Thread: Side axe question

My side axe/hatchet is definitely a 'hand' tool a broad- axe is larger and can be used either single or double handed. A broad axe also has an offset handle so there are left and right-handed axes.

Also, one side of the side-axe is flat not just the cutting edge and I suspect that it would take a fair bit of grinding to achieve the same result from a standard hatchet. The flat helps the axe to follow the straight grain and not cut across the fibres.

Andy Mac is more qualified to comment here but I'd thought I'd add my 2c worth.

cheers
Derek

Originally Posted by derekh

My side axe/hatchet is definitely a 'hand' tool a broad- axe is larger and can be used either single or double handed. A broad axe also has an offset handle so there are left and right-handed axes.

Also, one side of the side-axe is flat not just the cutting edge and I suspect that it would take a fair bit of grinding to achieve the same result from a standard hatchet. The flat helps the axe to follow the straight grain and not cut across the fibres.

Andy Mac is more qualified to comment here but I'd thought I'd add my 2c worth.

cheers
Derek

Thanks Derek
I wasn't quite asking if the side axe was a hand tool, but a handed tool. But from your description I see that it is. So how can I get a left handed side axe? I have visions of using a righthanded one backhanded but that just sounds plain criminal. I see you're in Brisbane, you done much greenwoodworking?

Cheers
Michael

Most places that bother to stock proper broad axes/hatchets have them in both left & right handed - a few manufacturers actually make left, right & straight (Gransfors Bruks IIRC).

One link to a local stockist of such things in left & right:
http://www.thewoodworks.com.au/produ...IDE/T4734.html

Originally Posted by bsrlee

Most places that bother to stock proper broad axes/hatchets have them in both left & right handed - a few manufacturers actually make left, right & straight (Gransfors Bruks IIRC).

One link to a local stockist of such things in left & right:
http://www.thewoodworks.com.au/produ...IDE/T4734.html

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!

Cheers
Michael

Hi Michael,
I suspect they are indeed made for left and right handed use, but despite some intense Net searching I can scarcely find mention of any side axe suppliers! As it's a forged item, there is no reason for only making one type and not the other, apart from demand.
I have one, and I'll post a pic soon, which is very much for a right hander, a left hander would be working across the log, not along it. The left side of the head is completely flat, with no bevel, the right side has a stepped & tapered shape, with a bevel. It bears the stamp "Hand Made USA", with no brand. Its very sharp and cuts well, but I lack the strength to use it for long periods! It has quite a fat handle when compared to normal hatchets, so is a tad uncomfortable.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Andy Mac

Hi Michael,
I suspect they are indeed made for left and right handed use, but despite some intense Net searching I can scarcely find mention of any side axe suppliers! As it's a forged item, there is no reason for only making one type and not the other, apart from demand.
I have one, and I'll post a pic soon, which is very much for a right hander, a left hander would be working across the log, not along it. The left side of the head is completely flat, with no bevel, the right side has a stepped & tapered shape, with a bevel. It bears the stamp "Hand Made USA", with no brand. Its very sharp and cuts well, but I lack the strength to use it for long periods! It has quite a fat handle when compared to normal hatchets, so is a tad uncomfortable.

Cheers

Thanks Andy, have a look at bsrlee's link above, they have them!

Cheers
Michael

What I want is a 'Kentish' broad axe - they are still made and originals go for ridiculous $$$ as you are competing with interior decorators - they are the type with the symetrical blade.

Highland Hardware in the US have a FULL listing of all the Gransfors made-to-order historical styles - no chance of me buying now that the Aussie dollar has dropped

I'm new to hewing but from my understanding it is not that broad axes are left handed or right handed but that they are made to be used right or left handed.

The technique I've been taught is that you always start at the canopy end of the log. If there are two of you one uses a left handed axe the other a right handed axe. Alternatively once you have finished one face you can turn the log to do the next face. Or you pickup opposite handed axe to the first one you used and hew the second face before turning the log.

weaver: how interesting.
Western red cedar logs almost always have a rotten core than can be 50% of the log. Nice shell for a totem pole. About the only part which rots quickly is the white sapwood just under the bark. Good plan to take that off, it goes gray and stringy with pulpy spots.
Pacific Northwest Native carvers take it off with home-made adzes (pre-1960 Volkswagen leaf-spring metal is preferred).

I score the log with a Skilsaw, maybe 18mm deep, in rectangles 40mm x 100mm, more or less. I pop those off with a 25mm firmer chisel and a mallet.

The key thing for me is to cut up from the root end of the log, not from the canopy end down. I see the chips "dig in" if I start from the top. They rise out, going the other way and I can clean that up with a draw knife. Native carver "trick," as it was explained to me.

I use a 6 inch bladed Side or broad hatchet on a daily basis and find it the most useful of tools I've ever owned . I often find them at markets and have set up some of the more symmetrically worn heads as left-handers for southpaw friends by flipping them upside down and setting them on a new handle. This won't work with all, as some only have cheeks(the triangular bit that braces the handle) on the bottom of the head. 'Plumb' and 'Vaughan & Bushnell' still sell them new in the States but I'm not sure of their availability here.
Ian

Originally Posted by mic-d

Hi
Is a side axe a 'handed' tool, as I suspect? Does anyone know if a normal axe or hatchet can be modified to a left-handed side axe?

Hi Michael

as far as I know, side axes are not handed in the sense you imply -- made for right or left handed woodsmen

they are "handed" on the face for dimensioning the left or right side of a log.
any changes required for right or left handed choppers is accomodated in the shape of the handle

i can see the logic in that, but having a left and right axe would have been a luxury, I suspect few could afford(plus you have to carry and sharpen two tools) most I find are righties but the lefties always look to have homemade handles. Would love to know from an old Chippie who used them what the go was.
cheers
Ian

Hi Ian

I'm not sure have four or more axes would have been considered a luxury "few could afford" at the time most large timber work was by hand
why do I say four or more?
well ... there's
the felling axe, plus possibly a limbing axe
the right hand broard axe
the left hand broard axe
the aze, for flattening the top of a log -- or board
the froe for splitting boards off the log

not all these would be carried into the forest, and not all would be used by the feller

In December or November a link was posted to a couple of older blokes using broard axes down in the Snowies in the early 80s. I'll see if I can find the link, but from memory they had left and right handed broard axes, but both axemen were right handers

Thanks Ian, I would love to see the link , I've had a bit of a search but to no avail.
cheers
Ian