Axe Handle

A handle from tornado wood for a vintage axe head

I made this handle from the same tornado wood I used for the fly box project. The axe head is a vintage single-bevel head I bought on eBay, and I wanted a handle that felt simple, strong, and closely fitted to the head.

Most of the shaping was done with a rasp and a spokeshave. I worked slowly at the top where the handle meets the eye of the axe, taking off a little at a time and checking the fit repeatedly until it seated cleanly.

One small design experiment was leaving some sapwood visible along one side. It was interesting to see in process, but in the end I did not like the look of it in the finished tool, so I took that back out. It was a useful lesson in what this piece wanted to be.

One of my favorite parts of this piece is the knot that runs through the middle of the handle. It leaves a pattern in the finished wood that gives the tool a little more character without feeling ornamental.

Now I use this axe for shaping wood for other projects, so it has already gone from one tornado-wood project into the making of the next ones.