Thread: Is this a Kelly axe

I've had this one for ages while I "um and ah" about shelling out $50 bloody dollars for a handle
I saw a tomohawk handle the other day that was the thick end of $40

Kelly Silver Eagle
Made in Canada
3lb 11oz..... 1.682kg

Nice. I got my last one from Leech wood products in CHCH, expensive but what isn't nowadays. What you will find is the average run of the mill axe handle from the hardware places now usually aren't big enough in the eye for the old school heads - the new fangled ones just don't work. The Leech one needed a wee bit of trimming which is the preferred option for me, easy to sand down hard to make it grow!

I've been having the idea of making my own handles for a while - it's just bloody hard finding decent timber that's actually publicly available without someone wanting more than a ready-made important stick. The actual making of the handle isn't hard, it's the sourcing the timber. You can get one or maybe two suitable pieces off the deck where there is suitable stands in crown land, where it's had time to dry on the ground but no real point taking wet wood - suitable stuff takes years to season and dry.

I've got one made from Blue gum branch.deliberately have left it a bit fat.works well.

Originally Posted by NIMROD

I've had this one for ages while I "um and ah" about shelling out $50 bloody dollars for a handle
I saw a tomohawk handle the other day that was the thick end of $40

Kelly Silver Eagle
Made in Canada
3lb 11oz..... 1.682kg

Attachment 257231 Attachment 257232

Buy a cheap shitty axe from the warehouse for $20 and swap the handle over

Trouble with that is most of the cheap shitty jobbies are glued in with fibreglass rosin type stuff.

If you really want to clean it up, boil it in water for an hour.
Then scrub all the gunk off with 0000 grade steel wool.
Or just hit it with a wire brush and it should look sweet as.

so what else would work gum saligna ?? I have logged that - they are the real tall straight ones with pale smooth bark - horrible as a cross cutter - they talk to you as soon as the chainsaw is out - creak and groan under tension - was used for yard rails should be okay - kauri was used as spars recycled stuff maybe a go - tawa well a real outsider but was used by early maori for spears - but would it last maybe not goes off quick as firewood - ironbark gum as used for railway sleepers bloody hard as - rata no- pohutukawa possibly - matai maybe dont know about that one is a very strong wood -rimu no - walnut maybe- hickory oak cherry are all good and used overseas

Rewarewa/honey suckle certainly hard enough. The gum Branch was just one that had a bit of swell where side branch came off,I looked at it and it said knob on end of axe handle.so that bit got chucked in rafters of shed to dry for 12months.

The handle makers over here use Spotted Gum. Nice straight grain, not to heavy and has a bit of give in it. Hickory is the classic handle timber.
I’ve just rehandled a Hytest and use a hickory handle. It’s a big 5lb head. The handle is American hickory made by Bahco.



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I can remember as a young "up and coming" teenager, pestering my parents to drop me off at the kaweka's and pick me up a few days later.
Mum bought me a Rex Forrester book, and it had a chapter dedicated to what one needed in his Trapper Nelson pack for a weeks hunting trip.
And one of those bits of kit was "a 4lb axe"...... his wording from memory was "I never go anywhere without a good 4lb axe"

Oh how times have changed.

Originally Posted by Dicko

The handle makers over here use Spotted Gum. Nice straight grain, not to heavy and has a bit of give in it. Hickory is the classic handle timber.
I’ve just rehandled a Hytest and use a hickory handle. It’s a big 5lb head. The handle is American hickory made by Bahco.



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I looked at those Bahco poles when I was looking for a handle for my Hytest head - none in stock or available as the boat was delayed! There's another couple of brands available like Freund, Truper, Helko (very spendy) but the best I found for price and availability was the Leech option. The Freund option had a square eye, fit yourself... The Truper was borderline size wise for the Kelly axe head eyes but was OK for the Hytest - the only one I found was not straight though.

May the purists please forgive the sins committed to these before I took ownership.