Curious case of American Broad Axes with long handles

Square_peg said:
Let me give you an example. The fully burdened rate for one of our carpenters is a little over $90/hr. Last month one was replacing a threshold at one of our outlying buildings. A lump in the concrete was interfering with the installation. He didn't have a cold chisel with him but he had a $15 wood chisel which he abused chipping concrete. He saved an hour long drive for a cold chisel by abusing a $15 wood chisel. Net gain $75 and the chisel was still sharpenable.
Click to expand...
Examples of this type of thing are almost endless for those that have worked in the trades. Beater tools have a place and them cheap chisels might be the most abused tool of all.
 
I've knowingly damaged my share of tools, for the sake of expediency and in a few cases, emergency.

As long as it's something I can replace or fix I dont think twice even if it's just going to save time and money. In the end, as much as we may like them, that's really what tools are for.
 
...A pragmatism borne of the Pioneering Spirit where you couldn't stop on the trek in the great Western Expansion to properly bury your dead because it'd cost the wagon master his wages. I know it from my own ancestor who traveled across the Mid-western Prairie from Missouri pulling a handcart on a stump leg chasing a prophet who'd gotten his theology from the mouth of a salamander. Or so the story goes.
 
Besides my tape and hammer my beater chisel is the most used item in my nail pouch. I open paint cans, pry on stuff, unscrew outlet covers... the list is endless.. I keep a good sharp chisel in my pouch too but it doesn't get used half as much.
I do take care of my tools but the bottom line is shit has to get done!!!
 
Oh yes,Fmont,i know that i'm going to burn in hell for sure...Emergency or even expediency is one thing,but so often it's nothing but hurry,if not outright stupidity...
Not too long ago couldn't shove a chunk of moose deep enough into a pot,the bone interfered...Now the edge of my carpenter's hatchet is utterly trashed...chipped...:(
 
Fmont said:
I wonder if in eighty/hundred/hundred and twenty years future collectors will be shaking their heads at us, as we do when we come across a badly abused axe. >.<
Click to expand...
I definitely see your point. It's a well made point! But it's a plastic handled Stanley. But who knows! Maybe it'll be highly sought after someday. After all they've banned plastic straws in a few places... :confused:
It is an interesting thought though. We think of modern tools as, maybe not disposable but, nothing special. Same as the way our forebears thought of their axes. After all every other axe they looked at was etched beautifully! Bah- nothing special they thought!
"Here, pass me that oil whetted, I need to break this moose bone...:mad::eek:
 
Yankee Josh said:
Same as the way our forebears thought of their axes.
Click to expand...
Now That is most probably a very wise observation.
Surely with correction for the times;the trades i think were less harsh,less nasty OSB and asphalt roofing and linoleum to strip,fewer nasty fasteners like staples and other crap to chop through...
But tools have always died a gruesome death wherever there were things getting Done.

Around where i live there's definitely pretty ruthless attitude,but i think most of the axe attrition is due to loss,in the woods or going over the side in the river...
There's an axe in every boat,and stuck into a dedicated holder on every snowmobile,it's the most crucial part of all your gear,it's absolutely essential.By springtime everyone is looking for replacements...I have a friend who buys axes by the dozen,every couple-three years...Manages to loose every one,too.
Never do i see any old axes around at all,they're all gone,dissolved into the country!:)
 
It's a key reason I've chosen long ago for the nature of the work I do, largely confined to the controlled environment of the workshop, everything contained and within reasonable reach, (or so it should be if I am prepared). I have no excuses for abuses. And because this is the mentality of my work when there are occasions where that is not the case I will go to even excessive measures to avoid some unwarranted or hasty improvisations. Much of this has to do with training, I am always shocked when working next to a Frenchman.
 
Last edited:
Square_peg said:
Shit happens when you're working in the real world. Sometimes it means you have to grab the tool at hand and abuse it. Nice to have tools that can take it.
Click to expand...

Maybe the classic example of abusing a tool is a practice some old school loggers used when repairing cables. To cut off a frayed end a double bit axe was set in a stump. The cable was laid across the axe and then struck with a sledge until cut. I can't imagine it was very good for the axe. And you'd want a very wide angle on the bit. But you'd never shut down a logging operation for fear of damaging an axe.

Git'r done.
 
Yes,unless the outfit invested into a real legit Cable-axe...(as i'm sure you know a specialised critter with a spike and two wings for setting into a stump).
Actually i don't think it'd ruin an axe Too much...It';d definitely trash a decent chopping sharpening,but eventually would stabilize at whatever(cold chisel-like angle).
Plow steel that goes into most cable is fairly soft,considerably softer than any axe edge...
Till you miss with that sledge a time or two!:)...but then again,chances are they'd use another axe's poll anyway...
 
E Ernest DuBois
I've just watched your hewing video. Thank you for posting
Have you ever seen or have heard somebody mention folding rip saw machine for cutting railroad ties?
Few months back I have run into first generation Italian guy. I was looking at his 2 men crosscut saws hanging on the wall. My interest got him talking about his old country and the way Italians cut railroad ties. It was some kind foldable (easy to carry) contraption that utilized 2 man saw to shape RR ties. He was sure they did not use hewing axes. I searched for information about that subject but I could not find any patent for such machine. Does 2 men rip saw actually exist?
 
Last edited:
I'm glad you can watch the movie, sometimes playback is not so smooth on that server's videos.

It's easy to imagine the scene, getting out ties in the hills, poor access and the only contraption I know of that may fit the situation is a frame saw. Such a saw can be easily disassembled, the staging improvised one way or the other and this kind of saw and its use is ancient, simple & wide-spread.
raamzaagtekeningb.jpg
 
Ernest DuBois said:
I'm glad you can watch the movie, sometimes playback is not so smooth on that server's videos.

It's easy to imagine the scene, getting out ties in the hills, poor access and the only contraption I know of that may fit the situation is a frame saw. Such a saw can be easily disassembled, the staging improvised one way or the other and this kind of saw and its use is ancient, simple & wide-spread.
raamzaagtekeningb.jpg
Click to expand...
I've seen similar images but in a pit. And speaking of pit I've often felt pity for the guy down below! Though neither position was easy I'm sure. I'd still love to try it once.
 
Ernest DuBois said:
I'm glad you can watch the movie, sometimes playback is not so smooth on that server's videos.

It's easy to imagine the scene, getting out ties in the hills, poor access and the only contraption I know of that may fit the situation is a frame saw. Such a saw can be easily disassembled, the staging improvised one way or the other and this kind of saw and its use is ancient, simple & wide-spread.
raamzaagtekeningb.jpg
Click to expand...
Thank you Ernest. Straight forward, simple solution is most likely the right one!!
For some reason (maybe because of folding sawing machine) I imagined some convoluted, mechanically fancy setup that allowed to make rip cuts parallel to the ground without the need to elevate heavy timber.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top