Is there such thing as a Skinning Axe?

S.Grosvenor

S.Grosvenor

Fulltime KnifeMaker
Joined
Jan 24, 2010
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I have a customer that would like me to make him a short, say 12-14" Knife/Axe for his Mule deer hunts, he carrys both now but sometimes walk 10miles a day, so he curious if I could hammer him out something??? The pictures I've drawn and cardboard cutouts i've made while may be practical just seem ass ugly...just wondering if anyone has done anything like this??
 
I'd be curious to see an ugly sketch of what you're thinking of making. Sounds like something new and different.
 
tryppyr said:
I'd be curious to see an ugly sketch of what you're thinking of making. Sounds like something new and different.
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Well, you asked for it??

sketch.jpg
:barf:

I'm drawing this by just kinda adding a belly to the front and making it so you can maybe pinch the blade as a skinner?????, won't take much weight out of his pack but everything helps.
 
Interesting. Not nearly as ugly as I imagined. I was thinking of something that looked more like a cross between a hawk and a skinner. Kind of a hawk with a handle where the pipe would be. Now THAT would be butt ugly.
 
The handle is 13", I might need to shorten it to 11.5 but the blade pinches nice?

skaxe.jpg
 
fast14riot said:
Doesn't look too bad at all. First thing to come to my mind is something like an Ulu with a handle, or something like this...http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=559724&highlight=alaska+ax...

Maybe instead of the clip make a cutout? Just thinking out loud I guess.



-Xander
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Hey now, that thing is very handy looking, very much Axe like with the ability to skin, kinda what I'm looking for.

I may go with what I got, and maybe shorten the handle up even more to say 10" overall, with a 1/4" overall thickness, to him the ability to use it as a knife was more important as he rarely uses his pack axe but still wants it along (trying to marry a apple and a orange) I will bring him the cutout and sketches that I have and see what he thinks, will also do something with the ULU as a base design.

One thing about the ULU, since i've never used one, the entire radius of the blade seems interesting, like one big belly I guess, would you use the entire cutting edge, or just half of it?
 
He might have something like this in mind from Gransfors Bruks. It is their "Hunter's Axe" and designed to cut wood and meat.
jagarensyxa.jpg
 
The important part is that is thinner than regular axes.

Wetterlings Skinning Axe
hunters_axe.gif

The poll (back of the axe) is forged thinner than normal and gently rounded and polished to a flay poll to be used when skinning an animal. You hold the skin, and hit in-between the skin and flesh with the poll saving a lot of time and sore hands, as well as providing a smooth skin, ready to tan. Besides that, the Hunters Axe is good for chopping wood, as well as meat and bones. The grip of the 19 inch hickory handle has small circular grooves which give a steady grip even if your hands are wet or sticky. The Gransfors Bruks Hunter's Axe has a 3 1/4" face and the head weighs 1 1/2 lbs.

Normark Skinning Axe
8884b5a_19.jpeg



Junglee Skinning Axe
skinning_axe.jpg


You may also look into Carving Axes

Granfurs Burks
Swedish_carving_axe.jpg


Firestone
5_11929.jpg
 
Jason :thumbup: thanks for those, they are very much ULU like, but that last one, the Firestone, looks very nice.
 
About 20 years ago a friend of mine showed up with a "sknnning axe" very much the same as that Junglee. Yes you were supposed to be able to skin , in this case moose, with it. Think about it a bit. You could not swing it for that purpose it would make one heck of a mess! It was necessary to hold the head for skinning use and this became rediculous almost immediately. It was a good size to carry for other jobs on a moose but the blade was a little thin to be cutting wood with and then the weight was quite light because of the thinness of the head. I certainly would stay away from one that has very pointy corners. Think more of the skinning job to be done and not too much about the opening up. Frank
 
"I have a customer that would like me to make him a short, say 12-14" Knife/Axe for his Mule deer hunts"]

OK I know they say the customer is always right but it is going to be hard to build such an ax and make it really useable tool. The Firestone looks closer to the need than any of it.

JasonSCarter said:
Firestone
5_11929.jpg
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Too make it useable the axe head would need to detatch so that you can grip it to do the skinning. Much like the skinners that native Alaskan's use. I can't pull up a picture right at the moment but the use a knife that looks sort of like a thin, handheld broadhead ax, just the blade part of such an ax and no handle. I forget the name of them.
They skin with using a rolling motion of the wrist and they use it straight up and down like a cleaver to cut meat into sections! There is no handle and they grip it from the back side. The only time you would need a handle is if you were using it as an ax.

Personally a good knife and a folding bone saw will do all that is needed to skinout, and bone the meat for transportation! :eek:;) If I have to go long distance the meat is the only thing coming out anyway!
 
When I was young, we had knives that came with interchangeable hatchet blades. It was a leather sheath that held a regular knife and a hatchet blade in a pouch behind it. You pulled down a lever on the butt of the knife to takedown the blade and then inserted the hatchet and snapped the lever back down. Haven't seen one in quite some time, but if I were asked to make a skinning hatchet, I think that's what I'd do.
 
The Gransfor hunting axe is used with the rounded poll to separate the hide from the carcass. Other than that, it's a rather standard hatchet.

You don't need a knife to remove a hide from a kill. I've skinned dozens of deer by making my initial cuts with a flint chip and then using my hands as wedges to move quickly through the connective membrane between muscle and dermis. The rounded poll on the Hunter's Axe works in a similar fashion for those larger animals.

And, considering that it's been in use in Europe for a very long time, I would suspect that the bugs have been worked out of the design.
 
It does not take much of a knife to field dress a deer. Watched a man field dress, skin and bone out a mule deer with a small hatchet he carried in his hat band. Blade less than one inch long, handle about 3 3/2". It took him some time, but he enjoyed every minute. It would still shave hair!
 
I've used the granfurs burks one and it worked well. You sort of bump it along where the hide connects and it does the job nicely. Also great for splitting the rib cage, and it's a totally usable, lightweight camp axe. IMO, it's the one for the job.
 
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