Painted Ax Handle

It was Oliver's birthday over the weekend. I always like to make a homemade gift, so last week I painted him a new ax handle as we had recently broken our last one. 

I know that painted axes have been all the rage among a certain subset of hipsters, but mark my words, my hubber is no fakerjack.

He actual splits wood, and lots of it. Actually, we all do. Splitting wood is so therapeutic. It feels great to smash wood in two for some unknown reason.

Anyhow, I started out with this ash ax handle that I bought at Home Depot. Try to find a handle with a grain line that continues up the entire length -that will be the one least likely to split. 

First, I sanded away most of the shiny (read tacky) lacquer finish and then I taped it off and primed with Zinsser.

First Yellow, then dark blue, then light blue -taping off in between.

That's the wedge that holds the ax head in place taped to the end, jsyk.

This thing was so fun to make and he loved it.