Show us your Axe....

kye4some

kye4some

Joined
Jun 2, 2010
Messages
27
I'm new to the axe bug, I recently picked up a couple of axes. Both of them were under $100 us shipped.

First is the Husqvarna Forest Axe:


Sanded1 by kyeandtabbs, on Flickr
Sanded it down and now just need to put a finish on it.

This one I did for my Father for his birthday it's from Hutafors:


Hultafors Axe by kyeandtabbs, on Flickr
I picked up a wood engraver and engraved his initials, stained then painted the handle.

I would like to see some more ideas of making an axe your own.
 
I like putting octagonal handles on my favorites. It's a lot of work but fun, and in my opinion increases the use ability of the tool. Vintage tools are the best. You can really customize handles. Customizing axe heads takes some work.

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Thank your for the nice post, pictures and story. I think perhaps there is an experience learning curve to be had on handle selection (grain and orientation), mostly for the featured Husqvarna axe, but if/when that handle fails you'll be much more prepared for choosing and installing the next one.
Enjoy! So few people cut or chop wood with hand tools anymore that one day soon Colleges will be offering courses in bushcraft and Gov't Worker Insurance will require a license in order to 'operate' an axe.
 
300Six said:
Thank your for the nice post, pictures and story. I think perhaps there is an experience learning curve to be had on handle selection (grain and orientation), mostly for the featured Husqvarna axe, but if/when that handle fails you'll be much more prepared for choosing and installing the next one.
Enjoy! So few people cut or chop wood with hand tools anymore that one day soon Colleges will be offering courses in bushcraft and Gov't Worker Insurance will require a license in order to 'operate' an axe.
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I agree. The amount of grain exiting the haft should be a little embarrassing for Husqvarna. You get what you pay for unless you luck out. The nice thing about handles is that they can always be replaced. That's another argument for the straight vs curved handle thread. Curved handles tend to let the grain run out at unfortunate places.
 
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bbforstr said:
I agree. The amount of grain exiting the haft should be a little embarrassing for Husqvarna. You get what you pay for unless you luck out. The nice thing about handles is that they can always be replaced. That's another argument for the straight vs curved handle thread. Curved handles tend to let the grain run out at unfortunate places.
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Ever since the argument about curved vs straight handles began to be debated on here the more I've become obsessively curious in this regard. If you were an ambitious handle maker 150 years ago with steam or water wheel-operated sophisticated cutting and shaping equipment and had access to old growth lumber (hardly any radius to the grain within the blanks) you could choose vertical grain blanks outright and then be able to treat the material as if they were laminated sheets to exaggerate/accentuate curves on handles without sacrificing strength, which would also visually deflate the mass appeal of ordinary (ie home made or carriage shop) similarly strong but now-become-unfashionable 'straight' handles.
Just a thought. I spent 2 full days and overnight camping at my favourite Crown Land forest site last week and used my favourite axe for quite a workout. I love the feel and sensual look of that exquisitely curved handle but over and over tried to imagine just how much different the cutting and chopping experience would have been with a straight handle. My objective conclusion; there really would have been no difference. I too have been an inadvertent sucker for fashion and convention all these years.
 
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jobasha11 said:
I never really got into axes but ur making me want to start:D
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Collecting axes just for the sake of eye-balling or drooling on them, or believing they'll someday be worth a fortune, is a losing proposition in my opinion but learning to self-connect with history of manufacturing, good steel, good sharpening, good handles, good shape/length/weight and user techniques are well worth pursuing, especially if you like the outdoors and have aspirations to be even mildly self-reliant. A sharp axe has many more practical uses than a large sharp knife!
Axes have so far (if you disregard the few specialty/gimmick items) not undergone the Yuppie fashion and exotics one-upmanship and collectible race that seems to have overtaken the production of knives, and top drawer versions of vintage and classic axes can still be found at flea markets and garage sales for little more than the cost of a six-pack of beer.
 
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