Wire wrapped handle

[Sir Brian]

Seeing your hammer handle example inspires me to consider doing a partial wire wrap on the new haft of my A&A Hungarian axe. I have to wonder if adding a wire wrap for several inches below the axe head would unduly imbalance the axe which would not be desired for the sake of esthetics, but it does beg the question if adding a wire wrap would offer a bit more durability against edged weapons? 

[Sir William]

As opposed to a leather wrapped area for gripping, Sir Brian?  Or to preserve the haft?  Might help combat a cut or slash, if one were to hit right in that spot.

[Sir Brian]

For haft preservation Sir William, much like langets. 

[J.G.Elmslie]

I have to wonder if adding a wire wrap for several inches below the axe head would unduly imbalance the axe which would not be desired for the sake of esthetics, but it does beg the question if adding a wire wrap would offer a bit more durability against edged weapons? 

its not exceptionally durable, given something like that is only 0.5 or 0.7mm thick annealed steel wire. but it'd certainly offer some protection to sliding cuts, if not percussion impacts.

As for the handling question, there's a simple way to find out. Ductape a few pennies side by side, along each side of the haft, from head to wherever you'd like the wrap to end. flick it around a bit, see how it feels. if it feels ok, the steel wire will be pretty close to the same weight and distribution...

[Sir Brian]

As for the handling question, there's a simple way to find out. Ductape a few pennies side by side, along each side of the haft, from head to wherever you'd like the wrap to end. flick it around a bit, see how it feels. if it feels ok, the steel wire will be pretty close to the same weight and distribution...

Brilliant! That should suffice for a handling test! 

[Sir Brian]

...your first step is to use the ball of string. stick it onto your hilt where you want the wire wrap to start, and wrap it around, all the way to where you want to end. mark it, and unwrap from the hilt. That'll give you a good estimate of the length of wire you're going to need to do your wrap. Saves you screaming when you realise you're 6 inches short...

Having done this step then measured the string; a decent guideline would be for every 4" of handle to be wrapped correlates to 12 yards of wire which should have sufficient length remaining if you go past that a little.