A Floating Axe

300Six said:
Alocksly: I'd be tempted to use small size steel or lead shotgun pellets to 'top'er up' when you head out for field testing. Bring an ordinary hatchet with you for comparison sake. I really don't know if or how much benefit there would be to the 'dead blow' feature when it comes to cutting or chopping wood. Could be it just keeps metal handle vibration transfer to the hand to a minimum. My experience with 'dead blow' hammers has always been good because you get no 'out of control' rebound stroke when striking something hard.
Click to expand...

My thoughts too. I was going to pick up a bag of #12 lead birdshot from the gun store later today if I have time.
 
Square_peg said:
Russ' floataxe looks a little different than the patent. Russ' appears to have a different metal on the poll, rendering it functional vs. a magnesium poll. The patent drawings show no different metal at the poll.
Click to expand...

I think I may have a later version. Mine also has a bit of curve to the handle not shown in the patent drawing.
 
A most interesting tool. VERY large kudos to the OP and Steve Tall for this incredibly informative thread.
 
Alocksly said:
My thoughts too. I was going to pick up a bag of #12 lead birdshot from the gun store later today if I have time.
Click to expand...

You can actually get hold of dust shot? Was a staple for field biologists at one time but nobody (whether on gov't payroll or on contract) today collects voucher specimens, knows how to reload commercial ammunition, nor knows how to shoot. Go for it; the pellets will pour 'clean' and give good account for space as opposed to the imagined 'perfect-washed beach sand' that was conjured-up by the maker, and will give needed 'heft' to an otherwise flyweight-designed item.
 
So I finally got around to weighing the hatchet and trying it out filled with shot. The empty weight of the Flotaxe is 357 grams/ .787 lbs/ 12.59 oz. Filled with #9 shot (smallest I could find) it weighs in at 1678.29 g/ 3.7 lb/ 59.2 oz. so, quite a noticeable difference.

Chopping with it was a little odd since there is no "feedback" when you chop since the loose shot dampens any vibrations. On a normal axe you can feel when the blade cuts deep or when it deflects or goes shallow. Not so with this one. Every cut felt "bad" even though it was throwing chips. I took 25 swings on a cascara trunk that fell down in the snows the other day. For comparison I also took 25 whacks with my trusty fiskars. Here's what it looked like.





 
I guess the dead blow feature provides a foreign enough feeling for most initial users that enthusiasm for regular use immediately drops off. I can imagine these hatchets to be found buried in the bottoms of fishing tackle boxes, in cupboards of hunt camps and maybe in the gloveboxes of a few vintage offroad vehicles. It was good of you to actually 'fuel it up' and do some chopping with it. At very least it does work!
 
Very cool! Looks like it works better than I anticipated.

I'm curious how it will do filled with something available on the ground, like wet sand.
 
Since this thing was designed (per the patent) to go in a pilots crash kit I'm guessing the pilot wouldn't be carrying lead shot to fill it with. Wet sand, mud, dirt, etc would be used depending on where you crash. Noting that the cap has a watertight seal I took out the shot and filled with just water (which I figured would be the worst case scenario for fill material) and tried it out again. The chop on the right is the water weight one the left is with the hatchet empty (25 whacks ea.).



My final assessment, given that this was designed to be as light as possible and still perform as a hatchet in an emergency, is that the thing works as advertised. Almost any solid hatchet would work as well or better but would not come close to the transport weight. So, if you're a particularly weight conscious bush pilot, here's your axe. I can see where the target customer base was not enough to keep it in production, clever as it is. It was fun playing with an axe where I could vary the weight at will.

And just to be thorough, and because it is called a FLOTaxe, I threw it in the pond and yes, it does float (only just).

 
Last edited:
Alocksly said:
And just to be thorough, and because it is called a FLOTaxe, I threw it in the pond and yes, it does float (only just).

Click to expand...

Classic image!
bow.gif


Today I saw an axe with such a big fat log of a handle that I had to wonder if it wouldn't float.
tongue.gif
 
I also have one of these "Flotaxes" I can give you a little information about them. In the late 1950s my father had a scrap metal business. He was purchasing military planes and melting them down. One of the customers for this metal (an aluminum magnesium alloy) were the makers of this flotaxe. That's how he ended up with a sample product.
 
I have a friend named Jack and about 20 years ago while visiting Jack at his house he brings out the Floataxe, he had two of them, one he used and one still in the box. You see Jack's dad was one of the partners in the business adventure. Jack's dad had a friend that was a pilot in the war and was shot down, he was trapped in his plane and that's where he got the idea. Weight is everything on a plane so he set out to design a tool that was effective and very light. The fact that it floats is a byproduct actually. Jack said they invested a lot of time and effort into the design of the cutting blade and the way it bonded to the aluminum/magnesium body. I believe he said they manufactured 1500 units, he remembered doing demonstrations at hardware stores where he would chop through a 55 gallon drum. The Boy Scouts of America were ready to endorse the axe and adopt it as a standard for the Scouts which obviously would have been big bucks but they found out it contained magnesium which can burn so they were concerned that if the axe was left in a fire that it could be a liability so that ended the big deal. The last time I talked to Jack, which was about 15 years ago, he said he was moving towards getting the axe into production but I wouldn't be surprised if he let it slip through the cracks since he has other things going on. I'm going to call Jack tomorrow and see where he's at with the axe.
 
markv said:
very strange piece of kit
thanks for posting
Click to expand...

The dead blow feature was likely an unintended consequence of using sand (or water) as ballast but as a piece of emergency gear for an airplane it definitely has some appeal. Weighs nothing (3/4 lb) and yet will chop through various materials including metal and plexiglas way better than any sort of knife. Someone out there is always dreaming up something new.
What I really enjoyed about this thread is that Alocksly actually field-tested the article. That the thing actually floats is amazing.
 
That is a very interesting old tool, and apparently a rare one.

I would not use it regularly as magnesium is a borderline material for this application, it also work-hardens with use, and it has a bad reputation for aging poorly due to oxidation. It is porous and it can oxidize from the inside out and in other strange ways where the fault can not be seen until it breaks.

I have a few old Norton factory racing motorcycles that have magnesium wheel hubs and crankcases and it is well known in the vintage racing scene to be wary of old magnesium parts and keep them protected and inspected.
 
300Six said:
The dead blow feature was likely an unintended consequence of using sand (or water) as ballast but as a piece of emergency gear for an airplane it definitely has some appeal. Weighs nothing (3/4 lb) and yet will chop through various materials including metal and plexiglas way better than any sort of knife. Someone out there is always dreaming up something new.
What I really enjoyed about this thread is that Alocksly actually field-tested the article. That the thing actually floats is amazing.
Click to expand...

Long ago I watch a subject. And it is pleasant that at me it is possible brother of a hatchet. I live in Ukraine. My translation, big apologies.
11722549_m.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
11722567_m.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top