Lets use those axes for what they were ment for.

Agent_H said:
Yeah, that is a svelt looking brush hook! I have 8-9 of them here but none of them are the lighter-weight looking guys like you have there and only two are really sharp enough to contend with yours.

The handles are something I have come to covet somewhat. The ones without kerfs cut into them tend to have loooonger tongues that allow bigger Jersey and Connecticut patterns to be mated up to them with a healthy amount left over the top of the eye - that is if you can bring yourself to separate them from the the original brush hook heads...

Thank you for the photos as well Garry. I spent an hour trying to get juniper to split how I wanted it to for tool wedges and thought of taking a picture but who wants to look at a small pile of wood chips being made by banging an old Gerber hatchet with a chunk of maple?

Probably us.
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That's interesting. I also buy them at times just for the hafts. Brush axes seem to not be to hard on the hafts. The older ones appear to have come with handles corresponding to the weight of the head. The lights the thinnest profile handles and the heavy the heaviest. They sure did put some thought in a tool back in the day.
 
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splitting wood


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March.
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Last night
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10 minutes ago
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In progress. Something needs a handle…

Draw knife, hatchet, knife, rasp, spokeshave.

Feel free to laugh at my current "carving axe" - it's sharp...
 
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I'm not familiar with the bark on NW wood. Educate me on what type of tree you cut that limb from please. Looks like good carving to me, looking forward to seeing the finished tool.
 
It's maple - I think Silver Maple or Big Leaf. It came from my buddies house and didn't have leaves on it as yet. Windfall after a storm.

First handle.
 
Agent_H said:
It's maple - I think Silver Maple or Big Leaf. It came from my buddies house and didn't have leaves on it as yet. Windfall after a storm.

First handle.
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Ah, appreciate the info, looking good! I vote for hatchet but I'm partial to hatchets. Maple should make a fine handle for something short.
 
The smooth grey bark makes it look like a Silver maple to me, but I've never seen big leaf maple to compare. It is considered to be one of the 'soft' maples so it probably falls on the less resilient and durable end of the spectrum for handle making but it does carve very nicely and has a fantastic white color to it.
 
It looks like Oregon big leaf maple. It ain't hickory but it's certainly adequate for an axe handle. It's nice to have a hewing axe haft with a natural offset - continuous grain through the curve.

Looks great. Can't wait to see it with something hung on it.
 
Some recent axe work on NH local and national forest trails
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trails
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Good work. Thanks for your support of trails.

Sometimes when cutting smaller limbs like in your first pic I like to use a thin light boys axe because the blow doesn't deflect the branch as much.
 
cooperhill said:
Some recent axe work on NH local and national forest trails
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trails
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I get clearing a trail, but wouldn't clearing creek riparian area be more detrimental? (Don't take this and negative questioning, really want to know).
 
rushane said:
I get clearing a trail, but wouldn't clearing creek riparian area be more detrimental? (Don't take this and negative questioning, really want to know).
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It's usually to keep the stream flowing. Debris builds up, creating a dam, which among other things can let go suddenly, causing damage.

Much like the desire to leave forests untouched creates massive tinder pile ready to catch. Just my thoughts.
 
Good job and cuts cooperhill, I use to do the same in our town. Cattle owners are happy with me.
You are right BG_Farmer, cutting them avoids floods.
 
Hard hitting wind during autumn brought down a few large apple branches in the local orchard. I usually swing by every now and then loooking for hangers and falled bits for bbq smoking.



This little axe chops amazingly. Really happy how it turned out.

Started life like this, some kind of multi purpose hatchet..



and ended like this..

 
Awesome work. Did you use an angle grinder to cut it an quenched often? I have a piece or two that I would like to modify but I am a little weary about ruining the hardness.
 
Moonw said:
Awesome work. Did you use an angle grinder to cut it an quenched often? I have a piece or two that I would like to modify but I am a little weary about ruining the hardness.
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pretty much! don't buy into power tools = wrecked temper. use bare hands, go slow and dip when warm. here's a link to wht is essentially my diy blog.. http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124816&page=4 #~I go into detail on my methods there. :)
 
rushane said:
I get clearing a trail, but wouldn't clearing creek riparian area be more detrimental? (Don't take this and negative questioning, really want to know).
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I don't understand the question. These were all cuts to clear already fallen trees that were impeding trails despite what the pictures may seem to show.


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Square_peg said:
Good work. Thanks for your support of trails.

Sometimes when cutting smaller limbs like in your first pic I like to use a thin light boys axe because the blow doesn't deflect the branch as much.
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I usually bring a pull saw. They are a pain. Limbed a large hemlock yesterday and it was brutally hard.


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Some light felling I did to some pines that where too close to a fence line I was going to run




A little felling and bucking with a two pound woodslasher on a boys axe haft




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