A mell has a cast-iron head. The head must not be hit with a metal hammer, or clamped tightly in a metal- jawed vice, as it may crack. Mells have parallel-sided sockets.

A sledgehammer has a forged steel head, and slightly tapered socket.

The procedure for rehafting is as follows:

  1. Remove the old handle. Clamp the head in a vice, protecting it in a wooden jig or padding. Drill three or four holes around the outside of the haft head, taking care to avoid the metal wedges. Then knock out the remains of the old haft, using a hammer and punch or blunt chisel. Retrieve the metal wedges if possible.
  2. Select a new haft and test it for fit. Clamp the haft in the vice and carefully using a surform, shape to fit. The haft should remain parallel-sided, both for mells and sledgehammers, and great care must be taken to avoid producing a pencil-point effect or an angled head to the haft. Rotate the haft in the vice to produce a parallel finish.
  3. If the haft is supplied without a slot for the wedge, you will need to saw one. Clamp the haft vertically in the vice, and using a tenon saw, cut a slot about half the depth of the socket. Select or cut a hardwood wedge to fit the slot. The length of the wedge should match the slot, with the depth slightly greater than the depth of the slot. The width can only be judged by experience of rehafting, but the following gives a guide. On a mell, having a parallel-sided socket, the haft will already be a close fit. The wedge can therefore be slim, with a thickness of no more than 5mm at the fat end. For the tapered socket of a sledgehammer, the wedge is needed to force the haft ends outwards and therefore the wedge needs to be about 10mm thick.
    Wedging a haft
    To drive the shaft into the head, hold the end of the handle with one hand banging down near the ground. Use a mallet to hit the end of the handle, driving the haft into the head. Take care not to ‘ground’ the head when doing this.
  4. Before fitting the wedge, dip it in linseed oil. This makes it easier to fit, and takes oil into the heart of the shaft. To fit the wedge, position the tool head correctly on the haft, and with the tool held vertically and the haft end on a solid floor or wooden block, drive the wedge home. Use a hard wooden mallet, or, if using a steel hammer, protect the top of the wedge with a wooden billet. After hitting the wedge home, there should be no more than 1 or 2mm excess protruding. Cut this off flush using a hacksaw.
  5. Select one or two metal wedges. These need to fit diagonally across the wedged end of the haft without touching the metal of the tool head. Drive these home using a hammer. Finish by using a punch to drive them just below the surface of the wood.
  6. Check that the handle is smooth, paint marking band as required, and oil with linseed oil. Oiling can be done by immersing the whole head in oil for a few days.

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