Axe use by primative tribes in the Amazon.

He seems to have put an awkwardly long handle on it. He chokes up quite a bit.

It's his knife, it's his chisel, it's his axe. He makes great use of it. I'd like to see his sharpening method. He's certainly got it sharp.
 
I recently had in my possession one of those 4.5lb Collins trade axe looking South American axes. It was big. The axe that man in the video had looked gigantic. I'm 6'3", bigger but not huge and it seemed a big axe to me. Although I'm not an extremely big man, I bet that I'm a giant next to those people. I'm betting that it's the same axe.
 
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Nice! The one time I was fortunate enough to visit the Amazon rainforest in Peru, back in 1977, a teenage boy in the native village I visited proved the accuracy and skill of using a blow gun by pinning down butterflies whenever they landed on tree trunks. Distance was in around 30 feet but better shooting then what I could do with a 177 air rifle when I was that age. Now that the making of a blow gun has been de-mystified (via this documentary; I always wondered how they could made a uniform straight and uniformly cylindrical passage through a halved and bound stick) I might just get the hankering to become similarly inventive about dealing with marauding squirrels on my bird feeders in a more discrete manner than the usual 22 CB longs.
The natives of s. America rarely get much over 5 feet tall so any view of a trade axe is an exaggeration of comparative size to here but it is interesting to see that a round eye allows the use of removable and readily procured hafts. Steel implements rust away like crazy down there (perpetual 100% humidity and daily rainfall) so it is very likely that natives have learned to use animal fat or some such to coat the tools after use. However they sharpen the blades has obviously become a fine art and anyone willing to devote 2-3 weeks to making a blow gun is likely patient and skilled enough to figure out how to hone and maintain a keen edge using some form of flat stone.

Pictured below is a late 40s-early 50s Canadian-made (Walters) 2lb 6oz export trade axe

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Thank you for the video, I enjoied it a lot.

About the axe, it's a tipycal Byscaian axe local variation with it's typical conic ovalish eye. The one you show 300Six is a aproximation to this type of axe. Today you can find some factory makers doing it, but they tend to be steel pieces welded to a purely round conic eye. There is only one maker, the last in its birthplace the Basque Country, who produces them in the ancient way. Here you have his webpage, the Byscaian ones are denomiden as "Inausteko aizkora/hacha de poda".

http://www.hachasartesanas.com

In my opinion this type of eye is far superior to today "normal" considered one. You can hang it with a conventional handle and when it breaks you can easily manufacture another handle with a straigh branch and the axe head. If you prefer you can use it as the native, you can hang and dehang it considering the use you will give to it. It also gives you the option to pack only the head when you are travelling and to hang it when you arrive to a place with trees.

I don't know why today axemakers don't produce the heads in this way, as I mentioned you can sell them with a conventional handle. I think the reason is more commercial than the absence of knowledge.
 
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Oh! I forgot it, a conical eye axe is quite safer than the others.
 
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You are right FrankB, the steel tomahawk derived from the trade axe. The oldest recorded trade axe was a Biscayan one, those were one of the most, if no the most, appreciated ones between natives and the Frech traders.

http://www.furtradetomahawks.com/biscayne-trade-axes.html

That's right FortyTwoBlades, he makes very good tools. Their quality is pretty good, I love his Basque axes (if you don't need a poll they are perfect) and they are surprisingly cheap. I can remember I paid between 20-25€ for a 800gr Biscayan axe.

His basque axes are very good ones, the head is casted, the file zone is forged, they have this type of eye and they are cheeky as old usa patterns.

It's a pity he doesn't sell them outside Spain. I live 30 car minutes from him, I meet him personally in his forgery one moth ago and bought three axes. He is a very pleasant man.
 
Ugaldie,
Thank you for the link. His workmanship looks great.
I know that Basque axe and tool making goes back many years, longer than than the USA has been a country. Good to see it still survives. I can't read the sight but I thought it was interesting (but not surprising) that he made a pepper roaster also.

In this part of Idaho we have a large Basque population, maybe the biggest anywhere outside of the Basque home land. The state capitol has a Basque block with some Basque restuants and a museum there also. Its been many years since I have visted the museum. Next time I am in the Basque block I will see if they have any tools in there. Nothing makes my wife happier than a trip to the Basque block for tapas and a bottle of wine.
 
I'm pleased you know some of our history garry3. Yes, the Basque siderugy has a very largue history, we had plenty very good mineral (English and Spanish appreciated it very much, American natives did the same as you see in the tomahawk link), our land is and was mostly covered by good quality wood thick forests, our territory is composed in a large extent by rainy mountainous ranges and we have been forging before Roman arrived here. If you know how and were to look at, it's common to find old iron and steel producing structure remains in our mountains. Our family has one of them, its a 17th century, more or less, 5 meters high 3 meters wide iron reduction furnance unused in at least a century. Basques are (or at least were) so closed to this industry that some places have their names related to it. For example my valley, Urola, means water powered iron/steel forgery.

About our food, its easy to explain. My province population is three times lower that the Paris one but we had (at least in 2014 or 2013, I can't remember) more Michelin stars than it. About tapas, we call them pintxoak, pinchos in Spanish. They were different in the origin, now due to the globalization, they are more or less the same.

A lot of basque people migrated between 30 and 50's, they were very hard times here. Some family members live in the USA, they live in Nevada.They allways invite us to go there, we would go if it wasn't for the crysis. At what time of the year do you recommed us to go, if we ever can?

Let's continue with axes, I have found a perfect post to back my argument. Here you have,

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/795465-Traditional-Basque-Axe

You can see here a traditional Basque axe with its oval conic eye hanged with an excelent traditional (I mean globally) handle. I have to contact this man because I think he doesn't know the joy he has, I'm refering to the handle.

Here you can see, he can use this axe peferctly and rehandle it by himself when it breaks.
 
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Ugaldie, If you are talking northern Nevada, late September or early October has great weather.

I have come across many stands of aspen trees in northern Nevada and southern Idaho with Basque names carved in them and usually dated to the late 1800's.

I hope the crisis ends soon. If you make it over here to see relatives send me a message and I will be sure you have some vintage American axe heads before you leave.
 
Thank you for your information garry3. If or when we go to the USA I'll send you a message. My writting, reading and listening english is good, but my speaking skill is very rusted, I haven't speaked it in a decade. You will have to do a bit of effort to understand me.

Regards.
 
Might I also say that the knife he was using to shave the dart shafts looked like it had the edge of a 50 cent razor! I don't know if it was stone or metal, but it was sharp.
 
A truly awesome video! I was going to ask about the axe, but you guys have it covered. Thanks for sharing all that information, Ugaldie, those axes are really gorgeous, too! Maybe you should have start a thread showing off some of your basque axes.
 
So seeing already is learned.
They noted that he does not fix the cable wedge? so you can use just the head of the ax.
And already the cable is conical the ax does not leave the cable easily.
it uses heat to align the timber.
parabens for posting!
 
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