axe hafts

[Phil Pascoe]

An acquaintance has a very nice huge old Elwell felling axe head, and not being a user of computers is struggling to find a haft. The "eye" - I don't know if there is a proper name for it - is a dead 100mm, and I can't find one quite that large.

 

[Rorschach]

How far off is the closest you can find? If it's only a little bit then you could graft on some material.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If it were mine, that's what I'd do, but he's a dealer and just wants to sell it on. Looking at the cost of large hafts, I suspect he'll make more cleaning it up and selling it as it is - he'd be better off selling it for £25 than paying £40 for a haft, fitting it, and struggling to sell it for £60.

 

[Rorschach]

Ah yes, fair enough.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I told the chap who works for him that the best I could find was up to £40, and for the bother of trying to fit it he'd be better selling it for £25 than fitting it and try to sell it for £65. Oh. don't worry, he's already sold it, he said. How much did he get for it? I asked. £25.
It'll be on ebay - the guy who bought it said it would go to the States or Canada.

 

[AndyT]

At least he's reduced the risk that the wooden handle will be "accidentally" seized as being a forbidden species. I don't expect that all US customs staff can tell rosewood from ash.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It was badly worm eaten so he was going to remove it anyway.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

An ash log and another axe is one way. I wonder why the Americans want them, surely they have their own fairly long history of chopping down trees ? I suppose if it heads across the water, it might find a nice hickory handle.