Lets use those axes for what they were ment for.

continued from above:
Before the chainsaw the axe; after the chainsaw, the axe:

2qu3er5.jpg
 
hewing a peice of red ceder for a carving project.


garry3 said:
Something tells me you own more than one canoe. Been trying for a number of years to find a good canvas canoe, they are not that common here.

Made me forget all about axes.
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this is the first canoe i have owned, i have paddled lots of different canoes and was looking at the used market for a long time when i found this one that only needed a few mouths work and a few hundred dollars to get it back in the water. the maintenance needs to pretty frequent but its simple and the canoe is light weight and glides along with almost no wake.
 
garry3 said:
Something tells me you own more than one canoe. Been trying for a number of years to find a good canvas canoe, they are not that common here.

Made me forget all about axes.
Click to expand...

I enjoyed canvas/cedar strip canoes for many years (all Chestnut New Brunswick models) but they are hugely labour intensive to maintain and you really have to be vigilant for underwater rocks and sharp branches. The fiberglass canoe I've had for 43 years is infinitely more practical and is a snap to repair. You'd cry to watch a bush pilot tying a cedar strip on to the floats. They don't take any chances on any canoe coming loose in the air and really cinch them down tight!
 
I got to use the broad hatchet my wife picked up for me the other day. I hewed the lap joints on the log/ timber shed I'm building. I thought I'd just rough it out with the axe and then finish up with a chisel but a sharp broad hatchet makes for a fairly smooth face and I ended up just using the hatchet.





 
My truck axe isn't vintage or particularly cool. One of these days I'd like to get a high quality three-quarter size axe just for the pleasure of owning and using it, but for now this cheap axe has earned my respect. I have used this Fiskars for dozens of small impromptu jobs. It is a reliable tool that get's the job done.

Here are some pics from today of a typical job. Every time I cut a tree it's the same and every time it's different. This time the tree split in slow motion that was entertaining to watch. After it fell (in poison ivy) I was able to pick up one end and swing it out of the way.









 
My "truck axe" is an Estwing "campers" from Lowes. As long as it's there when you need it and it gets the job done; and 'aint it nice to to be able to handle a log or two in your way.

I do throw a full size axe in the back during blowdown season though.
 
Good work. I hope you didn't get poison ivy.

Fiskars makes a decent axe. They are a different bird from a vintage axe for sure. But they get the job done. Biggest complaint I hear about them is inconsistent heat treat. Some are fine. Some are kinda soft. Some are reported to have soft steel at the surface with a little better stuff underneath. The other complaint is that you can't re-handle them. OTOH, the stock handles have shown themselves to be quite durable.
 
One of the boys brought his city slicker girlfriend down to the cabin and she wanted to try her hand at splitting some firewood. After about 3 logs she was done.
maul.jpg
 
I'm seriously loving this broad hatchet. It turns 20 minutes of chisel work into a few a minutes of hatchet work.

 
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Square_peg said:
I credit her for wanting to try!
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Looking at her stance I'll put this in the same category as the guys who hand their girlfriend a 12 gauge without explaining recoil just so they can film the result. At least show her the basics if for no other reason than safety.
 
Alocksly said:
Looking at her stance I'll put this in the same category as the guys who hand their girlfriend a 12 gauge without explaining recoil just so they can film the result. At least show her the basics if for no other reason than safety.
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Sound advice that no one listens to. I entirely agree with Square-peg that the young lady looks to be giving it a 'good shot'.
But the irresponsible film maker really should have coached her more on how to safely stand and swing a splitter rather than devote his efforts in hopes of 'maybe' capturing a wardrobe malfunction on camera, or whatever purpose he had in mind.
 
Pindvin said:
[video=youtube;WSuV4hhMEiE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSuV4hhMEiE[/video]
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Thank you very much for posting your video. You got on-line (U-Tube?) exposure, and a good workout, out of it!

After watching it is not at all difficult to understand why portable chainsaws caught on so fast during the mid to late 1960s once weight, safety and reliability issues were overcome. Not only was an entire piece of potential stovewood (12" round) reduced to 'ground litter' in the axe chopping video (in making a single through-cut) but a lesser energetic woodcutter with a sharp power saw would have moved on to bucking up an entire other hardwood tree during that same period of time, and 'end-run' wound up with nearly twice as much firewood to show for it too!

But don't feel bad though! One and two man manual bucksaws displaced what you were doing with that axe, already 120 years ago.
 
Well, my technique is not that good and i lack strength too. Guys in the lumberjack competition would probably chop that thing in 20-30 seconds.
 
Pindvin said:
Well, my technique is not that good and i lack strength too. Guys in the lumberjack competition would probably chop that thing in 20-30 seconds.
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You did quite alright with this! Much like having to use a sledge all day to drive railway spikes every livelihood chopper relies on inertia and weight of the axe to do the work and not so much the strength of the wielder. Plus it looks to have been a good chunk of hardwood that you tangled with. The effect is much more dramatic if you seek out a slightly punky softwood trunk. I doubt that lumberjack competitions feature a thick piece of air-dried elm to motor through.
 
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