Improve your CR-HAFT-SMANSHIP - Ax eyes taper at *BOTH* ends!

I used to "sha-KLANK" my ax heads on, same as the World's Most Beloved Axman way over west of us Minnesotans, in Vancouver, BC, does. I now consider the "sha-Klank fit" to be way, way too sloppy. Heads should not slide on as easily as that. Come see what I'm doing to up my game. (PS: Love ya, Buckin'! You keep doing you!) Account for the compound (bi-directional) taper in your axes' eyes. No more "bounce-back" when you wedge. No more "clicking" or walking up the tongue during the first chopping or splitting session. Your head will be optimally hung and stay that way. I'm a bit excessive, maybe? Do I need to be so fussy? After all, maybe as I have, you, too, have had luck with some careless hangs. Many hold up just fine. But it can seem a mystery why this one moves and this other one doesn't -- until you take them apart for a post-mortem "ax-topsy." My axtopsies always reveal the same cause: insufficient contact with the haft inside the eye. I think this video describes a way to ensure all your hangs will come out sound and secure for years to come. I won't sell or gift an ax to anyone now unless it's hung this precisely. The only ax I possibly would not rehang is one coming from Rod Cumberland, owner of the East Coast Lumberjack brand based out of New Brunswick, Canada, a renowned Timber Sports champion, coach and commentator, and patriarch of the Cumberland Timber Sports competition "dynasty" -- who's also a peerless Master Cr-HAFTER. Coach Cumberland was the first to see and comment on this very video. I pinned his comment at top to make sure you see his recommendation how best to remove heads you're hanging this tightly (use an appropriately sized ax eye drift). If I had the right tools, I'd do it his way, too. (And I'll keep experimenting till I conjure up something comparable!). My own admonition stands: You're only making trouble for yourself if you keep hitting the end of a tenon with a hammer or drive it through with anything less than a properly sized ax eye drift. Tickled pink he took time to help us out here. When it comes to hafting hand tools, he da man! (He hand-splits, creates and sells premium custom handles made to order -- including the world's best racing ax handles for elite Timber Sports competitors worldwide. #axes, #vintageaxes, #hangingaxes, #axemanship, #axerestoration, #axe, #vintagetools, #vintagetoolhunter, #woodchopping