Critique my work.

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olybears57

Joined
Aug 25, 2013
Messages
658
Hi all, Ian here again. As always constantly looking to improve upon my work. Here are some recent completed projects. How can I make future works even better? Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.









 
Wow! What nice work. Not much to be critical of there. My one and only suggestion would be that the Norlund head might have been set a bit lower or closer to the shoulder. Some phenomenal pieces there. The leather head covers are very attractive.
 
Thanks fellas! Yeah.. That Norlund was giving me grief, and I ended up just wedging it before I probably should have.
 
Looks good. If you want to fine tune the leather work- the edges could use some buffing, the rivet heads could be set better as the peening over method sometimes leave sharp edges.
 
Can't be an axe critique without a shot of those wedges!!! But seriously, heads look good, grain looks real nice (where did the sticks come from?), leather looks nice, pics are good, heck the apron looks REAL nice. I need to make myself one just like it. I fully understand the statement about it giving you grief when it comes to the Norlund. It's probably just my own thing but I do like to spend some time getting the shoulder and the curve leading into it to look "just so" and it looks like there is plenty of material there to do that. Hanging the axe "early" is no big deal - we should make that official term. If it's tight you can always raise the shoulder up to the head. I like to get the shoulder down to the point where it is no wider that the axe head itself. For one thing, vintage handles were done that way, and of course it can save a little wear on the handle during splitting. Stuff you probably already know. I really dig the brand - can you tell us how that was created? Or do you already have a thread going somewhere? Good stuff. Really like the apron.
 
Thanks for the tips visitor, how would you polish the burnished edges? Or better burnish the edges?

COTS, thanks bud! I'm using hand pucked house handles. I also love the shop apron, but sadly I can't claim it as my work. I traded an axe for apron to my friend Zach Osmond, who owns a small dry goods company. He burned in the stamp by hand! Excellent craftsman. As for my brand, it was made by makers mark branding, with great quality, at an affordable price.
 
olybears57 said:
Thanks for the tips visitor, how would you polish the burnished edges? Or better burnish the edges?

COTS, thanks bud! I'm using hand pucked house handles. I also love the shop apron, but sadly I can't claim it as my work. I traded an axe for apron to my friend Zach Osmond, who owns a small dry goods company. He burned in the stamp by hand! Excellent craftsman. As for my brand, it was made by makers mark branding, with great quality, at an affordable price.
Click to expand...

Nice, both look great. I just tried to locate the Makers Mark Branding - found the website on FB - page doesn't work. Do you know if they are currently producing stuff? I've been wanting a brand for awhile now for my projects.

ETA: BTW those wedges .... niiiice.
 
The two TT Kelly Works are healthy looking with great working grinds and edges. The business ends stand out from the rich patina and possess true luster. Their handles are very well fit at the shoulders with obvious care and skill. A generous amount of the wedge ends are left to protrude well past the eyes for a classic look while acting to further affix steel to wood.

The Norlund is solid looking, clean, and has the shoulders of an Olympic freestyle swimmer. A Sportsman's axe worthy of note.

The branding on all 3 is professional and speaks to true artisanship.

The sheaths are beautifully constructed of supple, hand-tool leather, custom fitted to each blade. They are very well constructed and show "Pride in ownership".

Seriously, I am not qualified to critique lol!

Olybears, those are really well done. All three are great - thanks for sharing your work and the pictures of them!
 
You're doing superb work these days. There's very little to improve on. Those double bit hangs look text book perfect. I'd be damned proud of them.

But since you're asking for any tiny little improvement I'll offer some suggestions. You could trim away the excess corners of the wedges - just whittle them away with a sharp knife so that the protruding wedge follows the shape of the eye at both ends. Pre-fitting the wedge to the eye can help. Also you can whittle or sand a tiny chamfer (1mm) on the protruding haft. That way it's less likely to snag something and chip later on.

Another thing you could take a look at is your grind. A full banana or half banana would look nicer. The darker of your two Flint Edges looks pretty good. The Norlund axe might be naturally too thin to accept much of a banana grind. But the lighter Flint Edge could use a little more work. Often the shape of the cheeks just won't produce that classic grind look. But when the cheeks have the right geometry the grind can really shine. Here's one that I strive to emulate. Some would push that shape back even further but I've found I need to leave some thickness for the cheeks to throw the chip effectively.

2-Banana%20grind.jpg


Keep up the great work. It's a pleasure to see your creations. You're putting some tremendous value into those axes.
 
Thanks for the tips and the kind words pegs. You have always been so helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable. I would consider you to be one of my mentors! So thank you very much! Again, I wouldn't be doing nearly the level of work I am doing today without the help of this sub forum.
Cheers fellas.
 
Very nice work! Inspirational for me being I'm just now starting my first hang. Lots of experience in this sub forum with great examples of properly hung axes, hoping I can get my first done right. Taking my time and following lots of goods tips from you guys.
 
Rockman, thank you!! Just keep at it! And don't be afraid to ask any questions. Im still learning lots every time I hang another axe.
 
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