Lets use those axes for what they were ment for.

Mr. Chips said:
Does ice get colder than 32F/0C? If it does, is it harder then?

It might help us understand what chopping in cold temperatures does to the axe.
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From a life time 'somewhat-northerner' (Ottawa ain't all that cold compared to Winnipeg, Kapuskasing, Timmins, Saguenay, Edmonton etc) the answer very much is 'yes'. Complete your next cocktail Martini refill with -40 F (preferably even colder) ice cubes and see what happens. Guarantee you'll be impressed! Professional hockey players and figure skaters of the modern 'man-made ice surfaces' era are entirely unprepared/overwhelmed by the properties of bona-fide cold-hardened ice.
Folks in Iqaluit and Yellowknife do not buy vehicles with alloy wheels; at -40 to -60 these rims shatter like glass first time they bump a rock or kiss a curb, even steel wheels are fragile in that environment.
Walters Axe of Hull Quebec catered to professional loggers throughout Canada from the late 1880s until the early 1970s and their motto was "not too soft and free from flaws". I'm guessing a modest slogan such as this wouldn't have meant much to lumbermen in Texas, Arizona or the tropics.
 
Ice doesn't have the toughness of a frozen knot. But still, typical ice axe patterns had very rounded heels and toes, likely to prevent chipping. New York pattern ice axes had normal heels and toes.

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Chipping ice with a hatchet or ice axe doesn't produce nearly the impact forces of chopping a frozen knot with a full size axe.
 
Square_peg said:
Ice doesn't have the toughness of a frozen knot. But still, typical ice axe patterns had very rounded heels and toes, likely to prevent chipping. New York pattern ice axes had normal heels and toes.

Chipping ice with a hatchet or ice axe doesn't produce nearly the impact forces of chopping a frozen knot with a full size axe.
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Solid water (Ice!) no matter what it's temperature, in itself is not tough on axe blades. What's tough on axe blades is the effect of temperature on properties of the metal. The two are not to be confused. A room temperature axe will cleave a sub zero temperature chunk of ice as easily as will a -60 F chilled axe. But the chilled axe itself will be considerably more vulnerable to damage were it to twist or strike something hard than would be the room temperature axe doing the exact same thing.
 
300Six said:
Solid water (Ice!) no matter what it's temperature, in itself is not tough on axe blades. What's tough on axe blades is the effect of temperature on properties of the metal. The two are not to be confused. A room temperature axe will cleave a sub zero temperature chunk of ice as easily as will a -60 F chilled axe. But the chilled axe itself will be considerably more vulnerable to damage were it to twist or strike something hard than would be the room temperature axe doing the exact same thing.
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Important distinction.
 
From what I understand, the purpose of the acutely rounded bits on ice axes is more due to the material response to the blow. Ice fractures, cleaves, and chips, and a rounded narrow bit creates a pick-like effect that is synergistic with that behavior.
 


The tree was a Chinese Privet. Just an invasive tree to NC. More of a nuisance to me. They sprout everywhere and squirrels are excellent and planting them. Never loose their leaves either for some reason. Usually I don't use an axe on a job due to time but the customer wanted it gone by the time I left so I got it down. Left the stump tall so tomorrow I can cut a notch in the back and pull the stump out of ground. Usually try to leave 36" if I am going to pull it out so I can have something to let the chain bite into. In hopes the chain won't hit the back of the truck. Now at my firewood site I got some 24" stumps that I plan on making into corn holders for the deer to feed off of.

T2 Tappin'
 
Oliverian Brook trail, white mountains, NH this past weekend. Brutally dry spruce. Probably would have been easier with a saw.

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There are several damaged, storm-topped, and fallen trees after some of the recent weather here. There are rough trails down and across the butte here that the neighbor and I like to keep up enough for people to walk.

This was chainsaw work but I'd been keen to use this Kemi 12.3 to see how well it performed. I was pleased but think it could be thinner to be more efficient. Easy fix.

It cuts best with sinking the head closer to the toe. Makes me think if the rest was matched to that it might cut the same over the rest of the edge/profile.
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Anyone ID the tree?

Base
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New growth
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I believe this is the leaf.
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Very possible FortyTwoBlades. The whole area keeps wet feet except at the height of summer weather. Still humid when you get deeper into it.

Pear, silver maple, alder, big cedar, and fir plus whatever this is are predominate. I like moss.

A natural spring and run off drainage keep the microclimate pretty moist.

It looks big enough to make something from- maybe a replacement log carrier handle but if it is something way out of suitable range then firewood I guess.

Thanks for the link:thumbup:
 
Birch is great for tasks where the wood is under compression because it tends to crush rather than split. I use it for scythe nibs whenever possible--especially appropriately sized branches so the nib iron is running inside the concentric growth rings.
 
That's a wild cherry or choke cherry/bitter cherry. And the leaf isn't right. Looks like a cottonwood leaf. It's good tough wood. Use it for anything.

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OK, this pleases me. There is a whole lot of it that is cut to about 4.5-5' about 20yrds from my back door and it was very much alive before it was toppled.

Am I looking at something adequate for shorter axes, hatchets, hammers, wedges, and/or file handles?

There are some thicker pieces that have some degree of bend that could be exploited for offset axes as well.

As far as the leaf, it very well could have come from the surrounding stand of trees that this one sits in.

Split it out and paint the ends? Not meaning to derail the thread.
 
I don't often see cherry compared to birch so didn't think of it! Good call.
 
It would even do a full size axe or shovel handle. Either split and coat the ends to dry or even shape the haft green and leave the eye a little large for shrinkage.

I once owned a wild cherry staff for many years. I was amazed at it's impact resitance.
 
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