Hawks/hatches for building things

[wildmanh]

This spring some friends and I should be buying some land in the hills south of Provo Utah and this got me thinking about the tools we will use to develope/work the land. I have a Medium French hawk from Great River Forge and a Frontier hawk by Cold steel along with Khukris and machetes. So long blades are covered and I have a little experience with hawks for wood chopping/splitting.

What hawks/hatchets do you find are good for working wood into useable logs? I'm talking prepping the wood logs for making fences, sheds, cabins, tables, chairs and other usefull things. It will probably be a few years before we put a camp and shop on the property but I'd love to learn more about using old school tools like Hawks and Hatchets for such things. Thanks,

Heber

 

[Dusty One]

A good carpenters axe. Would be one of the ones I would want.

 

[savageknives]

an adze, a froe possibly, a good felling axe, drawknife, block plane. look up the book "one man's wilderness" he builds a sizeable cabin with only a handful of hand tools and lots of skill.

 

[catspa]

Heber, I admire your dedication to hand tool homesteading. Do your partner(s) also share that feeling? Reason I ask is, if they're going to disturb the peaceful solitude with a Stihl 044, you might as well have one too.

For log tasks other than falling, some kind of coarse saw will really help you out. Bow, buck, misery whip, whatever. I'd look at a broad or hewing hatchet if you want to square logs into beams or cants, and a froe is always handy.

If you get an adze, be careful of your toes. It needs to be razor sharp to work well, and your toes are right in the way. I much prefer a broadaxe or hatchet for hewing, but to each their own.

Good luck with your new adventure!

Parker