Titanium axe/'hawk
- Thread starter neal70
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Oh I want to, have for a while now, but just getting a piece of one of the right alloys in the right size is a challenge in itself!
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On You Tube last night, ran across a video about "Essential Hammer" by a man who has been a framer/carpenter for 40 years and he uses a Stilleto Titanium hammer and swears by it. John
Titanium sucks. It was brought out when there was still a bunch of us older guys swinging big hammers on the job sites. It let the young pups swing a hammer that looked as big as ours and the gimmick was it hit harder because its made from titanium. Problem is the nails didn't know it and the waffles on them heads where not sharp new from the factory, and they flattened at an alarming rate. All this and it costs four times as much.
Its all good today because most of the guys can't drive a nail anyway and that big face and light hammer is all they really need with everything driven by guns.
Its all good today because most of the guys can't drive a nail anyway and that big face and light hammer is all they really need with everything driven by guns.
2lb steel axe head vs 2lb titanium axe head.
The titanium axe head will need to be significantly bigger to achieve the same weight.
I don't like that. Who wants an axe head that's physically huge for its given weight? Not me that's for sure..
with weight comes power.
Dont say "oh well you can swing the ti faster because its lighter".
Well then I say you could make an axe from steel that's the same weight, it would be physically smaller so you could swing it even faster again.
its not just the physical size it has going against it. (id rather have a small 2lb axe strapped to my pack then a physically large 2lb axe, wouldent you? and im not talking handle length. we can make those even).
Since the ax head would need to be very large, it would also have a longer cutting edge for its given weight. (or be very thick which is also not good) That translates to less force per section of blade, as the force will be distributed across a longer bit; decreasing chopping effectiveness. (notice I said chopping not cutting. Axes are for CHOPPING. efficient chopping comes from power behing the bit. You Ti advocates would do well to remember that. It may be good for a knife but its simply the wrong material for an axe or for an efficient CHOPPER from a physics point of view)
For chopping we can exceed the efficiency of TI very easily. We can reduce our head size for the same handle length & head weight. = same speed & more force behind the edge.
Which of these would you rather pack around with you? Which one will be the more efficient chopper?
The titanium axe head will need to be significantly bigger to achieve the same weight.
I don't like that. Who wants an axe head that's physically huge for its given weight? Not me that's for sure..
with weight comes power.
Dont say "oh well you can swing the ti faster because its lighter".
Well then I say you could make an axe from steel that's the same weight, it would be physically smaller so you could swing it even faster again.
its not just the physical size it has going against it. (id rather have a small 2lb axe strapped to my pack then a physically large 2lb axe, wouldent you? and im not talking handle length. we can make those even).
Since the ax head would need to be very large, it would also have a longer cutting edge for its given weight. (or be very thick which is also not good) That translates to less force per section of blade, as the force will be distributed across a longer bit; decreasing chopping effectiveness. (notice I said chopping not cutting. Axes are for CHOPPING. efficient chopping comes from power behing the bit. You Ti advocates would do well to remember that. It may be good for a knife but its simply the wrong material for an axe or for an efficient CHOPPER from a physics point of view)
For chopping we can exceed the efficiency of TI very easily. We can reduce our head size for the same handle length & head weight. = same speed & more force behind the edge.
Which of these would you rather pack around with you? Which one will be the more efficient chopper?
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