Best deal going on a short worker-axe?

steve-in-kville

steve-in-kville

Joined
Dec 25, 2001
Messages
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Not a wallhanger, I need something a bit bigger than a hatchet but not a full length axe. Gotta have a wood handle. Basically I'm gonna give the handle a few coats of BLO over the winter and then it gets used come spring.

Ideas? Suggestions?


ETA: I'm kinda partial to this: http://www.baryonyxknife.com/woodworkeraxe.html
 
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Whatever axe you buy there is no need to let it sit around for months after oiling the handle.
 
You can get a Council Tool Boys Axe with a 24" handle that is really handy.
 
steve-in-kville said:
Not a wallhanger, I need something a bit bigger than a hatchet but not a full length axe. Gotta have a wood handle. Basically I'm gonna give the handle a few coats of BLO over the winter and then it gets used come spring.

Ideas? Suggestions?


ETA: I'm kinda partial to this: http://www.baryonyxknife.com/woodworkeraxe.html
Click to expand...

What will you use it for?

Felling a small tree, limbing and processing fallen or live trees, cutting roots to plant something, carve something or simply sharpen stakes, etc.

The link you posted, are you drawn to the 18" length, the ears on it, the flat edge of the blade, or the cut-out that makes it look a bit like a "woodworker's axe" with maybe a little Euro influence?

You can always get way too many axes in every pattern, size, length, and origin to find you only really use maybe 3-4 of them - not the most efficient way to choose an axe but that is my experience and I shouldn't give advice I can't follow myself...
 
Steve, you should be able to find quite a few in your neck of the woods garage sales, swap meats and fleece markets. Pick up a couple and see what you like, most times they just need cleaning and sharpening.
 
steve-in-kville said:
Light use, nothing too heavy. Think general garden stuff... sharpening stakes......
Click to expand...

I do a fair amount of sharpening stakes around here. I prefer a broad hatchet for this work, one with a single bevel. But any camp hatchet will do fine. The broad hatchets tend to have good weight (1-3/4 - 2 pounds) and serve well driving the aforementioned garden stakes.

Don't forget to bevel the top edge of your stake to prevent splitting. And a micro-bevel on the point will hold up better, too.
 
Husqvarna makes a hatchet that looks like that one and it is actually made by( hults bruks, hultafors, wetterlings) ive heard of them being stamped by any of these swedish axe makers and it is a great little hatchet. It cost the same or a little less than that one. But with baronyx you can usually get cheeks thinned and a good sharp edge put on it if you get the upgrade. I would have thought steve in k ville is knoxville if that was the case i have a few axes you could check out i got a few heads and alot of handles.
 
For truly light use, the CT Hudson Bay is another choice, with a choice of short or not so short handles. Great for moderate limbing, Campcraft, etc. Just set the head a bit lower and replace the metal wedge with wood one.
 
Square_peg said:
I do a fair amount of sharpening stakes around here. I prefer a broad hatchet for this work, one with a single bevel. But any camp hatchet will do fine. The broad hatchets tend to have good weight (1-3/4 - 2 pounds) and serve well driving the aforementioned garden stakes.

Don't forget to bevel the top edge of your stake to prevent splitting. And a micro-bevel on the point will hold up better, too.
Click to expand...

Good points on the subtler details of stakes. Same goes for making wooden gluts and felling wedges. I love the ~5" gluts I made from elm (I think) and they have held up well. Same for the black locust felling wedges, except a couple cracked when they dried :), mainly because they were green limbs and not split dry wood. Still, the good ones work great!
 
Update:

I went with the Condor Woodworker Axe. I was tempted to go up a size to a 24" but I think the 18" would be perfect for what I want to do! Thanks for the numerous suggestions.
 
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