Question on an Iroquois axe

I recently was given an Iroqouis axe for christmas from TOW. When it was recieved the head and shaft were not together. So I was wondering when put together was it supposed to be loose? or should I put a wedge in the shaft to tighten the head?
I am happy with the axe head itself and already have browned it..The shaft I will stain a dark brown and put a few brass tacks in it..Hoping it will make a good throwing hawk, BUT after I get done with it..might be too pretty to toss.. :shake:

well as its a gift I would hesitate to toss it myself, but thats just me!
if the head is loose I would definitely reccomend the wedge to secure it and help ensure a longer life.

I've given up on wedges. They work, but sooner or later the handles split up there unless everything is perfect. I put a little extra effort into the taper (shallow rather than steep) of the handle instead, getting a really good press fit. I never got into the tossing thing so can't comment on it for that use, but with a little care in getting a good fit, I've never had a handle come loose in use. Yet it's easy to remove when a handle breaks.

fwiw, i agree with BrownBear ... never had much luck with wedges, but a good taper works well.

Picture????

S.kenton said:

I recently was given an Iroqouis axe for christmas from TOW.

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Is it an axe with a straight eye, or a tomahawk with a tapered eye?

It's a tomahawk with a straight-ish eye. :idunno: I have one and there isn't that much taper to the eye. I've taken a file to the handle and removed some wood for a tighter fit, but without better taper, it still loosens up quickly.

so the issue is with the handle.. do they make a better handle for this hawk? Any other methods of tightening up the handle?

Goldhunter said:

It's a tomahawk with a straight-ish eye. :idunno: I have one and there isn't that much taper to the eye. I've taken a file to the handle and removed some wood for a tighter fit, but without better taper, it still loosens up quickly.

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I'm confused. Are you answering for S.Kenton?

It's a fairly common Hawk sold by TOW. I'M hoping I can get a better handle for it...

Just looked at Tracks site,
It takes the standard handle which means it's a tapered head.
All most all, well I'll say all of those tapered hawk heads need to have the handle fitted.
I use a 4-in-1 rasp to shape the top of the handle to fit the head. It takes several IN/OUT fittings to get it nice.
Another common trouble is folks cut the handle off flush with the top of the head. If it's used for hawk toss the handle wood get's crushed a bit and very soon that flush part is lower than the top of the head.

It's been my experiance, it's best to leave the handle of a hawk that's going to be used in hawk toss, light color or natural. If you flip a dark handle in the tall grass they can be a dickens to find. Be sure the turf behind the block is open if you use a dark handle, if it's up against the tree line an brush ya just might lose it.

Claude said:

Goldhunter said:

It's a tomahawk with a straight-ish eye. :idunno: I have one and there isn't that much taper to the eye. I've taken a file to the handle and removed some wood for a tighter fit, but without better taper, it still loosens up quickly.

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I'm confused. Are you answering for S.Kenton?

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Not for him but I have the same blade. Mine has no taper in the eye so my guess is his doesn't either.

S.kenton said:

so the issue is with the handle.. do they make a better handle for this hawk? Any other methods of tightening up the handle?

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