I purchased an antique froe, but the wood handle was rotten. This wouldn’t help me to split my red oak logs for my upcoming shaving horse build.

© Joshua T. Farnsworth

I didn’t have any hickory (the handle wood of choice) so I went to my firewood pile and found a green piece of red oak and shaped it with my hatchet, draw knife, and spoke shave. Oops, it made it too small. I made another handle, but was more careful. It fit nice and tight, even after a month of drying…until I used it for splitting wood! The handle kept slipping down…grrr.

© Joshua T. Farnsworth

So I came up with a trick for keeping the froe handle from slipping. Simply watch the above video to see how I did it. I tightened the handle down as far as I could into the froe’s blade. 

© Joshua T. Farnsworth

Then I drilled a hole just below the froe head and pounded a dowel into the new hole.

Trick For Tightening A Loose Froe Handle

Finally, I cut the dowel flush with the ends of the froe head. Don’t cut it flush with the handle, or it will be pointless. I hope this helps!

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