Finnish/Earlier Scandi axes - Kirves

Ragnar Ökman said:
High roller Joe. I may be mistaken, is B 12.2 some kind of holy grail of axes? Scandi heads go for about 10 € at any junk market here, restorable condition. But then, what good is a roll of cash when you need a blade?
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I thought you were asking about my Billnäs 25/3,4,I paid about £70 for my other Finnish axe which is similar to a 12.2/3
 
It´s true hewing axes are getting rare and pricy. My comment was not supposed to be so offensive that it may sound. It´s easy to get blind what nice things you have available in your region. Like I don´t stumble upon too many Black Ravens here in the North.
 
Ragnar, I didn't think your comment was offensive but rather just establishing that the only axes of this type available to overseas buyers are going for way more than the real/perceived value from where they are found locally :thumbsup:

Price - the money requested for an item to change hands.
Cost - how that price affects each person.
Real value - it's an old axe and anyone can buy a new axe at the store.
Perceived value - Historic,novelty, or rarity aspects that change with time and overall interest.

Going purely on overseas auction pricing, I almost would say that the Kemi axes out of Finland have come down in price.
Surprisingly, about 4-5 years ago the pre-shipping price for the heads were going for what you might pay now for them with shipping and in many cases now they may even come with a handle. This opinion is just from following them for a while out of interest and practice.
I have a couple of "associates" in western Russia who say that they have been wildly popular there for woods use for many years and they complain that they are more scarce now and the prices have gone up locally - thanks to American interest where they command higher prices.

Also something to keep in mind is; if someone has purchased one, had it shipped to them, and then they offer it for sale domestically, you have to expect to pay their price+shipping+your shipping to get it. That is assuming little to no mark up or a custom handle having been made for it.

All of this, and more I suppose, is why price hasn't been brought up here previously and the focus has been on the axes themselves. Exchanges with someone, where both parties are willing to trade at real value to them and both parties end up with some terrific stuff that they would not have normally. The item's actual prices already have been absorbed plus each others' shipping and both parties win. Trust and face value are harder to establish outside of the usual commerce systems.

What really interests me is that shipping of an entire axe from Finland or Estonia is $28 and shipping of an axe to Finland is three to four times as much lol.
 
Finnish Postal Service works in mysterious ways. They can waste the same amount of time moving a package a few hundred miles incountry as it takes for a transatlantic shipment.
 
This thread is about old Finnish/Scandinavian/Socket axes but since there are some potential questions about my memory...
It was $57 send a small flat rate box to the Netherlands. (I was and am still very happy about the whole thing by the way :thumbsup:)

*Picture removed.

That was a small flat-rate box that, when domestically shipped, was something like $7.95 at the time. Of course we are talking about international shipping but it does illustrate part of the impetus of that one part of my above post.

So, that seems to match the rates for me and what I mentioned offhand. It is very possible that the rates vary according nation, region, maybe right down to international and domestic charges and duties specific to the nation in accordance to agreements above my pay grade to have knowledge of. It may even be less expensive to ship from the Netherlands or Sweden to the US due some sort of agreement between nations, the European Union, even cheaper from Finland and Estonia for some reason that I am not aware of. Maybe some nations have subsidies in place domestically/internationally to promote commerce - I don't know.

I received 4 handled Topor axes from Russia, from a private party, that the shipping was still less than I was quoted from our post office to send one axe to Finland. (A couple of you were party to that). I did send that axe to Finland and the recipient thoroughly enjoys it - That is what that whole thing is about.

For a man to send an entirely hung axe from Finland to me being about $28 in a box large enough to accommodate it and for me to send the same sized box for around a hundred, there is a disparity in our shipping experiences.

I guess you guys are going to have to make a decision as to whether or not to deal with me based on shipping experiences alone.
Damn, maybe I am a High Roller ;)
 
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This is on its way to me. This is the seller's picture but it will need a handle, most likely some nicer dimensional cut ash that I have here, whittled into shape. I've got some template tracings of handles of similar axes to fashion something worthy.

Highrolling.piilu

My traditional Finnish log home can't be properly finished without one. :rolleyes:
(And incoming shipping seems favorable on my side)
 
Can you guys help me find out the model of this billnas it's on a popular auction site and i might buy it if I've got enough pennies in my piggy
R6W885
 
It’s a rusty 8lb 4oz piilukirves alright

Big.piilukirves


Big.piilukirves

This wasn’t the easiest tongue to remove that I’ve done but it did come out after a mess and a lot of different tools. The eye is so small at the end that you really can’t send much down there to knock it out. Previous owner(s) mashed the collar mouth some but I think I can fix that pretty well.

Big.piilukirves


Big.piilukirves


Big.piilukirves


Big.piilukirves


Big.piilukirves


Big.piilukirves

I think it was maybe one of the larger models.

Big.piilukirves
 
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