Thread: Axe identification

The Japanese equivalents of a side axe or broad axe and (#2) a mortising axe?

An expert will be along shortly to save you from my wild guesses.....

They're excellent looking tools, are you considering buying them, or are you just browsing?

The thin one looks like a one in a you tube vid described as a felling axe. The broad "axe" has too obtuse a bevel to be a side axe.

I havn't been able to find very much with google on jap axes most of ehat I have found was on utube. If anyone has any sights that people can.point me to that would be great.

Weaver,

The long thin axe is a felling axe and the shorter is a carpenters hatchet. They are nice looking tools however a bit expensive if you are considering buying.

If you go onto Ebay and keep your eyes open you can buy these tools for much less. More like 50 to 70 bucks. Even if you buy from Japan through Ebay and pay for shipping, you will still save a lot.

Garry

Keep an eye out on this bloke:

austets | eBay

...he quite often has similar axes for auction and they end up going for about what Garry mentioned above.

DO

What, totally wrong? That's what I get for posting to the forum when I haven't slept for a week.


Most Japanese tools look "right" even though they are quite different from British or European tools. The large handsaws look amazing and very different but I "get" how they work.
Not so with the felling axe, they look wrong and I can't imagine using one. Has anybody here used a Japanese pattern felling axe to fell a tree? Are they as awkward as they look?

Seanz,

I have a felling axe which is narrow like the one in the photo but not as extreme in length. They have plenty of heft and cut deep but it does take some time to get your stance right (the distance you need to stand from the tree) with the blade being so narrow.

Garry

I would say that the shorter one has a handle that is still too long to be a hatchet but the bigest reason I wouldn't call it a hatchet is because it is so heavy. I reckon the head is a good 5% to 10% heavier than my canadian style splitting maul. Just getting thing out of the cabinet with one hand was hard enough let alone chopping with it one handed. You would,have to have arms like a gorilla.

My first interest in the japanese axes is that some of them look so much like some of the viking style axes I would like but don't have the readies for from gransfors.

Second interest is that they are pretty and I just love quality tools.

The first axe looks like what's called a tazuki (多都岐 - tree-felling axe) or the smaller masakari (鉞 - carpenter's hewing axe).

The second axe is probably a yoki (与岐 - used to make a deep incision into the base of a standing tree).

Once you have an idea of the Japanese names, a brilliant source of architectural info can be found here.

If you google the above Japanese names, you should be able to find some photos.

I've never used the axes, so I could be wrong. The above info is based on a quick internet search in Japanese.

Des

Originally Posted by Des.K.

The first axe looks like what's called a tazuki (多都岐 - tree-felling axe) or the smaller masakari (鉞 - carpenter's hewing axe).

The second axe is probably a yoki (与岐 - used to make a deep incision into the base of a standing tree).

Once you have an idea of the Japanese names, a brilliant source of architectural info can be found here.
If

Do you have any pointers to a list of japanese axe types?

Originally Posted by weaver

Do you have any pointers to a list of japanese axe types?

I'm not an axe user so it's not something I've checked. Because they're not used as much these days as in the past, I doubt whether anyone would have compiled a detailed Japanese axe list in English, and any description of Japanese axes would more than likely use the rough English equivalent rather than the Japanese term. I could be wrong though. The JAANUS link in my response above would be a good place to start.

The generic Japanese word for axe is ono, so that might help you in your quest.

Des

Addition to the above: I noticed that Toshio Ōdate's book Japanese Woodworking Tools has a couple of paragraphs on axes (Page 161), but nothing in depth.

Tried that sight Des but didn't have much luck searching for different axe types.

I went and had a look at some more that that seller had yesterday which ranged from little carpenters hatchets to huge versions. The bigger ones had the same basic shape but were just bigger. He said that the japanese axes don't come in single bevel versions but of all the bearded axes that he had the beards were all rather narrow/shallow and the blades equally thick or more than the one I posted photos of. Robin Wood (who comes up often when searching for japanese axes) has several axes where the beards are deeper/thicker. Unfortunately he doesn't have any photos of them showing their crosssection so I can't tell if they are single bevel or how thick they are.

Weaver
I think that the broad axe is for dressing logs into lumber and the second one is for cutting logs. I might be able to come up with the names but in anycase these are made in Shokoku, the southern island where there is a tradition of forging foresty tools like adzes, hatchets, axes and so forth and many of them are marked Tosa. It just so happens that the 2012 Kezuroukai will be in this very area in November on the 11th & 12th and that surely those blacksmiths will be featured along with demonstrations on handling timber and heavy lumber.

Most likely Robin Woods and his wife Nicole will be there as they are very keen on these tools, along with a group from the German Kezuroukai which also is made up of an international membership. Here is a link to the Japan Kezuroukai with news of the last meeting from October.
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I will be at the one in November, and there is a chance that So-san will be also. I encourage everyone interestred in Japanese tools to try and attend one of these meeting in their livetime, the Kezuroukai is a totally unique experience and each meeting is different. Here another link to an article I wrote for my website about a Kezuroukai from a few years ago, since then I have attended about 5 of them.
KEZUROUKAI

I hope this helps, Alx
p.s. did you buy the axe?

The Kezuroukai look amazing but the info from them is more of a tease than informative.

The guy who is selling those axes is a serious collector his house,shed and I presume storage units are literally piled waist high with tools (not my waist as I'm 6'7" but his waist and he's not that short). I get the feeling that he is not too keen on selling stuff so his prices are higher than they would otherwise be.

I also chased up the ebay seller mentioned in an earlier post and i'l be buying a number of things from him. One thing he told me was that in the Japanese tradition single bevel axes are extremely rare. In ten years of buying and selling Japanese tools he said that he had only ever seen two single bevel axes.

I'll be going to see him in a few weeks to check out his larger axes and his saws. I'll post photos of anything I get.

Weaver

The single bevel axes are rarer because their use is more specialized. In the old days the roofing super structure of a house would contain a certain number of hand hewn members, and even into the second half of the 20th century finer homes would be built with a few crocked and joined timbers mostly for the displayed of the carpenters skill. If you can gain access to the attic of any old temple or farm hose in Japan you will see remarkable amounts of hewn timbers all dressed with axes adzes that were single bevel or worked with double bevel axes. I owned a matching pair at one time that were from the 1920s-30s that had deer skin covers, off set 44 inch long handles and sharpened up as fine as a kanna. Only fellows who work on temples and tea houses tend to use these in Japan now. Almost all these timber and forestry tools are made in Tosa and the Tosa tools with have the 3 or 4 lines marking on the side which is an honorarium to the forest gods with the wish for a safe return home.


Here is another good link to Nicola Woods blog with some information you might find useful. It might not be highlighted in BLUE but click it anyway.
Kesurokai

Kezuroukai translates as "planing party" or meeting, it is very spontaneous because it is working or demonstrating On Site, so any thing can happen. There was a Kezuourkai here in Northern California a few years back and about 300 people showed up of the 2 1/2 days. Inomoto-san the kanna dai maker gave demo's Inomoto dai making part 1A - YouTube

as did a couple of blacksmiths including Imai from Sanjo.

A Miki City Kezuroukai (also spelled Kezurokai) meeting
Miki Hamono Club/Kezurokai June 5, 2011. #1 - YouTube

Happy woodworking, Alx