How To Make And Fit A Carving Axe Handle - Soulwood Creations (aka Peter Kovacs)
I spent time with the talented Peter Kovacs of Soulwood Creations at his workshop in West Yorkshire in the North of England
Peters Website - www.soulwoodcreations.com
Peters Instagram - / soulwood_creations
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Below are the videos in this entire series filmed with Peter:
1. How To Carve A Spoon - • How To Carve A Spoon -...
2. Carving Knife Handle Ergonomics - • Carving Knife Handle E...
3. How To Make And Fit A Carving Knife Handle - • How To Make & Fit A Ca...
4. Carving Axe Handle Ergonomics - • Carving Axe Handle Erg...
5. How To Make And Fit A Carving Axe Handle - *THIS VIDEO YOU ARE WATCHING*
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Below is a timestamp of all the sections in this video:
(Click on the time on the left to go straight to that section)
00:00:00 - Start
00:00:16 - Introduction
00:03:59 - Axe background
00:06:04 - Wood species
00:07:35 - Wood selection
00:11:02 - Sourcing wood
00:15:13 - Axe head anatomy
00:20:23 - Making axe head template
00:26:57 - Marking handle shape
00:35:30 - Saw handle outline
00:40:37 - Saw handle thickness
00:46:12 - Saw palm swell
00:47:43 - Hollowing palm swell
00:53:53 - Understanding facets
01:00:56 - Router initial facets
01:02:11 - Bobbing sander curves
01:06:50 - Choosing shape of axe head
01:09:23 - Marking axe head hole on handle
01:13:37 - Drawknife selection
01:15:58 - Shaping handle head with drawknife
01:29:25 - Best hammer for hanging axe head
01:30:15 - Begin hanging axe head
01:37:44 - Technique for removing axe head
01:38:52 - Avoid axe head sharpening
01:39:28 - Hanging axe head
01:51:55 - Shaping handle facets
02:13:55 - Orbital sanding palm swell
02:14:45 - Shaping handle facets
02:17:04 - Sawing pummel
02:19:08 - Sanding pummel
02:20:21 - Carving pummel
02:24:38 - Cutting slot for wedge
02:28:13 - Making the wedge
02:32:43 - Final prep for hanging
02:36:29 - Oiling handle
02:40:35 - Hanging axe head
02:41:15 - Preparing wedge
02:42:40 - Wedge angle & length
02:43:38 - Inserting wedge
02:46:06 - Trimming wedge
02:49:07 - Showcase final axe
02:50:03 - Testing finished axe
02:52:32 - Conclusion
02:55:44 - How to buy a Soulwood Creations axe
02:59:50 - Outro
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As always I appreciate you watching
Take care
Peace
Zed
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zedoutdoors.com/youtube/how-t...
#AxeHandle #Carving #Woodworking
Watch 'Part One' where Peter talks about carving axe handle ergonomics - kzhead.info/sun/Z5aHepV-qomGlGw/bejne.html Check out Peter's custom carving Axes - www.soulwoodcreations.com
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This was by far the most detailed tutorial about making an axe handle you will ever find on KZhead. Peter, thanks for your kindness to share your knowledge!
Sincerely appreciate your kind words and for watching Jens thank you ~Peace~
Thank you Jensen. I am so glad it was useful to you. Zed did a stellar job with this video of me rambling on about facets and handles.....
This is the fourth time watching and i am still in AWE ! I would LOVE to have and use that particular axe! You rock! Jeff Soule
I only recently got my own Soulwood creations carving axe and it was worth the wait ~Peace~
I think the video speaks for itself, and all thats left to say is a great big THANK YOU!!!
You are very kind thank you ~Peace~
Zed you are a genius! Bringing so much gems to all of us! Thank you!
Sincerely appreciate your kind words and for watching, thank you! ~Peace~
I managed to make this axe handle and it looks and feels amazing. Such a great tutorial, I deeply appreciate sharing this since it is basically impossible to order now. Well worth the effort.
It's wonderful to hear you found this video useful Shane and I believe Peter does still open up his order books for these axes, so worth checking out his website and Instagram for more updates ~Peace~
One of the best teachers ever! Thank you!
High praise for Peter and thoroughly deserved, thank you for watching ~Peace~
Wow this is such an amazing and insightful video. Chill, no nonsense, no music. Pure craftsmanship and a great tutorial.
Sincerely appreciate your kind words and for watching my friend ~Peace~
the tooth pattern on that Japanese Pull Saw is so cool! I have not seen that before but it looks very good for cutting
Hi Nathan, yes they work in a pull fashion as opposed to push with western saws, and they come in all sizes for different uses ~Peace~
Yeah, they are an epiphany. Those saws are very thin and cut a narrow kerf. Historically, Western saws have been fat(do to the rough metallurgy, a century ago) . A Western saw can take brutal abuse and survive, but requires more energy to cut and push out all of those chips. The thin Japanese kerf with sharp teeth results in a saw that almost "slices" through a board. Try one out!
Having used Peter's axe for a while now, I can vouch for them! Seriously good craftsman. Looking forward to watching this one Zed!
Peter mentioned you using one of his axes and you sure picked one of the best out there. Appreciate you stopping by Mike and hope you've been keeping well ~Peace~
when two channels you love shake hands on the internet 🤝🤯
I learned so much! Thank you for such a great tutorial 👍 cheers from Canada!
Sincerely appreciate your kind words and for watching, thank you ~Peace~
Incredible detail and teaching! Thank you!
Thank you kindly Bruce ~Peace~
Absolute fantastic tutorial! Peter is an amazingly skilled craftsman, as good as anyone anywhere and far better than most! Thanks for sharing!
Sincerely appreciate your kind words and for watching Ken thank you ~Peace~
Üdv Magyarországról! Köszönöm a videót!
Köszönjük a figyelmet ~Peace~
Thanks Zed I do love it when a craftsman shares his hard learned skills and techniques so others can keep these ways going. Thanks also to Peter for your understanding of what goes into making a good tool 👍
Sincerely appreciate your kind words and for watching my friend ~Peace~
Wow, this video moved me. Mainly for Peter's generosity and time spent. And thank you for the great detail and addition to my skill set. I wish you both all the best.
You are very Kind Gino and indeed I am ver grateful to Peter for his great teaching ~Peace~
I lived on working farm in Canada over well 40 yrs ago where we split all of our heating wood. Of course, handles would succumb to novice splitters like myself. I was tasked with making new handles from local cut ash and Ironwood (hop hornbeam). This was my first opportunity to learn working with wood at age 18. Hatchets, draw knives, spoke-shaves, and rasps were all employed. We would cut the rough blanks from green wood, then place them in the barn with fresh hay for a year to cure. This really brings back memories. Thanks Peter and Zed.
Thats awesome to hear and shaping hornbeam must have been tough going! ~Peace~
The tapering of the facets on the ax handle make sense to me from an ergonomic standpoint. There is a reason so many wooden tool handles from the past were octagon in shape. Anyone who has ever driven a nail with an antique claw hammer should immediately understand. Very nice video, thanks guys.
Peter's simply sharing what he feels has worked for him and the many carvers who use his axes. Esp considering he's made hundreds of axes and is a very proficient carver himself. At the end of the day you go for what works for you ~Peace~
Peter, you are a craftsman! Love my Soulwood ax! Wonderful tool to hold and use!
You're part of the cool club owning one of Peters axes :) many thanks for watching David ~Peace~
Yet another great video my friend. Also thank you to Peter for sharing his detailed process with everyone. 🙏
Thank you kindly my man and indeed am super grateful to Peter for sharing his knowledge so openly so that it may help others ~Peace~
Like all true craftsmen a Peter makes this job look so easy. Thank you for sharing Peter and axed for the ground work ~Respect
Appreciate you watching and for your kind words and for watching Glen ~Peace~
Nice job ! As a fellow woodworker I appreciate the rustic/ artistic approach you take on. Carry on friend.
Sincerely appreciate your kind words and for watching Phil ~Peace~
This is the kind of stuff I subscribed for. Thank you for your commitment to - and excellence in - producing these long-form tutorial videos. Fantastic as always.
Thank you kindly Josh and am chuffed to hear these videos are helping in some way with your own carving journey ~Peace~
Excellent video, Peter is a natural teacher thoroughly enjoyed it.
That awesome to hear and indeed, Peter is great in front of camera and explains everything so well ~Peace~
Thank you for taking the time and effort to make this video and sharing valuable knowledge of the process guys. Good job!
We sincerely appreciate your kind words and for watching ~Peace~
WOW again. This has been a great series. Thank you so much for putting these out, and like you mentioned, Peter is a wonderful teacher. I learned a lot and am looking forward to trying out some of these techniques in my next axe handle project. Thanks again, Zed.
I sincerely appreciate your kind words and for watching Derek thank you ~Peace~
Im not sure what im more impressed with your cutting skills or that band saw
Or both! :) ~Peace~
Excellent video, very informative, and I happen to have found it right when I will get the most use from it. I can't say I deal with carving axes or bearded axes in general, but I have recently been trying to mill my own handles from oak, which I have running out of my ears. I'm a carpenter by trade and cut trees down for people who I know that need them gone but can't afford the often exorbitant prices that many arborists charge, so the wood I'm looking to use ranges from very green to actually having been sitting in my garage for a year or so drying out, I feel like this info has been very helpful, not to mention informative, to me. I have messed a few handles up, from hatchet handles, to hammer and maul, to splitting ace handles. Although I can make them work they've been missing something, which I hope has been cleared up now from watching a true professional and hearing the reasoning behind every curve and swell I'm a handle. Thank you both for the time and major effort which was put into this video. You've at least won a subscriber if nothing else
Hi Stephen I appreciate the connection and for the kind words. It's insightful hearing about the porcess you're working through and hopefully this video has helped fill in some gaps. Do let me know how you get on and take care my friend ~Peace~
Excellent tutorial, thankyou!
Many thanks ~Peace~
Amazing tutorial through and through. Very interesting from start to finish since I had no idea how this work was done. I hope to one day own one of his beautiful axes. Thanks Zed !!!
His axes are genuinely some of the best out there and I sincerely appreciate your kind words as well as for watching Scott thank you ~Peace~
Excellent video, thank you for this very informative explanation and demonstration of the axe handle to head fit.
Sincerely appreciate your kind words and for watching Mark thank you ~Peace~
Hey zeddy what a great video your a lucky man to be friends with people like that I learned heaps from this video so thank you for that 😁
Thats awesome to hear Shane and thank you for your kind words ~Peace~
Great tutorial! I always love the videos you post. Super precise, EVERY detail. Thank you Peter and Zed.
Sincerely appreciate your kind words and for watching, thank you ~Peace~
Wonderful awesome video many many thanks to PETER MANY BLESSINGS May you continue your wonderful work for ever I do some carving and wood turning I truly appreciate your awesome work. Many thanks again. Asta Luego BUEN CAMINO
Thank you so much Wilberto and take care my friend ~Peace~
Man that was a good video. Well done guys, I took a lot away from it! Thanks Peter and Zed....I'll be watching more of your stuff in the near future!!
Sincerely appreciate your kind words and for watching my friend thank you ~Peace~
Outstanding Video Thanks 😎
Many thanks for watching and for your kind words ~Peace~
Im gonna be honest i woke up at 1am this morning and put this video on so i had some relaxing carving background noises and it worked great
Thats great to hear and hope you're able to sleep better moving forward :) ~Peace~
@@Zedoutdoors thank you appreciate the long format content keep up the work
Brilliant!
Thank you kindly ~Peace~
Great film, cheers Zed, nice work Peter.
Thank you kindly my friend ~Peace~
Okay, I'm convinced! I can't make an axe 🪓 handle. Beautiful work!
lol i'm the same, hence why I leave it to the professionals such as Peter Kovacs :) ~Peace~
Thank you for another excellent video Zed. Both you and Peter are phenomenal at what you do.
You are very kind Liam thank you ~Peace~
Masterpiece
High praise for Peters work and tuition ~Peace~
man zed, you are killing my algorithim with this long videos :P im getting longer and longer commercials now lol. but really enjoy the great content you put out, keep the good work up
I do apologise about that, I know the ads are annoying but they help in a very small way cover my basic fuel costs for the month. Appreciate your patience watching the videos! ~Peace~
What an amazing video tutorial! Thank you so much for that. 💯👍
You are very kind Kevin thank you ~Peace~
Fabulous video, top quality as always, your videos have been an inspiration and partly the reason i have recently started spòon carving. Thanks for both of you taking the time.
Thats awesome to hear Paul and sincerely wishing you the best in your carving journey ~Peace~
Awesome work. Such talent & skill.😀😀
Amen to that and thank you for watching ~Peace~
Beautiful craftsmanship. Great to see you Zed. It’s D. This is my new channel. ATB. D😎🇺🇸
Great to hear from you D and hope all is well across the pond ~Peace~
amazing video. very in depth and well discussed. Thank you for sharing your talents with us.
Many thanks for watching and for the kind words ~Peace~
excellent video Zed, excellent work, everything is shown in detail, three weeks ago he was just making a handle for an ax for chopping wood when he broke an old bet for work, but it was already really old and was somewhat spoiled from moisture, and the workloads were serious , in general, I had to do it quickly, as a result, I did it and I split the firewood, I like making handles for the tool, adjusting everything for convenience, experimenting with the shape, looking for a more comfortable one.
Hi Andrew I appreciate your kind words and for watching thank you. Indeed all that matters is that the handle works best for your needs and preferences, the beauty with wood is that you can reshape as much as is needed. Stay well my friend ~Peace~
Looks amazing
Tis a lovely axe he ended up making ~Peace~
Thanks for this!
Thank you kindly Tom! ~Peace~
AWESOME!!!!!
Thasnk you kindly Ron! ~Peace~
Superb!
Thank you kindly James ~Peace~
It is nice to watch the all video from start to the end. Thank you for sharing tips and trick Peter. Is there any plan your head of axe. I want to make toys for my suns like same as you. Looking forward to the new one.
Thank you for your kind words and for watching, the other videos we filmed are linked to in the description below the video ~Peace~
Right on!!!
My man ~Peace~
Very Very Nice Thank You!
Thank you kindly Joe ~Peace~
Use a polarized filter for removing reflection from windows, car window reflection, water pond reflection to see fish in pond.
Appreciate the advice thank you ~Peace~
Question Zed, I have put handles on hand tools with axes hand axes. In the USA we have always used a metal wedge. I have noticed that in the UK, you just use a wooden one explain please. Thank you , David Roberts Eagle Point, Oregon
Hi David, the metal and wooden wedges both do the same thing, the reason why the wooden wedge is preferred is becuase they are typically easier to remove if adjustment is needed on the handle fitting ~Peace~
Extremely beautyfull work and axe,.! must have some viking blood there,>!
Sincerely appreciate you watching and for your kind words ~Peace~
nice video
Thank you kindly ~Peace~
Nice Work! Do you ever make split timber handles? Some say they last longer but it's hard to find any real concrete evidence. Thanks for the video.
Appreciate you watching and you can ask Peter that question directly via his Instagram / Website which is linked to in the description below the video ~Peace~
Bravissimo. Molto bravo
Grazie mille ~Peace~
My next carving axe will be a Soulwood Creations' one.
A great choice as even i'm on Peters waiting list for one ~Peace~
Where does he get his axe heads? I'm having trouble in the states finding a quality head for carving.
Feel free to message Peter directly, I have linked to both his Instagram and Blog just below the video ~Peace~
Any chance we can get a pattern to download to make our own? It's not feasible to order a handle from the UK for me. Thank you
Alas there's no pattern you can download, Peter has shared everything he can in this video so you can customise it to fit your needs ~Peace~
Muito bom
Obrigado ~Peace~
Pete doesn't blink 😶
lol :) ~Peace~
Does peter make the axe heads as well?
Peter designed the axe head and they are hand forged by an experienced blacksmith back in his native Hungary. Peter tests and sharpens every axe head himself. The rest of the components he makes himself ~Peace~
Всичко е добро,искам да попитам какъв е този нож толкова остър ?
Благодаря ви, че гледахте ~Peace~
cool
Thank you kindly ~Peace~
I want me one of them axes, just beautiful, and d*mn when you took that axe to the cherry, we're talking Luke's light saber level of cutting. Maybe Obi Wan's light carving axe? Naw, doesn't sound right. BUT I have so many wants that will never be fulfilled. Guess I'm stuck with my seventeen dollar Fiskars hatchet with like a 2" blade (that I just cratered to h*ll debarking an oak log that some cheeky b*st*rd put a couple nails into without my knowledge - managed to cut the head off one of the nails with the Fiskars hatchet before I realized there wasn't some supernatural force bonding the bark to the log). Thank you Zed, as always. The first time I saw one of your videos, many years ago now, but even then you were rather late to youtube bushcraft, I was like "who is this shnoz, and what is going on with this guy?" I was a bit skeptical, to be sure, but from the get go, I was hooked on your polite mannerism and delivery, so to speak, and since then I've derived so many wonderful hours of relaxation and enjoyment from all of your videos filmed from idyllic locations (I live in a high desert, we don't even have trees here, or water, for that matter), with really cool, humble, inspirational people. I've also learned so much from all of your vids, last birthday I bought a little Mora spoon and carving knife, after making do with Companions for a decade or more, and have managed to carve several spoons with holes in the bowls, F- for me, but A+ for you mate, you're top notch. And thanks to Peter, if it weren't for OCD, insane b*st*rds like you, and Zed, and me, I guess, how much beauty and competency would pass from the world? The world would surely be even worse, which is hard to imagine. So, thanks for sharing your insight and experience. This is a video I will undoubtedly watch many times over to wring all of the value out of your instruction. Thanks again.
Sincerely appreciate your insights, thoughts and more importantly for watching as long as you have, it truly means the world to me and sincerely hoping the rest of this year is good to you. Stay blessed my friend ~Peace~
Mr.Peter how much for one of your axes please sir
Hi Tommy, there is information on this website regarding the price of his axes and how to order one - www.soulwoodcreations.com
👍👍
Thank you Luc ~Peace~
Who made the axe head?
Normally his axe heads are hand forged in Hungary, in this particular video it was made by a British blacksmith ~Peace~
I like to have one...let me know .....
Find out more details here - soulwoodcreations.com
Are you no longer producing axes and knives?
He is still producing them, he makes them in batches and all the details are on his website - soulwoodcreations.com/
Did covid get him , there is nothing for sale on his web site at all ?
He does scheduled presells for his axes so you need to join his emai newsletter to get notified when the next batch go up for sale ~Peace~
Can you give me the handle drawing?
Hi Ali he has shared enough in this video, the drawing you will have to do yourself using the advise in this tutorial ~Peace~
pppeeerrrffeect...
Thank you kindly! ~Peace~
.....Makes spoon blank in 30 seconds.... 😱
I know right, very skilled carver ~Peace~
Mostly a carving axe is held at the top of the haft .it was great until the electric sander came out! Kind of ruined all that hand tool work?
A carving axe is not always held at the top of the haft, the idea is to use different parts of the handle depending on what style of cut you are doing. Reg the sander, he's more than capable of doing it by hand, however, the purpose of this video is to show the process he uses when making these in batches. Being a Puritan doesn't always help pay bills when making these for a living ~Peace~
@Zedoutdoors ah yeah sorry ,I use a carpenter's for the roughing out and then a carving, didn't get the multiple production 👍
Fantastic work😊
Indeed Peter is very talented, many thanks for watching Stefan ~Peace~