COTS Project Thread

Oxbow said:
I have two 3.5 jersey heads with Kelly eye ridges that I have never hung yet. They look identical to that head except you say yours doesn't have a mark and mine are both stamped A 7 on the left cheek. And they were both originally painted red. I'm going to save these pics as something to shoot for for them.
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I believe it is unmarked. I hung one just like it for a friend, also unmarked. But I have to admit that I haven't looked as closely as I have learned is necessary, and one side of this axe must have laid on the floor or on the ground because it is more pitted than the other. Could just be that a small mark is hidden or gone. My impression is that a lot of these were made.

High_Noon said:
Thanks. Yes, Jerseys are cool & you answered my question. The reason I asked is b/c I have a 3.5 pounder that looks remarkably similar to yours - also unmarked - but I think it may be a Plumb due to the red epoxy in the eye and a well-worn dark reddish haft. I'm just waiting to get my shop set up to rehang this as well as several other heads, but alas, it will have to wait a while...
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I want to say I have seen some Plumbs with pointy ears, but I think the rounded ears are somewhat indicative of Plumbs (though it seems so are reddish handles and epoxy). The other guys will know better. In any case, the commonality of the Jersey, particularly 3-1/2lb heads, probably makes them tough to ID. I do enjoy the history, but even if this head is only 30 years old it's going to be nice quality and so will the Plumbs. In fact, I lust after a Plumb ever since a beveled Jersey slipped through my fingers.

Can't be at the top without pics! Here is part of the family.

axe_family_portrait by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr
 
Your Jersey haft is a work of art! This raises the bar up pretty high for the rest of us.
 
Hammer time.

blacksmithhammers_faces by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

blacksmithhammers_handles by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

blacksmithhammers_marks by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

blacksmithhammers_wedges by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

Various projects here. Dressed up the face of the flatter and hung it already, vinegar baths for the cross peens and a little dress up - not sure if they'll need more or not. Then there are these two fancy blacksmith hammers. I don't know who makes them, but a friend ordered them and was immediately disappointed with the handles. They will present something of a challenge because the eye is longer than any typical blacksmithing hammer handle. I may just buy a couple sledge handles and cut them to size. One in particular is pretty sad. I can't see sending it out with JB weld or whatever is smeared across the top. I can't imagine it is doing anything to keep the handle on, so why take the time to apply it? I do think the handles are going to be tough to get off though - they don't seem to be terribly hung. It might be hard to see in the pics but the handles are wide and have flat sides. They feel all kinds of wrong in the hand.
 
OK that stack of hammers all finished up. The two "custom" (?) hammers didn't have much taper in the eye, and the cross wedges weren't needed. They were pretty easy to hang, the cone wedges were easy to remove. The one with jb weld (or whatever) had it inside the eye as well as on top, which took a few extra blows to drift out, but nothing major. I made the white handle from an DB axe handle I had and the heart wood handle from a sledge hammer handle - this was the only way to get a handle big enough to fit the eye on them. The little hammer with the spalted (?) handle is a Plumb. The other one is unknown but serious taper in the eye and I should have done a more custom handle. These handles are all about 12 inches top to bottom, and I barely had enough wood (note there is almost no swell under the head) for that one. I did all different shapes, experimenting with the location of the center swell. I dunno if one is any better than the other.

blacksmithhammers1_april by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

blacksmithhammers2_april by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr
 
Great looking work COTS! The hammers are nice- I like the cross wedges you've done.
 
Very nice indeed. How does on go about them cross wedges? They look amazing, great job City
 
Agent_H said:
Great looking work COTS! The hammers are nice- I like the cross wedges you've done.
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Thanks! I'm less happy with the one at the bottom left of the second pic. Even with the cross wedges I didn't quite get it filled up.

aikonen said:
Very nice indeed. How does on go about them cross wedges? They look amazing, great job City
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Well first you slow down enough that you don't get the little chips off the sides of the wedge - I got one on both. Functional, but not exactly art. But I fall somewhere closer to function over form, I guess.

So I cut two kerfs of course. I then install the cross wedge first. The important thing about the cross wedge is that it cannot be wider than the tongue of the handle. If you can picture it, the reason is that when you install the long wedge, it will spread the handle and you don't want the cross wedge to impede that. In other words, the cross wedge will need to spread with the handle when you drive the long wedge.

Now, the cross wedge is in. I take a chisel and split it slightly along the long kerf. I then take my long wedge and drive it through the cross wedge, and on home. I only half made my own wedges for these - from the axe wedges HH sends with their handles. I always make my own for axes. But I get a little more careless when it comes to hammers - it's a character flaw I'm sure. I am talking about this because some hammers really need thick wedges and it helps to make your own. The supplied hammer wedges are made to be thrown away. They're useless - always way too small and way too thin. (I just noticed you are in Sweden so .... this may not apply. Sorry for the extra words, others might find it useful maybe.)

For example, take a look at the two hammers on the left in the bottom pic. Note that on the bottom one that one quarter section has a slight gap. The rest filled up fine, I'm not concerned about the hang, but you'll also notice that the wedges are much thicker than on the hammer above it, but that one is still wedged well - the handle is bulging really nicely (not evident in the pic). Point is, the bottom hammer had crazy hour glass taper in the eye so in that example it's worth having a wedge that is over 1/4" thick at the thickest point. This is a topic that has been discussed at length - how to know just how your wedge should be. But I've gone on enough. Thanks!
 
I have always avoided spalted handles but decided to go for it. I understand it could be weaker, but any thoughts on just how much weaker?
 
cityofthesouth said:
. . . but decided to go for it. . .
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If the wood is solid why not? That's a beautiful looking handle. Is it spalted on both sides, looks like it is only spalted in the bottom part of the handle.

cityofthesouth said:
. . .I understand it could be weaker, but any thoughts on just how much weaker?
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I don't know and could never find an answer. I suppose it depends on the particular piece of wood. How much spalting, other decay in the piece, etc. Made a carvers mallet out of spalted Dogwood 6-7 years ago. It's rock hard.

 
rjdankert said:
If the wood is solid why not? That's a beautiful looking handle. Is it spalted on both sides, looks like it is only spalted in the bottom part of the handle.



I don't know and could never find an answer. I suppose it depends on the particular piece of wood. How much spalting, other decay in the piece, etc. Made a carvers mallet out of spalted Dogwood 6-7 years ago. It's rock hard.

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That thing is really good looking - the colors are remarkably similar. The spalting does go through the handle, but you're right, not all the way to the top - though the wood does have that grey tone throughout. It's not a big hammer, and he's got so many at this point I thought it would be a nice chance to learn something. It's for the science!
 
cityofthesouth said:
Thanks! I'm less happy with the one at the bottom left of the second pic. Even with the cross wedges I didn't quite get it filled up.


Well first you slow down enough that you don't get the little chips off the sides of the wedge - I got one on both. Functional, but not exactly art. But I fall somewhere closer to function over form, I guess.

So I cut two kerfs of course. I then install the cross wedge first. The important thing about the cross wedge is that it cannot be wider than the tongue of the handle. If you can picture it, the reason is that when you install the long wedge, it will spread the handle and you don't want the cross wedge to impede that. In other words, the cross wedge will need to spread with the handle when you drive the long wedge.

Now, the cross wedge is in. I take a chisel and split it slightly along the long kerf. I then take my long wedge and drive it through the cross wedge, and on home. I only half made my own wedges for these - from the axe wedges HH sends with their handles. I always make my own for axes. But I get a little more careless when it comes to hammers - it's a character flaw I'm sure. I am talking about this because some hammers really need thick wedges and it helps to make your own. The supplied hammer wedges are made to be thrown away. They're useless - always way too small and way too thin. (I just noticed you are in Sweden so .... this may not apply. Sorry for the extra words, others might find it useful maybe.)

For example, take a look at the two hammers on the left in the bottom pic. Note that on the bottom one that one quarter section has a slight gap. The rest filled up fine, I'm not concerned about the hang, but you'll also notice that the wedges are much thicker than on the hammer above it, but that one is still wedged well - the handle is bulging really nicely (not evident in the pic). Point is, the bottom hammer had crazy hour glass taper in the eye so in that example it's worth having a wedge that is over 1/4" thick at the thickest point. This is a topic that has been discussed at length - how to know just how your wedge should be. But I've gone on enough. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Great explanation, Im grateful. Thank you very much
 
Earlier in this thread are pics of the 3 parang blanks I had shipped in from Malaysia. I went and got a couple axe handles thinking I am an axe enthusiast, it makes sense to use an axe handle. They use a pretty similar shape, etc. Well, yes and no. The premade handle just didn't cut it no matter how much I worked on it so I abandoned that plan. I had a piece of rough oak sitting around in the shop. I really don't know what it was in a former life - maybe a pallet? It was here when I moved here. Anyway, it was plenty thick but the grain runs opposite that for an axe - I don't know if it will matter with a knife. What do you guys think? The next question is, to pin or not to pin. I have watched just about every jungle video I can find showing the native people using knives like these, making them, putting handles on them, etc. Often they are not pinned or anything else. But, lots of them are pinned, and more still have a collar. I think I will pin them, hopefully that goes well because this handle has a lot of work in it. It still resembles an axe handle but has a much more drastic down turn more like a parang. I don't like the bulb swell seen on some, so maybe I'm giving up function for aesthetics. Anyway, put my little Plumb hatchet and the little GB to work. The Plumb is good for rough work and at 2lbs, requires a slow and steady swing. The little GB though is great for more detail and making turns, and is less fatiguing to swing quickly. Makes a nice pair. If this were an axe handle, it would for sure be my greatest work.

Here is the oak roughed out.
parang_oakhandle by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

parang_enep1 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

parang_enep2 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

parang_details by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

parang_enep_bladethickness by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

parang_enep3 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

Right now the handle is epoxied on. I fit it by heating the tang and burning it in the way the natives do. I wrapped the blade in a wet rag and based on the sharpening so far, I think it worked fine. Next time I will just set the blade in a bucket of water. I think the handle is maybe a bit big, but I plan to do a slightly different style with each one, so maybe I'll have a feel for what I like by the end.
 
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Really nice handle. The parang looks amazing, looks like a 'ray mears'-style. How much did you pay for the blade? Thank you and have a nice day
 
aikonen said:
Really nice handle. The parang looks amazing, looks like a 'ray mears'-style. How much did you pay for the blade? Thank you and have a nice day
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Yeah my limited understanding is that Ray Mears likes this particular style from the Bidor area and so they are referred to as Ray Mears style over here. Outdoor Dynamics calls them Ray Mears style, but I assume that is a marketing thing mostly. Anyway, shipping from these kinds of remote areas is expensive, which is why I ordered 3, so the individual price came out to $25.
 
cityofthesouth said:
Yeah my limited understanding is that Ray Mears likes this particular style from the Bidor area and so they are referred to as Ray Mears style over here. Outdoor Dynamics calls them Ray Mears style, but I assume that is a marketing thing mostly. Anyway, shipping from these kinds of remote areas is expensive, which is why I ordered 3, so the individual price came out to $25.
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It is strange how they got to be called 'Ray mears'-style just because he likes them.

Ok, however they look solid, $25 might just be worth it!
 
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