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Thread: Axe talk

  1. #16
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    Thought the guys in this thread might be interested in this i found the other day:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au1TbIyLcPU

    Enjoy!!!

    Cheers, Dave

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  3. #17
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    Thanks Dave. Good to watch his technique. Reminds me of the S.E.C. walk among LaTrobe Valley employees back in the day. Slow. Easy. Comfortable

    There's a couple of Youtube vids of Bernie Weisgerber on axe types, sharpening and rehanging. He's the author of those US Fire Service booklets.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22tBYD-HMtA

    http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpub...823Pdpi300.pdf - thanks to hiroller for this one.
    Cheers, Ern

  4. #18
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    Thanks Ern

    I watched through the re-handling section of the first video, but will have to come back to it as I am heading off to work.

    The double bit axes have always appealed to me, possibly because we don't see them in Australia. And therein lies another problem. If you get a double bit axe head sent over, which will almost certainly be without a handle, you will be unlikely to find a handle in the hardware stores.

    I was interested to hear him say that the Hicory should be from sapwood only. I long time ago I cut Spotted Gum for Australia's largest tool handle maker, Heely Bros in Newcastle. They told me that they made very good handles from the sapwood.

    I have a pile of Spotted Gum, but it was deliberately cut excluding the sapwood.

    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

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

  5. #19
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    I have just re-read the OP and realise that you are looking at a new axe with 36" handle. I was fixed on Ebay in my head.

    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

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

  6. #20
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    Well, maybe you were mind-reading Paul, as actually I've switched to getting some eBay heads. Scored a couple today. More fun in rehabbing old tools.

    Anyway, there's one local supplier of a double-bit handle. It's a replacement for the Council tool so some checking would be needed. In the US there's a family firm still producing them in AA grade in hickory, with grain orientation selected, and available at a reasonable price. I ordered a couple this morning. It may also be an interesting lathe project; can't be too hard. Sourcing the hickory might be tricky but of course spotty or fraxinus would be available.

    For today's scores I'm using a shipping agent and consolidating the buys as some quoted head postage rates are ridiculous.
    Cheers, Ern

  7. #21
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    Here's the scores.

    Collins Homestead, Western pattern. The Homestead was their basic axe model line. And a Kelly True Temper Flint Edge, in a pretty sorry state. Both are heavy felling axes, 3+ pounds. There are cruiser axes that are lighter, designed to be carried.

    Collins 2.jpgCollins.jpgKelly.jpg
    Cheers, Ern

  8. #22
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    Think you are better off buying the bare heads as the postal services have equivalent rates fro bulk just as they do here. Which forwarding agent do you use?

    Regads
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

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

  9. #23
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    I had an axe thread quite a while ago gathering some links and stuff ... I have only made a feeble attempt to re-find it.


    I have three of the double-bit axes ex the US ... and a couple loose heads.
    There are only "as is" at this stage.
    I'll post photos when I can ... it's a bit busy atm.

    Cheers,
    Paul

  10. #24
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    Bushmiller, I use Shipito.
    I don't get the sense that US sellers make any effort to minimise shipping costs. Maybe eBay has a calculator with a limited default. Shipito offers a heap of choices. One or other courier will be cheapest or for small items USPS economy if you have the time.

    pmcgee, look forward to seeing your stuff.
    Cheers, Ern

  11. #25
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    One older thread ... Axes

  12. #26
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    Thanks for that.
    You know I did a search on thread titles before starting this one and came up with zip. Don't think the search engine works with single words.
    Cheers, Ern

  13. #27
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    Some of you may not know about Stu's 2nd hand tool operation. He has quite a few impact tools: axes (single and double bit), broad axes, hatchets and so on. Users and collectors. Axes

    PS Now that I've gone fishing in the US eBay market, Stu's prices don't look too bad.
    Cheers, Ern

  14. #28
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    Just a question from an axe ignoramus: what are the perceived advantages of a double-bit axe? Half as many pauses to sharpen (though each pause takes twice as long), or do you put different profiles on the edges for different needs? I remember asking my old pot about them once, and he made some disparaging comment, but I can't remember if he had any objective reasons for not liking them.

    I grew up on a farm where we cut a lot of timber, either for our own use or to sell as mill timber, fenceposts, sleepers, etc. My old man was a Taswegian and reckoned he'd been given an axe on his first birthday. I'm not sure that was quite true, he was given to the occasional wry exageration (), but I do know he was a superb axeman. I wish I was half as good, but I am not even in the race. He never seemed to mis-hit, and could chop just as accurately either hand, or balancing on a springboard. My scarfs always looked like they'd been gnawed out by some crazed beaver, whereas his were always two perfect intersecting planes that looked as if they'd been smoothed with a chisel!

    I like to tell the story about when I was visiting my parents when he was past 90. One evening, right on dusk, mum reminded him she needed kindling for the morning. So he stomps off to the woodheap, hauls out his beloved old 5lb Kelly (still reasonably sharp), picks up a board from a convenient pile and proceeds to whack slivers off, each stroke of the axe landing about 5mm from the fingers holding the board! By this stage of his life, his eyesight & hearing were very dodgy at best, so it was a pretty alarming thing to watch (what I could see of it in the gloom!). I said, "For goodness sake dad, you're going to chop your bleeding fingers off any moment!". He looked up, without pausing a single stroke and said "What? What're you saying?" He died several years after that incident, with all 10 fingers still intact.......

    Cheers,

    PS, I have the old Kelly, which I keep sharp and use (badly) on occasion. What I do find really handy around the shed is an old shingling hatchet, which is the bees knees for knocking the lumps off rough-cut boards, roughing out split billets before mounting in the lathe, etc. I went looking for a small broad-axe style, but couldn't find one, so this is the nearest thing. I've been sharpening from one side, with the intention of producing a facsimile of a broad axe, but it's slow going, & I may not live long enough to get rid of the unwanted bevel completely!
    IW

  15. #29
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    Nothing like 'muscle memory' is there Ian. Can work for you, or against you.

    Yes, both of those advantages apply to a double-bit. Some old timers kept one edge for dirty work, and some preferred the balance over a single bit.

    It's interesting that they never took off in Australia when there seems to have been quite a lot of international ideas transfer among axe makers. They're more awkward I guess to strap to a horse or a back pack; can't be used as a hammer; maybe they cost more
    Cheers, Ern

  16. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by rsser View Post
    Bushmiller, I use Shipito.
    I don't get the sense that US sellers make any effort to minimise shipping costs. Maybe eBay has a calculator with a limited default. Shipito offers a heap of choices. One or other courier will be cheapest or for small items USPS economy if you have the time.

    pmcgee, look forward to seeing your stuff.
    Ok, Shipito the same as I do. Just be aware that some of the freight companies have restrictions and you may not be able to use them. For example I have to ship some JP knife blanks and only two companies will allow that and they are much more expensive.

    The Ebay calculators do come up with some anomalies, but remember too that like Australia, it depends on where you live. I can send a handsaw to Cairns for half the price I can to Melbourne, but Cairns is farther away. If you buy on America's East coast, but you are using one of the Californian shipping facilities domestic postage will be more, but when it comes to ship to Oz, California is closer. Shipito gets cheaper per Kg as the weight goes up. About 40kg is optimum (but that's a lot of axe heads .)

    pmcgee also uses Shipito. I have just remembered that they have increased their storage and consolidation rates for 2016.

    You should probably use their live chat to see if there are any restrictions on axes (Paul may also have something to add on that).

    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

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

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