The following guide was very kindly provided by Woodlore customer and Camp Craft course attendee Martin Dryden:

Hi Woodlore, Just wanted to drop you a line to say thanks again for sorting out the Wildlife Hatchet Axe Head for me. It took a little while to source some suitable Ash and to shape the handle, but below are some pictures. The axe head is a really high-quality item and was a pleasure to work with. My Small Forest Axe (issued on the Camp Craft Course) made light work of the job of splitting the Ash log I had. The wedge is the Holly Glut I made on the course also, so it’s now served use again.

[caption id="attachment_1495" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Fitting a new axe handle[/caption]

Once in half I split them down into quarters, which gave about the right size I felt to work with. In retrospect, I may have been better splitting it into 1/6 rather than 1/4, but we learn by doing.

[caption id="attachment_1496" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Fitting a new axe handle[/caption]

I then worked one of these down to a suitable-sized board. It was hard work as the Ash was seasoned and not green!

[caption id="attachment_1497" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Fitting a new axe handle[/caption]

I used the existing Small Forest Axe as a guide to mark out a handle, with some slight tweaking and roughed out the shape.

[caption id="attachment_1493" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Fitting a new axe handle[/caption]

With the axe, crooked knife and carving knife I set to carving the basic shape I wanted; then lots of trial fitting of the head and taking this down to fit. Getting the alignment right also took some time, but with practice this would get easier.

[caption id="attachment_1499" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Fitting a new axe handle[/caption]

The finished axe - it took a lot of shaping to get it to fit the head right and to fit my hand how I wanted it. I see improvements I would make next time and mistakes I would try and avoid. However, I think it turned out quite well. Lots of scraping to get a smooth surface and a boiled linseed oil finish.

[caption id="attachment_1498" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Fitting a new axe handle[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1502" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Fitting a new axe handle[/caption]

It’s got an Oak Wedge with a metal wedge across this.

[caption id="attachment_1503" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Fitting a new axe handle[/caption]

The two axes side by side - the Wildlife Axe has a 40cm length in total and feels really light and easy to use. It will be great for light carving jobs, spoons etc.

[caption id="attachment_1494" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Fitting a new axe handle[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1500" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Fitting a new axe handle[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1501" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Fitting a new axe handle[/caption]

Just again to say thanks for all the help in sourcing the axe head. A big thanks to Ray as well for inspiring me to have a go, with the great Northern Wilderness series. The problem now is wanting to do more and learn more each time. I have three more sections to play with and if I ever need to source more I will definitely look for green wood. That said, using seasoned shortened the time I had to wait before fitting the axe head. Thanks Woodlore – all of you.