Most guys come across a double bit axe one of two ways. Either they find one in a barn or an estate sale and wonder what the heck they are looking at, or they see one hanging on somebody's wall and start asking questions. Either way, they want to know the same thing: what is this tool actually for, and is it worth keeping?
The answer is yes. And if the handle is shot, here is how to fix that.
A Brief History Worth Knowing
The double bit axe is one of the more distinctly American tools ever made. It came into its own around the time of the Civil War, when commercial logging in the northern United States was exploding into a serious industry. Before the chainsaw existed, the axe was everything. Loggers were paid by the stump, which meant time spent sharpening was money left on the ground.
The double bit solved that problem neatly. Keep one edge finely honed for clean cuts in clear wood, let the other edge go a little coarser for dirty work, knots, limbing near the ground, anything that might nick or dull a good edge. When the sharp side got tired, rotate the handle and keep working. Sharpen at night, earn all day.
The design caught on fast in the lake states and the Pacific Northwest. It became so associated with the professional lumberjack that when Paul Bunyan entered American folklore, that double bit axe came with him. The U.S. Post Office famously got it wrong on a Paul Bunyan stamp, showing him with a single bit. The Boy Scouts, to their credit, got it right.
The double bit largely followed the chainsaw into retirement for commercial work, but the tool never disappeared. Vintage heads show up at estate sales and barn cleanouts constantly. A good one is worth re-handling. A great one is worth putting on the wall while you figure out what to do with it, and then re-handling it anyway.
What a Double Bit Axe Is Actually Used For
The two edges are the whole point, and they were almost never ground identically. The traditional working method was to keep one side sharp enough for felling and chopping clean wood, and the other side beveled a little more bluntly for rough work. This let a logger go all day without stopping to file. When one edge was working hard, the other was resting.
Some woodsmen ran both sides at the same grind and simply rotated to extend sharpness across a long day. Both approaches are legitimate depending on what you are doing with the tool.
The balance of a double bit axe is different from a single bit in a way that surprises people the first time they pick one up. Because the weight is symmetrical, there is no poll to counterbalance the bit. The whole head is balanced front to back, which makes the tool more accurate on the swing than most people expect. The handles are also straight rather than curved for this reason. A curved handle on a double bit is awkward and rare. If you see one advertised, it is usually the old Adirondack pattern, which is a regional curiosity and not the standard.
What a double bit axe is not particularly suited for is splitting firewood. The geometry is wrong for it. The bits are ground for cutting across grain, not for driving through it. If you are looking at a double bit and wondering whether it can replace your splitting axe, the answer is that it can in a pinch, but it was not built for that job and it will remind you of that regularly.
What Is Different About Re-Handling a Double Bit
If you have already re-handled a single bit axe, you know the basic process. The double bit is the same job with a few things worth knowing before you start.
The handle is straight. This is not optional. A double bit axe takes a straight handle, period. If you put a curved single bit handle on a double bit head, the alignment will be off and the axe will not swing true. Straight hickory handles for double bit axes run typically from 28 inches for a cruiser or saddle axe up to 36 inches for a full-size felling head. The most common sizes for standard heads are 34 and 36 inches. Know what size head you have before you order a handle.
The head has two shoulders to worry about. On a single bit axe, the shoulder of the handle stops the head from sliding down. A double bit handle has a shoulder on both ends because the head can theoretically travel either direction depending on how it was hung. When you are fitting the tenon, you need to check that the head sits correctly relative to both shoulders and that neither is going to allow unintended movement.
Alignment matters twice. With a single bit, you sight down the handle to make sure the edge lines up with the handle's centerline. With a double bit, both edges need to line up with that centerline. If the head is canted on the handle, one edge is correct and the other is wrong. Take your time with this. It is easier to catch on the bench than after the wedge is driven.
Everything else is the same job you have done before. Here is the full process.
What You Will Need
- Drill and long bit
- Pin punch or cold chisel
- Wood rasp or coarse file
- Mallet, rubber or wooden
- Handsaw or coping saw
- Boiled linseed oil
- Your new straight hickory double bit handle and wedge
Step 1: Remove the Old Handle
Drill straight down through the center of the old handle and through the wooden wedge at the top. You are relieving the compression that is holding everything together. Drill in stages.
Once the wedge material is cleared, use a punch and mallet to drive the remaining stub out through the bottom of the eye. Work slow, especially if this is a vintage head you are trying to preserve. A vise with padded jaws and patient drilling will get out anything that a punch cannot reach.
Some double bit handles were secured with screws or nails through the handle just below the eye, particularly on older factory-hung heads. Pull those first before you try to punch anything out.
Step 2: Clean the Eye and Check the Head
Hold the bare head up to light and look through both eyes. Double bit axe eyes tend to be more symmetrical than single bit eyes, which makes fitting slightly more predictable, but you still want to check for rust, debris, and deformation.
This is the moment to evaluate the head. Look at both bits. Are the cheeks cracked? Has the steel been ground back so far that the geometry is gone? A little rust and pitting is normal on a vintage head and nothing to worry about. Cracks in the steel are a different matter.
If the head is sound, clean the eyes with a wire brush and get to work.
Step 3: Fit the Handle
Take your straight hickory handle and try the tenon in the eye. It should not slide through. You want resistance at about a third to halfway down before it stops. If it drops through freely, the handle is undersized for this head.
Use your rasp to remove material from the high spots on the tenon. Go slow and test the fit constantly. Before you get too far, mark the eye. Hold the head at its final seated position and trace a pencil line around the handle at the bottom of the eye. That is your target. You are not going to reach it with hand pressure alone. You will close the remaining gap when you drive the wedge.
Check alignment at every stage. Sight down the handle with the head on. Both edges should track along the centerline of the handle. If either one is canting off, you know which side of the tenon to work.
Do not rush this step. You cannot put wood back on.
Step 4: Cut the Kerf
If the handle did not come with a kerf already cut, or if the existing kerf is not deep enough, cut one now. The kerf runs down the centerline of the tenon, perpendicular to the bits, straight front to back. You want it to run roughly two thirds of the way through the eye when the head is fully seated.
Use a thin handsaw blade and cut straight. A narrow kerf is easier to work with than a wide one. The wedge will fill the space.
Trim the top of the handle to leave about a quarter inch of proud wood above the eye when the head is fully hung. That extra stub is your backup retention if anything ever tries to work loose.
Step 5: Seat the Head
Hold the handle vertically with the head-end up. Lower the head onto the tenon by hand as far as it will go. Then flip the whole assembly over and hold the handle horizontal with the head hanging. Strike the butt of the handle firmly with your mallet. The inertia of the head drives it up the handle with each blow.
Work in small increments. Stop when the head is just short of your pencil line and the fit is solid with no wobble or play.
Step 6: Drive the Wedge
Set the wooden wedge into the kerf by hand pressure and then drive it with the mallet. Keep it centered and straight. A wedge that goes in crooked can split the handle, and on a double bit head where the eye is worked from both sides, a split handle is a problem.
Drive until the wedge is fully seated and the head is locked with no movement. Trim the proud handle and wedge flush with a coping saw. If you are adding a metal cross wedge, drive it now, perpendicular to the wood wedge.
Shake the whole thing hard. Nothing should move.
Step 7: Oil the Handle
Strip any lacquer off the handle with a cabinet scraper. The factory finish is shipping protection, not use protection. Bare wood takes oil the way it is supposed to.
Wipe the handle down with boiled linseed oil, let it soak for 20 minutes, then wipe off the excess. Do this two or three times until the wood is saturated and dark. The grain will tighten up and the handle will be protected against moisture and drying for years of hard use.
Store the axe horizontally or on a proper rack. A double bit axe should never be leaned with any edge resting on concrete or dirt.
FAQ: Double Bit Axe Handle
What length handle does a double bit axe take? Most standard double bit axe heads take a 34 or 36 inch straight handle. Smaller cruiser and saddle axe heads typically take a 28 inch handle. The right length depends on the size and pattern of the head, so measure the original handle or check the manufacturer's specifications before ordering a replacement.
Why does a double bit axe use a straight handle instead of curved? The weight of a double bit head is balanced symmetrically, with equal mass on both sides of the handle. A curved handle works with the counterweighted poll of a single bit axe to produce a balanced swing. On a double bit, that poll does not exist, so a straight handle produces a truer, more accurate swing. Lumberjacks who worked with double bits their entire careers preferred the straight handle without exception.
What is the difference between the two edges on a double bit axe? Traditionally, one edge was kept finely honed for clean felling cuts in clear wood, while the other was left at a coarser bevel for dirty work, knots, and limbing near the ground. This let loggers work all day without stopping to sharpen. Some woodsmen kept both edges at the same grind and simply rotated to extend the working life between filings. Both approaches are valid depending on the work.
Can a double bit axe be used for splitting firewood? It can, but it was not designed for that job. The geometry of a double bit axe is optimized for cutting across wood grain, not driving through it the way a splitting axe or maul does. On well-behaved, straight-grained wood you can split with a double bit. On anything knotty, wet, or large in diameter, you will want the right tool for the job.
Is a vintage double bit axe worth re-handling? Almost always yes, provided the head is structurally sound. American-made double bit heads from the logging era were built to a standard that most modern production does not match. If the steel is intact, the eye is not cracked or deformed, and the geometry of the bits is still there, a good vintage head with a new hickory handle is a better tool than most of what you can buy new today.
The Handle Is Half the Tool
A great double bit axe head on a bad handle is a frustrating experience. The balance is off, the grip is wrong, and you spend your energy fighting the tool instead of using it.
Our straight hickory double bit axe handles are made from straight-grained American hickory with more wood at the tenon than anything coming off the hardware store peg. They are cut for proper grain orientation, finished bare so the wood can be oiled the way it should be, and sized for the heads people actually own.
Put a good handle on that old head. It earned one.