Council boys axe 24 inch test

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dongotto

Joined
Nov 27, 2015
Messages
70
I'm sorry to report this as I wanted to like it, but after a full days use trying the 24 inch Council tools boy axe. I simply do not care for it. It chops fine, it splits fine but in my opinion it's too heavy headed and out of balance to be my everyday pack option which I thought it could be. I much prefer a 2-pound head on Handles in the 24 to 26 inch range. If you try to use it very much one handed I notice a lot of forearm fatigue I am 6'6 and weigh 350lbs so swinging a two and a quarter pound head is really not a big deal to me but if I compare the tool compared to what I feel is ideal it's simply too heavy a head on that short of a handle for regular Bushcraft use. I'm confident there are plenty of occasions it would work well just would not be my pic. I would rather have the regular 28-inch handle for most situations.
 
dongotto,

The Boys Axe is a worker... most people do not consider it to be a pack type axe... it's an axe that is used in combination with saws to drive wedges and such, limb downed trees, clear trails, and do light splitting for firewood processing... In the video that I posted, I explain the technique of choking up on the handle of a 28" boys axe for better accuracy and less fatigue during certain chores... the 24" handle mimics this technique while utilizing the fawns foot for control and safety...

So by shorting the handle, Council is not trying to make it a short forest axe... but a Boys Axe with a shorter handle, for guys that are used to using a 28" boys axe and understand it's usefulness... Making a popular axe pattern/design into something that can now be pack-able, is all that this new axe is meant to do...

So it's a shorter version of a working axe, not an across the board everyday pack tool like many of the sub-2 lbs. axes that many bushcrafters like to use...
I hope you can still find uses for it... she was made to be put to work... :)

Peace, Rooster
 
Good points rooster, I was just thinking I might like it for a pack size as I had always wondered what that size would feel like on a 24inch handle. I can sure see it's usefulness as a working tool. I guess I was trying to make it something it's not.
 
All I keep thinking is, cut a half pound out of the head ... hang on custom handle ... must resist the urge. Car tires are not cheap!!! It's not like we're destroying history on these. Yeah but you just spent how much? You're right. But it's only $40, I mean, I can just skip eating for a few days ... imagine grinding in some bevels, maybe cut in some ears. Do you really need another project? Kinda. No you don't. You never let me do anything fun.
 
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cityofthesouth said:
All I keep thinking is, cut a half pound out of the head ... hang on custom handle ... must resist the urge. Car tires are not cheap!!! It's not like we're destroying history on these. Yeah but you just spent how much? You're right. But it's only $40, I mean, I can just skip eating for a few days ... imagine grinding in some bevels, maybe cut in some ears. Do you really need another project? Kinda. No you don't. You never let me do anything fun.
Click to expand...


Not too far off...:)

The first prototype for the Wood-Craft Pack axe started out from a modified Boys Axe...:)

Peace, Rooster
 
The CT Hudson Bay I put a custom handle on is more like 25" but to me it's a perfect combo ... not that I'm much of a bushcrafter. Their HB weights 2lbs so it's pretty dang similar. I'd do another 25" handle for this myself - finished length. Rooster, you think simply grinding in bevels (like that axe that JB posted recently in the What did you Hang thread) and maybe just taking a hair off the top and bottom would be enough to remove a 1/4lb? I'd just leave the bit alone/full probably.

I'd say don't feel bad dongotto, feedback of all kinds is valuable IMO.
 
cityofthesouth said:
All I keep thinking is, cut a half pound out of the head ... hang on custom handle ... must resist the urge. Car tires are not cheap!!! It's not like we're destroying history on these. Yeah but you just spent how much? You're right. But it's only $40, I mean, I can just skip eating for a few days ... imagine grinding in some bevels, maybe cut in some ears. Do you really need another project? Kinda. No you don't. You never let me do anything fun
Click to expand...

I missed this last night. It's making me laugh COTS.

You know you have the skills to do it and now that you've kind of rationalized it...

Food/brakes/tires? Don't be silly.

Build an axe :)
 
cityofthesouth said:
The CT Hudson Bay I put a custom handle on is more like 25" but to me it's a perfect combo ... not that I'm much of a bushcrafter. Their HB weights 2lbs so it's pretty dang similar. I'd do another 25" handle for this myself - finished length. Rooster, you think simply grinding in bevels (like that axe that JB posted recently in the What did you Hang thread) and maybe just taking a hair off the top and bottom would be enough to remove a 1/4lb? I'd just leave the bit alone/full probably.

I'd say don't feel bad dongotto, feedback of all kinds is valuable IMO.
Click to expand...

1/4 lbs. off of a 2 1/4 lbs. head is only 1/9th of it's total weight... On my Rooster Mod prototype of the Wood-Craft Pack axe, I was able to trim it down the Boys Axe head to 1 lbs. 13 oz. and still keep the same bit length... eh?

Peace, Rooster
 
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