Old style axes. I mean old.

Shotgun

Shotgun

Joined
Feb 3, 2006
Messages
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Seeing this pic in another thread I have to say it appeals to my minimalist/simplistic side. Has anyone used these type of axes for any length? What are there drawbacks and how do they compare in chopping to something similar like a trail hawk?

celttomahawk.jpg

Pardon to Church&Son for stealing the pic.:o
 
Mr.Shotgun, I use one like this almost everyday. It even goes with me fly fishing since I got snake bit several years ago, had a Game Warden question me about it( a long haired 50 yr. old standing in the middle of river with a tomahawk under belt in my back) and has since added one to his truck. A lot easier to make a new haft for, just heat it up and burn thru. It chops great, especially with a long haft, I like about 24". I also keep one in the top of my tool box at work to steer the sticky fingers away......Randy
(and I stole the photo also)

yswh2.jpg
 
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Thanks for the response. I actually have an Eco Hawk made by Tops but just haven't had the time to haft it yet. I'd also like to see a better grind on the thing. The edge is real thick. One of the reasons I bought it is to take just the head while hiking and then haft it to a long haft when I reach camp. That way I don't have to deal with a 2-3ft long stick on my back. I like long hafts too. Limbing a tree without having to bend over to do it is priceless.:D
 
Shotgun, I had to look up Eco Hawk, I was not familiar with it( I live about a hundred years ago) Neat idea, may have to come up with a less tactical version. I have thought about a two piece wood haft that pins together. The 'hawk I carry in the canoe is a through the haft head wrapped in a piece of leather, only takes a couple of minutes to whittle a limb for it and it's safer on the water........Randy
 
Raymond Richard said:
Here's a link to some old creations: http://furtradetomahawks.tripod.com/index.html Not sure if this is one you guys have seen.
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I see I’m not the first to take an axe and a gun to war; I just wish i could pull of a mow hawk.

I saw this quote in the link you posted. I was really moved by it. Just taught id share it.

"When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home. "

Tecumseh
 
Edwood..I have to get a portrait like this one done of myself.
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Mr. Edwood, most of my inspiration, ideas and generally the way I think comes from studying the past. Here is another site with hundreds of studio pics from the reservation years. They do ask not to take any
http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Pictures/American-Indians-01.html

My Grandmother was Apache, born she thought 1899 and she remembered when she was a child the portraits makers came to their town to take photographs for postcards, asked them to wear all their "Injun" clothes. She married an Appalachian Mountain Man, had 14 kids and taught college for 30 years, lived to be 94, fascinating Lady.......Randy
 
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church&son said:
Mr. Edwood, most of my inspiration, ideas and generally the way I think comes from studying the past. Here is another site with hundreds of studio pics from the reservation years. They do ask not to take any
http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Pictures/American-Indians-01.html

My Grandmother was Apache, born she thought 1899 and she remembered when she was a child the portraits makers came to their town to take photographs for postcards, asked them to wear all their "Injun" clothes. She married an Appalachian Mountain Man, had 14 kids and taught college for 30 years, lived to be 94, fascinating Lady.......Randy
Click to expand...

My fathers side of the family has a grate grandfather who was Apache, I think that's wear I got my natural tan from and my love of adventure. We even have some old blankets and a old rattle that was handed down in my mothers house. I wonder if my axes are going to be handed down as well and be talked about in some forum in the future.

We might bee related mr church. Even if we are not
Thanks again for the link brother.
 
The census of 1910 gives only 6,119 Apache of all kinds, so if you have Apache in family blood then we are kin, but my other side was Mountain people so I'm kin to a lot. I have enjoyed this thread.......Randy
 
I can tell you that first picture looks African in origin.

Those type of axes are used everyday in Africa with very good results. Pop the head out, sharpen the head on a river rock, pop it back in and start chopping. They work very well and hold up to a lot of hard use as the handles are made from a very strong wood. An advantage is that the head comes out easily when you want it to for sharpening, use as a knife, or when replacing the handle. Or just carry the head and make a handle when you get where you are going. They look old to us but they are still modern tools for a lot of folks today.

Old leaf springs and other parts are salvaged from vehicles and made into all sorts of useful things.

Here is another example of one from Mozambique:

IMG_4906.jpg


IMG_4907.jpg


IMG_4908.jpg
 
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grafton said:
I can tell you that first picture looks African in origin.

Those type of axes are used everyday in Africa with very good results. Pop the head out, sharpen the head on a river rock, pop it back in and start chopping. They work very well and hold up to a lot of hard use as the handles are made from a very strong wood. An advantage is that the head comes out easily when you want it to for sharpening, use as a knife, or when replacing the handle. Or just carry the head and make a handle when you get where you are going. They look old to us but they are still modern tools for a lot of folks today.

Old leaf springs and other parts are salvaged from vehicles and made into all sorts of useful things.

Here is another example of one from Mozambique:

IMG_4906.jpg


IMG_4907.jpg


IMG_4908.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Is that one you own? I'm kinda liking this design more and more. I think I would like to have one made to where the first 2 inches or so would be sharpened on the underside(beard) so it can be used as a knife if needed.
 
Grafton, the top pic might be African, it is not that old .I ran across it researching Celts axes, who were MAYBE the first in Europe to stick metal thru wood. I was looking for the roots of English Boarding Pikes, the forerunner of English and French Trade Tomahawks.
Is that handle a root? Neat wood.
Shotgun, that would be pretty easy to do. As Grafton said, a leaf spring would work, but we have to come up with a term beside Primitive

prim·i·tive (prm-tv)
adj.
1. Not derived from something else; primary or basic.
2.
a. Of or relating to an earliest or original stage or state; primeval.
b. Being little evolved from an early ancestral type.
3. Characterized by simplicity or crudity; unsophisticated: primitive weapons. See Synonyms at rude.
4. Anthropology Of or relating to a nonindustrial, often tribal culture, especially one that is characterized by a low level of economic complexity: primitive societies.
5. Linguistics
a. Serving as the basis for derived or inflected forms: Pick is the primitive word from which picket is derived.
b. Being a protolanguage: primitive Germanic.
6. Relating or belonging to forces of nature; elemental: primitive passions.
7.
a. Of or created by an artist without formal training; simple or naive in style.
b. Of or relating to the work of an artist from a nonindustrial, often tribal culture, especially a culture that is characterized by a low level of economic complexity.
8. Of or relating to late medieval or pre-Renaissance European painters or sculptors.
9. Biology Occurring in or characteristic of an early stage of development or evolution.
n.
1. Anthropology A person belonging to a nonindustrial, often tribal society, especially a society characterized by a low level of economic complexity.
2. An unsophisticated person.
3. One that is at a low or early stage of development

There is a couple of those that really bother me. These people were amazing.....Randy
 
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Love those knobkery (spelling)axes used them a lot up in Zambia and they are very effective.

Richard
 
Yeah that one is mine. Used to be a poachers.

The base is a root ball. I think the handle section is the main trunk.
 
knobkerrie on the Web:

* a short wooden club with a heavy knob on one end; used by aborigines in southern Africa
picture.php


Tinbasher,I thought a Knobkerrie was a tree, it's a club!.........Randy
 
Ötzi the Iceman was packing an axe very similar to those and he dates back what, something like 5000 years. :D That old enough for you?
 
Mr. Otzi the Iceman was found with a copper axe. The accepted dates for the Bronze Age was 3000BC. Old Otzi's axe proved someone was smelting copper before they were supposed to. He was a trendsetter, the "Buttbag" is still in style........Randy
 
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