yeah council tool deffo have the worst hangs

So that's where that old time saying comes from!  "Don't fly off the handle"😯

Hopefully you told them so they can look at a fix

Your concerns are legitimate sir. I will not use any axe with human life in its path. I have actual footage of a lost head on camera. If we chop long enough we will experience this often with many manufacturers.  I lost a head once and it pierced a metal garage door. "Flying off the handle" has been around for years for a reason.

First notch I chopped with my council, the head came loose. The hang was terrible and the eye of the axe was symmetrical top and bottom so no matter how many metal wedges I added it would never stay on. I’m disappointed as well.

I've had to re-wedge the past like 3 council tools I bought. Will not be giving them more of my money, which is a shame because I love the steel and the feel of their handles. But I would rather shave and rasp up a new chunky HB handle than deal with danger.

I've had good out-of-the-box results from Council's premium axes, but have likewise had issues with their regular line. Most recently I had a new Dayton pattern axe come loose during the first use. I got in touch with Council and they sent me a replacement wedge, but even rehanging it didn't solve the issue. Further inspection revealed that the difference in eye size between the bottom and top isn't as much as on some of my axes from other manufacturers. In fact there was hardly any difference at all, which I see as a design flaw. The fix was to hang it with the handle protruding more than I typically like in order to get the wood to mushroom as much as possible. I've also not been pleased with the handle quality of Council's non-premium axes. I've seen a couple that were carved in such a way that it made them appear warped. For instance I had one where the palm swell was carved about 15 degrees offset from the rest of the handle. I suppose they're saving all the good handles for the Velvicut line.

I've often wondered if the eye ridges that True Temper, and other manufacturers, started putting in their forgings weren't partly an early attempt at planned obsolescence.  Many people remove a broken handle and see those ridges and think screw it I'll just buy another axe.  Edit: Now that I think of it my CT  sport utility Boys axe handle split  vertically at an eye ridge,  I wonder if your jersey has ridges.

My counil tool boys axe came loose after 4 notches into hardwood. I was pretty disappointed.

Grain on the handle is oriented wrong. Eventually a crack will form at the shoulder on the poll side.  Probably has grain runout down the length of the handle somewhere too; the handle has a good chance of breaking in half along the grain runout.
I'd keep the head, file and clean out the inside of the eye, and rehandle it with a straight-grained handle that's oriented correctly.

For the wedge, I'd squirt some chair-lock or wood swell on the wedge-bottom and a little bit in the bottom of the kerf too. Then wood glue on the rest of the wedge, a bit of glue in the kerf, and drive it home.  Then chop with it a bit. Then drive the wedge in again and observe at the axe-eye if the sides of the handle are mushrooming out against the eye. That means it's secure. Then I'd let it dry.

I can't stand a loose axe-head, even if it's visually imperceptible where you can just feel it slightly. If I feel that, I'll drive in a barrel-wedge or even just a thick nail that's been sawn off to shorten it to about an inch-and-a-quarter. A full length 3 inch or 4 inch nail will go too deep and crack the handle. That's why you have to shorten it to about an inch-and-a-quarter, an inch-and-a-half.  If you do the rehandling and wedging well, it takes some time and effort, but it'll stay well for many years of service.
EDIT: ...and of course the flax/linseed oil treatment.

Thanks for sharing. I bought the 19” pack axe and the handle came loose in 2 days after processing some firewood and then exchanged it for another one and that came lose in 1 day. Lost faith in the company but decided to give the brand a 3rd try and got the 22” camp carver and hoping it will hold out

That is concerning. My CT boys axe has held up to a decent bit of use over the course of the past year or so, and my new flying fox hatchets seems tight, but I'll have to keep a close eye on them.

I've never had a problem with Council's  hang's, I actually think the humidity has played the biggest role in your loose head. I prefer a regular metal wedge over a barrel wedge but if it has a barrel wedge I prefer a small one because the bigger one does more damage at the top it starts splittlig the wood in all directions especially the sides.

I suspect the “ninja shelf” created by the hydraulic head seating process is probably just as much to blame as the choice of wedges. But regardless, I also wish they’d just sell the heads by themselves. Doing so would sure save many of us a lot of time

Thank you for your insight and raising my level of awareness. I purchased my first axe, council tools woodcraft pack axe, and received it today only to find that the handle was split by the wedge in the eye. I decided to return and replace. Hopefully the next one is in better condition.

My 3.5 lb Jersey pattern did the same thing after 1 use. I do love the steel, so I'm in the same boat. I've gotta re-hang it. I literally have only used it 1 time and it slides up and down the handle about 1/4 in. The wedge is definitely not wide enough. Since we all have to re-hang them after the first use anyway, just sell me the steel. Don't get my hopes up.

I agree that I wish they would sell just the tool heads and let us handle our own.  Even if I keep their handle I need to scrape it down and do some shaping to get it serviceable.

That said the head alone is worth what you pay for a finished axe.  And handles are consumables just re hang as long as you plan for it when you buy the axe all is good.

To use your car analogy it would be like not buying a car because you do not like the tires they sell it with.

The problem is most companies press fit handles.  It's quick.  Then they all use barrel wedges which apply very little pressure and are impossible to pull.  Although GB did move away from using them.

Side note, thin wedges apply more force than thick wedges.  If the wedge is already backing out then it was likely too thick to begin with.

When the handle shrinks, and it will, they come lose.  Realistically it's not a big deal.  Grab some cheap tapered conical wedges from Baryonix, drill a 3/8" hole and pound them in.  It even works well on the old epoxies eyes.

Wow this is serious, thnx I was tempted to buy the one of their axes.

My council tool axes came loose as well,  with that said I do absolutely love their axes, I love the steal they use. They’re great axes, it’s def a bummer about the the heads coming loose but once I tighten them up it’s great but I do agree it’s very annoying if anything it’s more annoying than anything. The last CT I got I dismantled it and re hung it before I even used it. Also I had the same issue with my Mk4 Volkswagen vr6 lol.