Square_peg
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2012
- Messages
- 13,824
Great info.
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
It followed me home (Part 2)
- Thread starter Steve Tall
- Start date
Great info.
Wow, so maybe my Jersey Sager is post-1955 after all. Good info!
Hickory n steel
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2016
- Messages
- 20,258
It's probably because the creator was said to have gone to Sweden to " learn how to make an axe "
Since Swedish axes are so overhyped these days. Just because their steel is for the most part iron par with vintage axes, people seem act like they're solid gold.
I had no clue that norlund axes were originally very low cost, with the way they sell nowadays I thought they were originally expensive.
Its a strange phenomenon. I understand that people like to collect what they grew up with, but those axes are very ordinary. It makes my day though when I come across one. I flip them a lot faster than I can find them. To think I used to leave them right were I found them.
I came across this video yesterday, its a couple years old. I got a good chuckle and this kind of hype has really helped fund my old tool addiction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH0nhmEuhis
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2013
- Messages
- 1,730
To be honest most Norlund axes I've seen look sorta sloppy, rough grid marks all over the place etc.
Hickory n steel
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2016
- Messages
- 20,258
I think the overhype is based on comparison of current production, just like with Swedish axes today.
Norlund axes may have actually been thinner than most American axes in the 70's-80's.
There may have also been a short time when they were putting out better quality axes ( the best of the morning axes, not axes in general ) , and the people who think so highly of them may have the good ones . People may also like how they catered to sportsman with compact lightweight patterns.
Either way , their saddle cruiser looks just as fat as the current China marbles ones , and those no name ones found in budK and various other places.
Norlund axes may have actually been thinner than most American axes in the 70's-80's.
There may have also been a short time when they were putting out better quality axes ( the best of the morning axes, not axes in general ) , and the people who think so highly of them may have the good ones . People may also like how they catered to sportsman with compact lightweight patterns.
Either way , their saddle cruiser looks just as fat as the current China marbles ones , and those no name ones found in budK and various other places.
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2014
- Messages
- 3,741
I currently own one (for sale), and have owned several (for a week or so). I am very happy every time that I find one.
Vintage handles may be a joy to find and are wonderful models for use as templates but I'd be leery of installing one as a user unless it was NOS in origin and appearance. To me 'previously enjoyed' handles are best suited for wall hanger displays. Lots of nefarious and subtle things happen to wood (wood borers of course are obvious) as it ages in exposed environments; internal dry rot and fungal growth come to mind. Varnished, coated or sealed wood for instance can no longer breathe which has it's own long term implications that even include damage via frost action.
Below is a cross section of a handle that ultimately broke due to grain runout but had increasingly become compromised by internal deterioration.
PS: "Beauty" handle, by the way, JB and I'm glad you saved it. The above caution does apply and I don't see any reason why a talented lad like yourself, quinton or COTS or somebody else couldn't model a new haft directly off this one.
Below is a cross section of a handle that ultimately broke due to grain runout but had increasingly become compromised by internal deterioration.
PS: "Beauty" handle, by the way, JB and I'm glad you saved it. The above caution does apply and I don't see any reason why a talented lad like yourself, quinton or COTS or somebody else couldn't model a new haft directly off this one.
Last edited:
Nice save JB. I like to reuse them older hafts when I can also. They can be a challenge at times to remove without damaging them. Unfortunately it seems that the vast majority I find are 36" around here.
Vintage handles may be a joy to find and are wonderful models to use as templates but I'd be leery of installing one on a user unless it was NOS in appearance. To me 'previously enjoyed' handles are best suited for wall hanger displays. Lots of nefarious things happen to wood (wood borers of course are obvious) as it ages in exposed environments; internal dry rot and fungal growth come to mind. Varnished, coated or sealed wood for instance can no longer breathe which has it's own long term implications that even include damage via frost action.
Below is a cross section of a handle that broke and had been compromised by internal deterioration beforehand.
What do you consider exposed environments?
Wood will reach an equilibrium with its environment no matter what we put on it to try and seal it. And it will rot despite are best efforts if left out side exposed to the elements. Like that haft was with moisture damage.
I have been doing it all wrong it seems and should strip the varnish off all my self bows so that they can breath. I have one in particular that I have stored in my detached garage for better than two decades that is at risk in freezing temperatures.
Most of us take perfectly adequate care of wood handled tools, enough to make them last a lifetime, but what we don't know is where the 'found' handles came from and how they were treated over the years.
I'm not trying to offend anybody least of all you. My prized cherry canoe paddles are spar varnished and I'll be darned to leave them outdoors when they're not in use. I'm not recommending you strip the finish off your bows and I also suspect you don't soak them in water for a week before putting them away in the winter either.
I'm not trying to offend anybody least of all you. My prized cherry canoe paddles are spar varnished and I'll be darned to leave them outdoors when they're not in use. I'm not recommending you strip the finish off your bows and I also suspect you don't soak them in water for a week before putting them away in the winter either.
Agreed...that's how I lost my best-looking, best-feeling haft. My vintage Council Tool head must've been stored head down on the ground. I re-hung the head and all was well until I really used it. The eye wood was rotted and broke inside the head. Very sad, but there was really no way to save it even if I had known. Too much rot from sitting head down.
No offense ever taken 300Six. No doubt new handles are the best bet with handles that you made yourself and controlled the process from start to finish being an even better bet. Still though it can hide surprises that we did not see coming until use or wood removal.
Even the plywood floor of my storage shed gets moist because there is not a plastic vapor barrier between it and the ground. I was just cleaning it out this morning and discovered the plywood was moist everywhere I had set something down on it like gas cans and buckets. It sets a good twelve inches above the ground also. Needs some air flow I think. Concrete floors can be pretty bad too.
Yeah, that's why my axes are up on the wall...no chance either way. I should have suspected the wood might be compromised when I found the eye walls to be as rusty as they were. Ah well! It's re-hung and back in action.