The axe thread
- Thread starter davidwyby
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Burnham
Woods walker
Here are my falling axes. The short one was Gerry Beraneks before I got lucky 
. A 5-pound Stroax. The longer one is what I carried for nearly 30 years working for the USFS. Also a 5-pound head. I don't know the brand of that one...bought it at the local logging supply shop back in the early 1980's, so I expect it's US made. I should go down to my shed and look close . Maybe it's marked, maybe not. I would guess the latter, since I don't think I've ever known the brand.
And my splitting axe is this Plumb, a 3.5-pound head.
. A 5-pound Stroax. The longer one is what I carried for nearly 30 years working for the USFS. Also a 5-pound head. I don't know the brand of that one...bought it at the local logging supply shop back in the early 1980's, so I expect it's US made. I should go down to my shed and look close . Maybe it's marked, maybe not. I would guess the latter, since I don't think I've ever known the brand.And my splitting axe is this Plumb, a 3.5-pound head.
My father's axe
I've been having some discomfort splitting firewood with my old reliable 6 pound maul, since my arthritis is buggering my hands and wrists up pretty much all the time now. In an effort to find a more comfortable time of splitting, I dug out the axe I inherited from my father when he passed in...
www.masterblasterhome.com
I don't think I have a perfect wedge banger yet. I don't really do it enough to know exactly what I like, but if I were to grab my favorite axe for the job, it would be my light Helko forestry axe. It's the one on the far left...
Burnham
Woods walker
John, that one on the far right could use a little love 
.
.That needs more love than I can give it. That's my 'It's better than nothing' axe I keep in the truck. It has a cracked eye, and the handle was off another axe I replaced the handle on. The eye got cracked cause I bought it years ago to use for work, and the steel was a little hard, so it cracked when I was bullpining stakes. Even when new I didn't care much for it. It had a rounded poll which I don't like. I like them fairly flat and square.
Burnham
Woods walker
Also, for a true wedge driving axe, you really want a straight handle, like a rafting axe has. That yellow one might do.
Re the unloved axe...with a cracked eye, then that one is for the recycle bin.
Re the unloved axe...with a cracked eye, then that one is for the recycle bin.
The yellow one is a light splitter. It would make a decent wedge banger. I like a sharper blade though. Sometimes it's nice being able to cut, and I limb with an axe sometimes, just cause.
Thinking back on it, I might have been pushing the unloved axe hard trying to mushroom the poll to get more surface area. I abuse the work axes, but for really banging metal, I pull out a maul.
Thinking back on it, I might have been pushing the unloved axe hard trying to mushroom the poll to get more surface area. I abuse the work axes, but for really banging metal, I pull out a maul.
I found this head in the woods at work...
I think it belonged to George Washington! :^P It's a cool thing for a decoration. I just went outside to get wood, and it was on the pile where I put it. Time to bring it in, and once it's dry, I'll brush it off, put it on a shelf, and someone else can wonder what it is after I'm dead :^D
I think it belonged to George Washington! :^P It's a cool thing for a decoration. I just went outside to get wood, and it was on the pile where I put it. Time to bring it in, and once it's dry, I'll brush it off, put it on a shelf, and someone else can wonder what it is after I'm dead :^D
Burnham
Woods walker
One thing I learned from the USFS axe book One Moving Part that @stikine put before us is that axes in general do not have hardened polls, so driving steel with them will always mushroom the poll. The exception is a true rafting axe, which was designed to drive spikes and staples for making up rafts of logs for transport on rivers, back in the day.
Mauls are like rafting axes, in that way. Hardened polls. They will still mushroom, but not nearly as easily.
Some hatchets, those designed for roofing is one type, have hardened polls as well.
Mauls are like rafting axes, in that way. Hardened polls. They will still mushroom, but not nearly as easily.
Some hatchets, those designed for roofing is one type, have hardened polls as well.
I was in the consignment shop last week and I thought about that book. They had an axe in there with three moving parts :^D It's one of those axes that have cammed levers in the cheeks, and are supposed to making splitting easier. I almost bought it cause it was in pretty close to new condition, but it looked like one of those things that'll end up pissing me off when I try to use it. I'll stick to one moving part.
Cobleskill
Treehouser
Good call. They suck. Chopper II? Been a long time. I tried one. Yeah, they don't get stuck. They either split or stop with a jolt. The jolt is more annoying than getting stuck. Another what seems like a good idea but not.
Remember those you put on your car or truck hub? Stickler i think. Big screw that split wood. Looked like a disaster looking for a place to happen.
Remember those you put on your car or truck hub? Stickler i think. Big screw that split wood. Looked like a disaster looking for a place to happen.
Kaveman
Treehouser
Sharpen your mower blade bud.
I've sharpened a mower blade once in my life just to see what it would do. I thought "Pft... Whatever...", and never did it again. I already resent the time I waste shortening grass. I'm pretty sure a piece of rebar attached to the motor would cut acceptably well for me.
Speaking of stupid grass... I have 10# of clover seed to spread in the yard. I think it would be a good day for it, but I'm risking frost by the old rules. It /probably/ won't freeze again, but it's hard to say. I'll have to think on it.
Speaking of stupid grass... I have 10# of clover seed to spread in the yard. I think it would be a good day for it, but I'm risking frost by the old rules. It /probably/ won't freeze again, but it's hard to say. I'll have to think on it.
Kaveman
Treehouser
Sorry, been thinking golf course a lot lately lolz. I've spent waaaay too much time sharpening mower blades and reels.
Ugh, backlapping reels... I don't wanna...
Anywho, back on topic...
Bucky axe, is best axe.
Ugh, backlapping reels... I don't wanna...
Anywho, back on topic...
Bucky axe, is best axe.
davidwyby
Desert Beaver
pete mctree
Treehouser
I buy cheap axes locally for the woods - 5lb head & simply cut the handles down. Staff are too careless to be trusted with anything decent sadly.
Burnham
Woods walker
Braveheart!
SeanKroll
Treehouser
Are people preferring the shorter handle for being a compact tool or do they have a way to swing it faster.
Seems like a longer handle would swing faster, if the swinger strong enough.
Seems like a longer handle would swing faster, if the swinger strong enough.
Longer handle is harder to be accurate, and it takes more room to swing. Also less comfortable for me to single hand it. I don't like choking up on long handled tools. Every striking tool I regularly use is on the short side. They range from 'kinda short' to 'extremely short'.
pete mctree
Treehouser
shorter handles are better in confined spots and a lot easier for single handed use
Burnham
Woods walker
Exactly.
