Page 10 of 19 FirstFirst ... 56789101112131415 ... LastLast
Results 136 to 150 of 280

Thread: Axe talk

  1. #136
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Aus.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    12,746

    Default

    Thanks Paul. Yeah, a US nickname is 'back stabber'.

    Arthur, I gave it a 5 minute outing and my aim was all over the place. The ploughing started before the blue moon. Another 2" on the handle might be better.

    As for its performance, well there's a lot of penetration of the acute bit for a 3 lb head.

    The head moved a smidgen. Will have to watch that. The eye only has a 2mm splay in each dimension.

    Ironic - I have to go scrounging for test limbs now.
    Cheers, Ern

  2. # ADS
    Google Adsense Advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Age
    2010
    Posts
    Many





     
  3. #137
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Millmerran,QLD
    Age
    73
    Posts
    11,095

    Default

    I thought these old advertisements might be of some interest to you mad (keen) axemen. I found them while trawling through Ebay.

    From 1930:

    Kelly Axe.jpgKelly Axe 2.jpgKelly miners axe.jpgKelley axe 4.jpg

    From 1918

    Bay State Axe.jpgBay State Axe 2.jpg

    Some hammers and wedges from 1930

    Bay State Hammers.jpg

    and hatchets from 1930 on the left and two from 1918 on the right:

    Bay state hatchet.jpgBay state hatchets 1918 3.jpgBay state hatchets 1918.jpg

    Regards
    Paul
    Attached Files Attached Files
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

  4. #138
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Aus.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    12,746

    Default

    Very interesting stuff. Thanks Paul.

    I see that Kelly was hardening some of their polls. Damn good idea, given the inevitable 'off label' use they'd get.

    It's still possible to get octagonal replacement handles in the US. Never used one. Wondering ....
    Cheers, Ern

  5. #139
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Millmerran,QLD
    Age
    73
    Posts
    11,095

    Default

    Just in case any of you are one bit short of an axe, this seller has about fifty coming up for sale:

    RARE Mann Lewistown PA Embossed Knotklipper Axe Warranted 2 Bit AX Collectible | eBay

    This was the one that drew my attention. It might be a beast:

    KnotKlipper-axe.jpg

    Allegedly 12" across.

    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

  6. #140
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Aus.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    12,746

    Default

    A sump oil special. And enough steel left for a second career.

    I'm not collecting (if I say it often enough it might work) but there is one model that'd be good to try.
    Cheers, Ern

  7. #141
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Aus.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    12,746

    Default

    In Kyneton today, killing time while the bike was being serviced, I wandered into Rundell and Rundell - furniture and other craft. There was a sensational double Windsor chair out of blackwood from the Grampians, made by the shop owner. Well, also a good selection of Gransfors Bruks that got a close inspection. Very nice finish all round. If they'd had one of their Appalachian axes I would've returned home like a Viking invading. They're no longer made but old new stock still turns up from time to time. The American Felling Axe was there and a well crafted tool but a little heavy.

    Ironic isn't it, a Scandi brand like this is surviving by selling American pattern axes around the world as prices that an ordinary user couldn't afford.
    Cheers, Ern

  8. #142
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    1,501

  9. #143
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Aus.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    12,746

    Default

    Yeah hiroller, very close, maybe even the one. By Glenn Rundell. He runs classes in making windsor chairs and is heavily involved in the Lost Trades weekends in Kyneton. Also salvages, dries and mills craft timbers I believe.
    Cheers, Ern

  10. #144
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Aus.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    12,746

    Default

    I ran some rough tests today, working on the assumption that axe performance is a product of the interaction of technique, tool and timber. Keep two constant (kind of) and things may be said about the tool.

    This was prompted by an interest in how various grinds or bit shapes go on Aussie hardwood.

    Just 5 minutes each on the same lump of yewkie kindly donated by Quercus who thinks it's prob Southern Mahogany.

    GB American Felling Axe.jpg

    Gransfors Bruk American Felling Axe. Various weights are quoted - maybe 3.3 lbs. It's 5.1 in total. Convex grind to 10 mm behind the edge where it's 15 degrees included angle. Flat cheeks for 50 mm from there running towards the poll.

    Hultafors Agdor 4 lb head. Flat bevels at 20 degrees with a steeper micro-bevel blended in. Maybe this is called a chisel grind with rolled edge. Flat cheeks.

    Kelly Dandenong as pictured earlier in this thread. 4.5 lbs. High centre line, 20 degree flat grind, distinct micro-bevels.

    So, the GB went gangbusters, at least compared with how my other axes have done on dry Silky Oak. Good penetration and chip ejection. There were some glancing blows off the right side (left in the pic) but that's my technique failing. It started to stick down the bottom.

    Agdor: not quite as much penetration as the GB but perhaps better chip ejection and less sticking.

    Kelly: penetration wasn't as good and chip ejection wasn't as efficient as the other two. Not much sticking but it didn't get down as deep.

    Accuracy was pretty good with the GB and Kelly, less good with the Agdor - could be put down to the operator tiring or a head that's 20mm longer than the others.

    The edges at the end, as per the nail catching test:
    GB: no catching
    Agdor: some
    Kelly: almost some

    Edit: I hadn't done a nail test on the GB beforehand, assuming it was sharp. Everyone says theirs was but maybe this one wasn't.
    Cheers, Ern

  11. #145
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Aus.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    12,746

    Default

    The Kelly double-bit rehab project is finished. Sometimes things flow smoothly, sometimes ....

    Turns out the replacement hafts got from the US were 30" and that's too short. The only locally available candidate is one made by Council Tools for their own axe; it's 36" and it has a slimmer shaft than House Handles that feels good. It's a bit short in the long axis of the eye and making that up with the wedge wasn't entirely successful - the wedge cracked while being tapped in and the grain runs the wrong way

    The eye is ribbed which made fitting difficult. There's reduced scope for fit and fiddle. Kelly Works got a patent for ribbed eyes in 1963 so that dates the axe in part.
    Cheers, Ern

  12. #146
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Aus.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    12,746

    Default

    Holding an axe to work on can be awkward. This idea is pinched from Wranglerstar on Youtube, but using a sash clamp.

    Sash clamp and axe.jpg
    Cheers, Ern

  13. #147
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Somerset, UK
    Posts
    445

    Default

    Quite a few axes just listed on ebay(uk). Mostly named with some uncommon ones there.
    Not my axes I hasten to add......
    Mark
    What you say & what people hear are not always the same thing.
    http://www.remark.me.uk/

  14. #148
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    2,357

    Default


    True Temper Kelly Perfect Axe.


    Sorby No. 2 Shingling Hatchet.

  15. #149
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Aus.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    12,746

    Default

    Thanks for posting planemaker.

    The Kelly looks in good shape.
    Cheers, Ern

  16. #150
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Aus.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    12,746

    Default

    The oldest known axes, hafted and ground edge, are Australian. As much as 49,000 years.

    World's oldest known ground-edge stone axe fragments found in Western Australia - Science News - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

    Haft fixing was aided by means of a resin extracted from spinifex (First Contacts).
    Cheers, Ern

Page 10 of 19 FirstFirst ... 56789101112131415 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. The Talk
    By Rodgera in forum WOODIES JOKES
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 15th May 2015, 10:53 AM
  2. Talk to me about oxy LPG.
    By soundman in forum WELDING
    Replies: 34
    Last Post: 22nd October 2014, 06:35 PM
  3. More Saw Talk
    By IanW in forum HAND TOOLS - UNPOWERED
    Replies: 17
    Last Post: 26th April 2010, 10:29 PM
  4. Someone to talk to
    By taddy in forum SMALL TIMBER MILLING
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 5th July 2009, 11:19 PM
  5. A talk with Grandma
    By Allan at Wallan in forum WOODIES JOKES
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 11th January 2008, 12:51 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •