Axeandadze

Just placed an order with these guys for one of the large Hewing Axes and one of the viking style axes. Can't wait to see this stuff in person!
 
So this came in the mail yesterday!! Woohoo! Thanks again to ipt for his more than generous offer.

This is how I received it...I'm definitely looking forward to using this...I've been wanting to carve some bowls recently, and I'm hoping to find the right wood soon!!!

For size reference with my Kershaw Shuffle II. I'll try to size it by some of my other axes/hatchets for a better comparison.




The main axe bit:


The adze bit (A little blurry but you get the idea):


That's it so far. Also, the box is awesome with all the different shipping labels. It might have to go one the garage wall. :)
 
I got the curved adze version of that axe off of amazon.ca and the transaction was excellent. It showed up well before the expected arrival date, it was well packaged for the trip, and there were no surprises. It's a fun little toy for hacking away at cedar (which is the only thing I've used it on so far). If there is a complaint to be made, it's that the model I have has a round haft which is less than ideal for a tool that is meant for precision work. That's getting pretty darn nit-picky and is an easy fix.

I've been eyeing the other axes and adzes lately and thinking about what to get next. The only problem is that they are competing with a pair of Pinewood forge sweep knives that I'd really like and would probably be more useful for carving... except I just like hitting things with an axe and a lot of his stuff looks like it would be loads of fun.
 
Mine arrived too!
It is a very nice woodworking tool and a pretty one too!:thumbup:
The bit is thicker than that of a typical carpenter’s hatchet or many of the Cold Steel hawks, so it seems it would split easily a 4-5” diameter wood placed sideways. Mr. Tasev advertises it as a potential bushcraft tool too, and I think it could be used in that role as well, if not better than many tomahawks or carpenter’s hatchets.
The adze part is curved only in one direction, so it is not as efficient as a dedicated bowl carving tool, but works better in that role than a hatchet or a straight (i.e. non-crooked) knife.
As you can see from SC T100’s pictures, the nice ash handle was made in the Czech Republic, so in the end we have a mini-EU product. The hammer handle shape allows for a multitude of comfortable holds, one can easily choke up to do some fine shaving with the bearded axe. The overall balance of the tool is better than what I expected it to be. :thumbup:

I am very happy with this tool, and am happy that I was among the 6 lucky people who were given one as a gift.

Thanks again, ipt for your great generosity and the great tool!
 
Canadian Mojo said:
I got the curved adze version of that axe off of amazon.ca and the transaction was excellent. It showed up well before the expected arrival date, it was well packaged for the trip, and there were no surprises. It's a fun little toy for hacking away at cedar (which is the only thing I've used it on so far). If there is a complaint to be made, it's that the model I have has a round haft which is less than ideal for a tool that is meant for precision work. That's getting pretty darn nit-picky and is an easy fix.
Click to expand...

Is this the combination adze+hammer+nail puller tool?

I grew up using the straight edge version of this combination adze and it is easily one of my favorite tools. I hammered in and pulled out more nails with it than with any true framing or carpenter’s hammer, made stakes, cut notches, split kindling.
I actually like the round handle on it. Maybe it is just habit and getting used to it early, but I think the round handle can be held quite securely, especially that people quite often choke up on these adze handles in use. But I agree, that an oval handle shape on a striking tool would require less effort to control and probably would be easier and safer to use than a round one. The only true advantage of the round conical handle shape is the extreme ease of making & slip-fitting a replacement handle.
 
I wasn't home to receive mine yesterday so I had to pick it up at the Post Office today. It arrived looking flawless and with a small amount of wax on the polished edges likely to protect against rust.

1.jpg



It arrived sharpened and stropped with no burr on either the axe or adze edge aside from the tiniest point remaining on one side of the toe. That disappeared with literally one stroke of a fine hone. I wouldn't quite call the edges razor sharp but both the axe and the adze did remove some arm hair as originally sharpened. The head itself is very well formed - it must be cast steel with some hand cleanup. It's too perfect to have been forged. The handle looks like ash. It is very straight-grained with near perfect grain alignment and zero runout.

Overall length is a bit over 14" with an adze to axe length of 7-1/4" - slightly longer than advertised. The bit is 3-3/4" wide. The overall weight is 626 grams - a bit less than advertised. Estimating the handle weight (based on a similar handle I had lying around) I came up with a head of about 1 pound.

2.jpg


It's as perfectly formed as any tool from the heyday of American axe production - similar to what you would find in a modern U.S. high quality hammer.


3.jpg


The alignment of both axe and adze to the eye and haft is perfect. This is another reason I think it must be cast. You couldn't consistently forge them this precisely. And there is nothing wrong with being cast versus forged. It's the heat treat that counts either way. The adze is predominantly bevelled on the underside as it should be. The top side appears to have been polished minimally to remove the burr.

5.jpg



I'll tell you, I wanted to run outside and chop something right away, but I forced myself to take these pictures first. Then I took it out back to the chopping block in the rain and in the dark. I only played with it for about 5 minutes. It's a handy little carver. It's light enough that I didn't feel like putting my hand all the way up the haft for most work. But it was nice to be able to get up there when doing something detailed with the toe as you often will in carving. It chopped OK considering its weight. I tested it on some dry Douglas Fir and some halfway dry cherry. It did fine on both but better on the cherry.

I was surprised by how well the little adze works. It carved a shallow in the cherry very easily. I look forward to doing more with it soon.

After about 5 minutes of relative heavy use there was a slight bit of wiggle in the head. I tapped the wedges in and it tightened right up. I'll add a little Swel-lock to it. I split a small piece of Doug Fir firewood. It easily split kindling - better than I expected for such a light hatchet. I think I'd like to thin the profile on the bit just a little. I think this would improve its chopping and carving. But I want to take it out in the woods in day light and see what it will do as shipped before I do that.

Before I came in I came it a dozen hard hits perpendicular into the dry Doug Fir just to see how the edge would hold up. The edge didn't roll at all and I can't really feel any difference in sharpness. That leads me to conclude that it's pretty good steel. I'll test it with a file later for hardness. The website describes it as 4150 steel. I checked the specs on that:

"AISI/SAE 4150 grade is a versatile alloy with good atmospheric corrosion resistance and reasonable strength up to around 600 º F (315 º C). It shows good overall combinations of strength, toughness, wear resistance and fatigue strength."

Chemical Analysis
C Carbon 0.48 – 0.53
Mn Manganese 0.75 – 1.00 max
P Phosphorus 0.035 max
S Sulfur 0.04 max
Si Silicon 0.20 – 0.35
Cr Chromium 0.80 – 1.10
Mo Molybdenum 0.15 – 0.25

So it's a medium carbon alloy. The strength properties suggest it should be excellent as an axe.

Overall I'm very impressed with it. It's a nice light multi-tool. I'll need to make a cover for it as I would never pack a tool this sharp uncovered. I'll report back after I've had a chance hack some limbs with it and take a file to it.
 
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Square_peg, thanks for the excellent write-up. I echo many of your sentiments as well, though I haven't used mine yet. It's a great little tool...I'm hoping i can grab some wood and carve a green wood bowl this weekend, though I may also thin the bit and attempt a bit of a V-grind to aid in carving (as opposed to my usual convex bit on my axes and hatchets).
 
littleknife said:
Is this the combination adze+hammer+nail puller tool?

I grew up using the straight edge version of this combination adze and it is easily one of my favorite tools. I hammered in and pulled out more nails with it than with any true framing or carpenter’s hammer, made stakes, cut notches, split kindling.
I actually like the round handle on it. Maybe it is just habit and getting used to it early, but I think the round handle can be held quite securely, especially that people quite often choke up on these adze handles in use. But I agree, that an oval handle shape on a striking tool would require less effort to control and probably would be easier and safer to use than a round one. The only true advantage of the round conical handle shape is the extreme ease of making & slip-fitting a replacement handle.
Click to expand...

No, it's the one listed as the Elegant small bearded hatchet / axe combined with curved adze blade on his site.
 
Square_peg said:
Anyone else catch this?

"Made from high quality steel:-AISI 4150 - HRC 55"

If that is their standard these will be nice tools.
Click to expand...


Other items listed with the same hardness are:

Light bearded axe / hatchet with handle - RARE VIKING SHAPE

Viking type light bearded axe / hatchet with handle - RARE SHAPE

For other items, the HRC is listed in 50-55 range:

SET OF THREE WOOD CARVING BOWL ADZE TOOLS - STRAIGHT - BIG - SMALL CURVED ADZE

HEWING GOOSEWING BEARDED BROAD AXE - VIKING STYLE- GREEN WOODWORKING TOOL

From all this I gather the hardness is in the HRC 50-55 range.
 
littleknife said:
That is weird handle. It doesn’t seem to be slip-fitted, but rather wedge fitted, like the axe-adze we were discussing above. The lower portion of the handle however appears to be round. :confused:
Click to expand...
Yup, that's exactly what it is. The eye is a rounded rectangle (vs. oval) with a wood and straight steel wedge. It makes sharpening the adze a little tricky, but a piece of small diameter pipe and some fine sandpaper does a decent job.
 
I tried out the new guy a bit last night, just to see what's what out of the box. Here are some comparison pictures for reference. It's about the same size as my other Plumb half hatchet and my Merit, but bigger than the Norlund. It's definitely lighter than the Plumb and about the same as the Merit. It's obviously got a larger cutting surface, and is lighter due to the heel cutout.




I did do a quick hone with a fine stone just to make sure any burr was removed. It's very comfortable to use, and I like the overall feel to it. I took it to some fresh sweetgum I picked up to see how it feels. While the bevels are a bit thick for my personal preference, it will still make thin, thin shavings.



Overall it does really well out of the box, though I didn't attempt any splitting with it. I plan to use it as a carving hatchet more than a bushcraft/multipurpose hatchet. The adze works really well. So far it chops well, carves well, and flattens well. It's a great hatchet...I love it! As with every single one of my hatchets save my tiny Kubben from GBA, I plan to smooth and thin the bevel and get it hair popping sharp, honed to around 1000 grit or so and stropped. I have some carving to do, and I'm really looking forward to trying out the adze on some large bowls. Pics when I get to the project.

Ipt, you are awesome, and it's a great product. Thanks so much again. I'm loving this thing. :)
 
Hope to have some pics up in a day or two. Got both packages today and yesterday. I love them all! Thanks again!
 
Over the weekend, I took my axe/adze and touched it up like I would any other new axe. I thinned the main hatchet bevels with a slight convex to increase fine carving angles, and I thinned the "inner" adze bevel just a bit as well. The steel takes a great edge, and seems to hold it well in my use so far. The steel hardness seems on par with my True Temper axes, where good files work well, and bad files do work, but not very well. Overall I think it's a great steel for this use, and responds well to stropping, which is what it will see most when used mostly for carving. I don't really have any before pics, but here are some not-great shots of the bevels post-thinning. The biggest increase so far has been the lowered angle of attack on the main blade, and the increased ability of the adze to dig deep or shallow with minor adjustments of the wrist. Loving it.


 
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