisel or gouge it would be better to get those tools made with a socket, or at least a “button” to prevent the tang from being driven deeper and deeper into the handle. A do-it-yourself button can be added to a tanged chisel or gouge by filing out a seat and fitting a washer.
Draw knives and In shaves must have their handles well glued on, as the action of using the tool is trying to pull them off. I’ve tried several ways of getting round this, but an epoxy glue works best. In the past the tangs went right through the handles and were bradded over a little punch plate on the end. (Bradding is hitting with a hammer so as to form a nail head shape.) This was only possible when the tangs were made from good old proper wrought iron, which can be worked in this way, cold. My tools are carbon steel all over, but for authenticity-mad historical reenactors I can weld some wrought iron onto the ends of the tangs.Knives for carving and whittling wood, including the tiny crooked knife for spoon hollowing, need to be a comfortable shape. I’ve found that it’s nice to hold a shape that’s fat and oval in the middle and thin at each end. If you clench your fist with a piece of wet clay inside you’ll find the ideal shape for your handle. For creative carving with a small knife, the handle mustn’t get in the way, so it should taper down to almost nothing just behind the blade. It makes the drilling and fitting easier if this final tapering shape is done after the blade is in there, and the glue (if used) is dry.
The photo shows how well this “fat in the middle” shape fits into the hand. The knife is available from my catalogue, it’s called small carving knife.
Turning tools can have any old bit of branch for a handle. Indeed, this is what you’ll have to use if you need to have the tools working in order to turn beautiful handles for them!
© Bryony Driver 1999