Pack axe recommendations

Thoughts on cherry for a 24 inch stright handle. I have a board in the garage that keeps eyeballing me....
 
The dark spots are oil that has penetrated down from the top of the toung. It’s made it down the handle over a foot. Thought it was kind of interesting to see how far the oil travels in the wood. The handle is cherry, kind of an experiment to see how it holds up and how I like the handle shape. 2 pound head 6 eye ridges 24 inch stright handle.











 
Maine20 said:
The dark spots are oil that has penetrated down from the top of the toung. It’s made it down the handle over a foot. Thought it was kind of interesting to see how far the oil travels in the wood. The handle is cherry, kind of an experiment to see how it holds up and how I like the handle shape. 2 pound head 6 eye ridges 24 inch stright handle.











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The axe sir is beautiful...

That Wilton vise is awesome!
 
Agent_H said:
Miller '72, post: 18099821,
20180518_174149.jpg


Nothing wrong about a “Swampirondack”!
:)
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You don't usually see curved handles on double bladed axes. Is swinging the axe anymore challenging when you swing from the head opposite the curved handle?
 
Some of you (myself included) were interested in how the cherry handle would hold up, here's a update:
I took it on two camping trips and did a fair amount of splitting, drove some tent stakes and cut some saplings. It performed great. I also did several bucking test sessions in oak and maple, again no problems. The head didn’t budge.

So today I had the bright idea to try pounding wedges with it. That didn’t end well, cracked the handle. I should have known better. I do believe that if used for its intended purpose (bushcraft type tasks) it would have held up fine. But pounding wedges with a cherry handle is clearly not a good idea. I’ll be making a new one out of the ash tree that cut today.
 
Maine20 said:
Some of you (myself included) were interested in how the cherry handle would hold up, here's a update:
I took it on two camping trips and did a fair amount of splitting, drove some tent stakes and cut some saplings. It performed great. I also did several bucking test sessions in oak and maple, again no problems. The head didn’t budge.

So today I had the bright idea to try pounding wedges with it. That didn’t end well, cracked the handle. I should have known better. I do believe that if used for its intended purpose (bushcraft type tasks) it would have held up fine. But pounding wedges with a cherry handle is clearly not a good idea. I’ll be making a new one out of the ash tree that cut today.
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Appreciate the update on your axe. I have several handles made from an ice-downed Choke Cherry but they are smaller in scale - hatchets/square/or socket-eyed tools.
The same characteristics that make Cherry approachable aren't the same ones that match a full-sized axe's requirements.
 
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