Russian (Topor) pattern

I do,Ernest,thank you.Although what it means in reality is that "i do till the next flood".(Notice how the structure sits on a raft;there's some hope that it'll float,and the ice won't smash it too badly).
Such is the price for living so close to the River.
But the River is my all,the source of all my wood,and fish,and all other sustenance.

https://imgur.com/a/R2BLU

https://imgur.com/a/YPxUn

I must think of some "topor"-related facts here,and quickly!:)...Well,in the Old Country,the folks have lived a long,Long time in one place.Long enough to accumulate traditions,and topors and skills to build dwellings that (at least in theory)would last for many generations.
But in actuality,because of the ruthless economics of the feudal system,the people in the Toporland for the most part ended up living very primitively,and substandardly.
The skills only went as far as to construct a few homes for the wealthy,and possibly some churches in the richer parishes or monasteries.

Our "poverty" here in Alaska is quite different.We're,or can be,truly free.But the price for that is that for reasons many and sundry we've gone away from many of the fundamental,historical,so-well-found skills and traditions in our craftsmanship.
Alaska since it's infestation by the Europeans(the last 200 years roughly)hasn't really even gone through that stage of older craftsmanship,but here and there one does notice the remnants of that,some log-corners done in some ancient Scandinavian pattern or the like.It's fun noticing those things...

And,hey,here's a real topor(or what's left of it):https://imgur.com/a/yOKVk

A genuwine Moscow-pattern:),with it's "sprogget" all smashed back into the body....(from that ame trip to the UAF museum a short while back).
Couple more shots (i was surprised at how small it is in real life).Top side:https://imgur.com/a/rosK4
(eye is smashed too).
Bottom:https://imgur.com/a/Ubjs9

Presumably it's a left over trade-item from the Russian-American Co.,from whom Alaska was bought in 1867.
 
Square_peg,here's one type of work that Topor was used for-carving.(though more AO or B2 size,apparently,(smaller/straight edge ones).

Here,https://rusknife.com/topic/20968-дешёвое-против-дорогого/?page=3
,starting at Post #66,are some samples of that,very traditional work(technically known as "Bogorodskaya school"(of carving).

It is done by a man SO effing conservative that he uses nothing but those topors,and comes ridiculously close to finishing with one.
He's about a total throwback,don't know how many more there're like him....
 
Just noticed these are now available at a military surplus store in the USA (having a similar name as a type of powdered mustard).
Handle 28", total(?) weight approx. 4 pounds. Looks like the head is upside down?

"Vintage Russian Military Camp Axe"

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It is the dread "three cedars"....the nastiest of the topor line:)

Thanks,Steve,and I think that you're right,the head is definitely upside down.
 
The so-called "СМЗ",(cyrrilic),an abbreviation of Saldinsk Metallurgical Plant.
Another of those old(circa 1760) iron and steel manufacturies in the Ural Mountains,an incredibly mineral-rich mountain range that is the official divide between Europe and Asia.
The old factory produced more than it's share of rail,and boiler-plate,and cannons,et c.,but is said to've been run down into the ground by it's present corrupt and incompetent owners.
Actually the tools produced by them in the past were valued and concidered very decent.

https://www.smz.ru/ :)
 
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And now that you guys(in spite of all the warnings:))are getting into this topor fad,then you must know this:
http://www.agrospektr.com/GOST/handtools/GOST18578-89.pdf

These are the dread GOST,the absolutely Infallible gov't Standards,governing every aspect of "Construction axes".Technical Standards.(is what it says on the front cover).
There was a Standard such as this for Everything in the USSR,and these were Scriptures,and a Crime to transgress against.
Und zo,all the model numbers,Letter/Number ones(like A2)are listed there with parameters in mm,and their corresponding weight(in the right-hand end of chart,in kg,head only).
You may've noticed how these ones Steve posted say Б 3 inside that stamp...Well,that there is the key,the code-book for the entire topor cult....:)
 
junkenstien said:
Same money you can get a husky carpenters axe,which one is better do you think?
Click to expand...

I feel like the "older" Russian axes are interesting and representative of a region/timeframe - they are ethnographically valuable on a couple of levels. They are common where they come from yet not to so much to my area. I can appreciate all axes for what they are. The ones that Tras Krom worked up for us were of an act of goodwill.

Never tried the Husqvarna carpenter axe but that would not be a bad choice if you could have just one or the other. The Topor and the Husqvarna are two different animals.

Currently I seem to default to a Plumb broad hatchet for carving regardless of my options so I might not be the best one to respond to your question lol.
 
Yes sir,this thread and the kirves one are great.That was real cool with TrasKrom and i am happy for you fellas.Talked myself out of the husky awhile back and was talking myself out of this one,long straight edge guess is why I was comparing them.
 
Jake, can you make an educated guess as to the types of steel used in an axe like this from 1955?

7.jpg
 
At some point in his youth, or so we are told, Czaar of Russia, Pjotr Alexejevitsch known also as Peter the Great, came to Amsterdam, (incognito) to learn how to build ships. He lived in a shack. There, we can assume, he got familiar with some good axes. He failed to share this knowledge widely once back home, on the throne, or so it seems.
zaandam-portret-czaar-peter.jpg
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Square_peg said:
Jake, can you make an educated guess as to the types of steel used in an axe like this from 1955?
Click to expand...
Yessir i sure can:The alloy is called У7(U7 in Latin alphabet),and that У-stands for Углерод,which is Carbon,and it means that the alloy is a plain C steel,with the C% at about 0.7% or so....AND...The best part...thanks to the Politbureau and it's GOSTs!-it's right on the stamp itself!:)

And while i was having fun Tras Krom had to go and upstage it all!:)....Ah well...In any case,it's an equivalent to AISI 1070 - 1074,maybe 1080.
 
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