Repair a Wooden Handle - Use Electrical Tape

Let's look at how to repair a wooden handle on an axe. For me it was a necessary repair right from the moment of purchase. A garage sale item, the axe head with broken handle cost me next to nothing, and I knew there were several ways to repair it - all for next to nothing.

I could have glued it, but that would have taken overnight to set. I could have replaced it, but that would have cost about 10 times what I had paid for axe to begin with. The option I selected was to tape it together with electrical tape. I used electrical tape because I wanted it repaired and in service right away. The crack was lengthy, so this was more of a challenge. Nevertheless, the repair was a great success.

SEVERS

Here's how you can do much the same when you have a crack that completely severs the wooden handle of a tool:
Position the handle in a vise so it presses the cracked handle back into its original shape with at least one end of the crack sealed up under the pressure of the vise. Starting a half an inch away from the crack, on the undamaged surface of the wood, tightly wrap electrical tape towards the sealed up crack, stretching it fully before wrapping so it holds with greatest strength, and overlapping by about half its width as you go. Continue to wrap tightly around the handle until the vise gets in the way of further wrapping. Finish off the initial wrap by stretching the tape to the point of it snapping off, and then quickly smooth over the broken end of the tape around the handle. Reposition the axe handle as necessary to close up the crack and allow for more taping. Wrap the tape as you did before (and in the same direction), and be sure to overlap a half an inch or so over previous wraps and after you reach undamaged wood at the other end of the crack. That's it - how to repair a wooden handle in about 5 minutes.

The advantages of this repair is that it's simple, quick, effective, and uses common household items. The tightly wrapped tape provides a good repair and a smooth surface that even bare hands can slide across without abrasion.

Repair a Wooden Handle - Use Electrical Tape

SEVERS